Engine Paint

[RALPHARAMA]

I have got guite interested in paint in the last few years and have learned quite a bit from the pros. Oven Baking is used to speed up drying times and not to give the paint an increased hardness etc. bit of an urban myth, and one I fell for in the past. Most of the effort goes into prep with paint. PJ1 used to be a very good finish from rattle cans, but then it disappeared cos the tree huggers seem to think that the stuff in it, that made it so good, caused the downfall of humanity, caused global warming and was racist. Eventually they made another paint with the ingredients that were still permitted, ground up tories, the sweat of white middle class folk, vital organs of Nigel Farage etc, which is crap for paint, but good for bunnies and branded it as the old stuff. can't blame 'em, they are struggling to turn a shilling when all about them the lefties tree kissing politicians are trying to get votes by appearing to be 'green'!

The only etch primer that works is close to being outlawed, by the tree huggers and that's Zinc Chromate!! It is pretty poisonous, so needs to be sprayed outside using a mask of in a spray booth. The only paint that will stay on engine cases is two pack! Again it's not healthy and must be used out side or in a booth with a mask.

If tree hugger friendly rattle cans worked well, why would professionals go to the effort of using the nasty poisonous stuff? For engine parts without deep finning, it's not hard to get the required finish from rattle cans, but it will chip and won't last, will be pulled by petrol etc...

[Jay1969]

I have got guide interested in paint in the last few years and have learned quite a bit from the pros. Oven Baking is used to speed up drying times and not to give the paint an increased hardness etc. bit of an urban myth, and one I fell for in the past. Most of the effort goes into prep with paint. PJ1 used to be a very good finish from rattle cans, but then it disappeared cos the tree huggers seem to think that the stuff in it, that made it so good, caused the downfall of humanity, caused global warming and was racist. Eventually they made another paint with the ingredients that were still permitted, ground up tories, the sweat of white middle class folk, vital organs of Nigel Farage etc, which is crap for paint, but good for bunnies and branded it as the old stuff. can't blame 'em, they are struggling to turn a shilling when all about them the lefties tree kisser ing politicians are trying to get votes by appearing to be 'green'!

The only etch primer that works is close to being outlawed, by the tree huggers and that's Zinc Chromate!! It is pretty poisonous, so needs to be sprayed outside using a mask of in a spray booth. The only paint that will stay on engine cases is two pack! Again it's not healthy and must be used out side or in a booth with a mask.

If tree hugger friendly rattle cans worked well, why would professionals go to the effort of using the nasty poisonous stuff? For engine parts without deep finning, it's not hard to get the required finish from rattle cans, but it will chip and won't last.

OK Ralph, do you mean 2 pack, not ground up remains of that (c)Rap singer Tupac?
Seriously though, can you just tell us what tin of 2 pack to buy, or is it
professional stuff that people like Flying Tiger and Hutchy use in compressed air guns

~Jay.

[ruffle]

You can get two pack in a rattle can. Eastwood do it:

http://www.eastwood.com/2k-aero-spray-rat-rod-satin-black.html

No info on what temperature it'll take though.

FWIW, a lot of the high temperature paints do say that they need baking to achieve their full toughness not just to accelerate drying times.

Ralph are you using high temperature two pack?

[RALPHARAMA]

Yes I am talking professional paints, but you don't need to be a professional to buy them. You don't need a maga expensive gun to paint engine bits. I use smart repair guns. I have one cheaply Chinese job that cost £25 for priming and a good quality one for stuff where a finish is required.

VHT paint is really designed for very hot stuff like exhausts etc and I have never found it any good on casings. I buy my paint from car paint warehouse in Bristol. Some auto paint factors are more helpful than others. I think the two pack I use is an acrylic form Octoral. It uses an isocyanate catalyst which isn't very healthy so always wear a decent mask and make sure you stay down wind of it!

The zinc chromate primer I use is Bradite AW54 which can be sourced from Brewers, though it needs to be ordered.

I'm pretty sure you can't get any zinc chromate primers in rattle cans. The you can get etch primers in rattle cans, but they always contain a 'build ' (filler) which makes them useless for engine cases, or anywhere else you might spill petrol.

Using a spray gun is no different to a rattle can, you just have massively more control and a much greater range of paints that are so much better than you can get in rattle cans. Rattle cans are far more convenient, but if you want a job that will last professional paints are the only way to go.

[Jay1969]

Thanks for that Ralph, I'll refer back to your advice with all this
next time I rebuild an engine,
but for now I ordered a can of the Wurth High Temperature paint last night,
cos I'm in a bit of a hurry to rebuild my engine now, plus with xmas draining funds etc. blah blah blah...

Cheers!

~Jay.

[RALPHARAMA]

I was trying to put a quick splash of paint on the cam cover of my 13, and the paint factors couldn't match the silver and said their VHT was a close match. I bought it, painted it removed it.... Got some acrylic, satin clear coat added a good match silver base coat and mixed it, removed the rattle can shite, re etch primed it and them painted it with the stuff I should have used in the first place I should have realised I would never be happy with a substandard job

[RALPHARAMA]

You still need to use it outside or you'll get overspray in the air which will cover everything in your workshop. You'd not credit how far the bloody stuff will travel Make sure the parts are nice and warm before painting and in this weather you'll need to keep bringing them inside. This weather isn't good for painting, it's too bloody cold and you end up with moisture in the paint

[Jay1969]

You still need to use it outside or you'll get overspray in the air which will cover everything in your workshop. You'd not credit how far the bloody stuff will travel Make sure the parts are nice and warm before painting and in this weather you'll need to keep bringing them inside. This weather isn't good for painting, it's too bloody cold and you end up with moisture in the paint

I've phoned a local powdercoaters to ask if they'll let me use their facilities
for heating and spraying then baking my engine parts, they've said
bring the parts over and we'll have a look and see what we can do.
They'll probs try and talk me into having them powdercoated, but I'm
not keen on the powdercoating method on engines, as I'm sure you're not either Ralph.

~Jay.

[RALPHARAMA]

It all depends on their quality. A very small minority of powder coaters are really good enough to do engine parts, even though they all claim to be good! Griffs in Bristol is 100%, but you will pay a lot to properly coat a whole engine! I'm too tight which is why I do my own

[Big Fluff]

I've tried quite a few over the years, but to be honest nothing comes close to Simoniz "Tough Black" anti-chip polyurethane satin paint.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Simoniz-Tough ... 3f41e74414


A brilliant finish and extremely tough. As with all heat dispersant paints, it also benefits from being baked on in your home oven at a low level

[Jay1969]

With powdercoating on an engine though, when it chips off at the front
for example, what can you do to patch it over to achieve same level
of finish as the high temperature rattle can stuff, without stripping
the engine down again to re-do it? At least with paint, if done
carefully enough, can build up layers of spray after prepping the surface
back to bare ally, then blending it in with the original
surface of black.
Also, from what I've seen of powdercoated engines, it tends to
show a white layer on the surface after a long ride? This can be
sorted by polishing with Auto Glym, but even so, means when parking up
at a bike meet or whatever, cleaning it back to black
Maybe it only happens in wet weather?

~Jay.