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comtemplating painting engine

Discussion in 'XJ Modifications' started by jswag5, Aug 27, 2008.

  1. jswag5

    jswag5 Member

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    I am tired of trying to polish up my motor with no success. So ive got an idea, put a coat of gray metalic over the whole engine, then taking a metalic blue and painting it into the fins leaving the outer edge the gary metalic, any ideas or suggestions on how to do this??
     
  2. Hillsy

    Hillsy Member

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    Sounds like a lot of masking work. Maybe paint the blue first, use some pinstripe to "mask" between the fins and then do the gray?
     
  3. brent_bastien

    brent_bastien Member

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    if you want the edge of the fins grey and the rest blue you could try spraing the motor blue then brushing on the gray
     
  4. wizard

    wizard Active Member

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    spray the engine grey, then with a small foam roller carefully roll the edges of the fins.
     
  5. jswag5

    jswag5 Member

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    thanks for the input, gunna prolly try the roller thing, have to wait til winter though, having too much fun riding, any suggestions on paint type, i know i need something high temp.
     
  6. Hillsy

    Hillsy Member

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    Engine enamel is fine.
     
  7. grimreaper169

    grimreaper169 Member

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    Your engine is air cooled and seems to me if you paint it it will not be able to disapate the heat through the paint. Just saying
     
  8. Hillsy

    Hillsy Member

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    Engine enamels are OK - powdercoating and chrome plating are not advised for this reason though
     
  9. Zookie400

    Zookie400 Active Member

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    i too want to paint the engine. i wonder if there is special paint for heat transfer, i know you definatly dont want ceramic header type paint.
     
  10. WesleyJN1975

    WesleyJN1975 Member

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    I don't do much painting, but why not just paint the engine blue and then just block sand the edges of the fins for the gray aluminum color? Just an idea.
     
  11. 85MaximXX

    85MaximXX Member

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    you could always paint it gray and let that dry well at least a day. THen hit it with the blue and wipe the edges off with a sprong damened with paint thinner. lightly wipe while wet the blue will come off easy and the grey will remain.
     
  12. Crazyd

    Crazyd New Member

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    I Think the roller idea would be the best bet for a clean accurate paint job, Like Hillsy suggested engine enamels works good and transfer heat well. back to where you said you were going to paint in the winter be sure to paint it in a well heated dry room other wise you may come across bonding issues.
     
  13. PainterD

    PainterD Active Member

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    I hand painted my engine with high temp BBQ paint (flat black) and it turned out perfect. I just used a small 1/2" brush made for sign lettering (which I do in my spare time)
    Then I used a Dremel tool to etch XXXXXXX along the outside of each fin (time consuming) and it looks pretty cool and gives the engine a bit of sparkle against the black backround.
    You can kinda see it but the light doesn't do it justice in this photo:

    [​IMG]
     
  14. jswag5

    jswag5 Member

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    ill have the engine set up in the paint booth in my home(aka the spare bathroom with tarps and plastic laid out everywhere). like 85maximXX sugested i will paint the gray, let it set up for a few days then paint the blue. while the paint is still wet i will take paint thinner across the edges to remove the blue. seems about the simplest.
     

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