Engine Painting

[Bill S.]

I am planning on painting my engine while while still in the car. The oil pan in new, so it does not need paint. I am considering buying paint from Bill Hirsch by the quart and applying it by brush. Has anyone done this with satisfactory results? I would like to pull the motor and hard parts ---- and do it the correct way, however I need those "points" for Top Flight, and do not have the time.
Thanks
Bill




Adirondack NCRS

[Mike M.]

Re: Engine Painting

if there is no way you have time to pull the engine, why not tape up all extraneous pieces and spray the chevy red or orange with VHT. if its a blue flame, i'm not aware of that blue being available in a rattle can. mike

[Jack H.]

Most who attempt this....

wind up losing points, especially at NCCB/Bloomington. You see it's pretty darn hard to apply paint with a brush and NOT have a fleck or drop of orange 'stray' onto an adjacent surface (fire wall, inner fender, motor mount, Etc.).

Then, for each stray fleck of Chevy orange a judge spots, go deduct 20% of the originality points associated with that part for FINISH (the engine wasn't painted in the engine compartment and there should be NO Chevy orange here/there). Spurious deductions can add up REAL fast this way plus, if you leave brush marks in the engine paint (it was originally sprayed), you just might take another 20% deduction (FINISH) on the originality points associated with the engine paint.

Now, IF you're real careful, here's a 'trick' that can work that I've used when I needed to re-detail certain Chevy orange aspects of a completed/installed engine on a factory concours car. Go buy several rolls of aluminum ('tin') foil from the grocery store. Pop the hood and remove all the obvious items (radio shielding, Etc.).

Crack open your rolls of tin foil and wrap EVERTHING that you know wasn't painted Chevy orange. The foil will form/contour and stay in place on its own making the mask job pretty easy. Now, spray to your heart's content, but REMEMBER everywhere you put the foil down so you can collect & remove it after the paint has dried. I can guarantee you appropriate originality deductions if judges spot extraneous tin foil with Chevy orange on it here/there....

[Jeffrey S.]

Re: Most who attempt this....

Bill
I have done exactly what was described above and it works quite well but be sure to do one thing before you wrap anything in aluminum foil- DISCONNECT YOUR BATTERY! Aluminum foil conducts electricity very well and you will be surprised art how much black smoke you can create with it.
Jeff

[Ed Jennings]

Re: Engine Painting

I don't know what year car you're working on, but I did real nice "spray can rebuild" on a 61 engine a few years ago with the engine installed. I had the water pump, fan, and motor mount off the car, as well as the exhaust and intake manifolds. I had a jack under the front of the engine, so I could tilt it a few degrees up and down to get at the front and rear of the engine. Not sure how well it would have judged, but it sure made that old motor look nice and fresh. Must have taken 50,000 miles off its clock.