Painting engine cover

[Admiral_Awesome]

Hey guys..

I want to paint my ecotec engine cover black. I was just wondering would i have to sand/prime it before i do it? Ive got a can of primer so its all good if i need to but is it a necessary? Also are there any pictures of completed jobs out there?

Any tips and tricks are helpful

Thanks

[SS 1998]

there is a far few threads on people who have done it already.
just have a look threw em n ull find wat ur lookin 4.

cheers ct

[hwy747]

I sprayed my LS1 engine covers red. All I did was a good clean with sugar soap to remove all oil and dirt etc, quick spray of primer then I used a can of engine enamel paint from super cheap auto (several, several coats) but the end result was pretty impressive. If you do it yourself, just make sure you leave long enough between coats and don't spray to thick for each coat either.

[Troy711]

A good finish always starts with PROPER prep work. If you just try and spray a single thick coat of black chances are it won't stick and even if it does it will probably look like shit.

Use a decent wax and grease remover and make sure the whole thing is CLEAN and dry.
Spray a coat of primer and let it dry. I like to do 3 coats of primer... giving a light sand and clean in between and usually waiting 2 days between coats. When it comes to doing your top coat as hwy747 said, do several coats. It doesn't hurt to do up to 5 or more. Sand in between and DON'T try to spray the whole thing a solid colour in one go. I usually mist on 2 coats before even attempting to get full colour on stuff. Also don't forget to start and finish the spray off the edge of the item. Don't point the can half way on the cover and start spraying because usually you end up with big blobs and runs. Clear coat is optional, I've never used it and my stuff turns out fine.

Here is a pic of one half of my engine covers from my old VZ ute.

[Admiral_Awesome]

Thanks for your help guys. That turned out good Troy711

[Admiral_Awesome]

finished sanding and priming tonight. hopefully will finish thursday night

[Troy711]

Post up some pics once it's done

[Admiral_Awesome]

will do. id love to finish it off today but ill be out all night. but i used a black primer and it even looks pretty good with just the primer :P

[Mirkz]

Bump!

Do you need to use the high temp engine enamel.
There's stuff all colours to choose from in that stuff. I bought a light blue, but there was a cyan which was kind of metallic that looked like it'd be very nice, but it wasn't in the high temp stuff.
Anyone know if normal paint is ok to use on the engine cover being it would get quite hot?

[VYMAD]

Alot of members on here have used normal paint. I used high temp and now in the sun it looks a bit average, I think it's the clear coat. Any ways I'll re-do it one day, but even when I do I'll probably still use high temp. Maybe it ended up dull because I did it in winter when the weather was a bit cool. I think many on here will tell you that they have successfully used non high temp paint.