What to avoid when spraying engine?

Hey guys, going to be painting my engine on my xj 650 Maxim soon using vht spray paint, what do I have to avoid when spraying I've been told about the valve covers, and if anyone has a link it would be greatly aprecciated. Thanks!

 

Paint on bolts is no fun. Q tips work great for removing excess paint in socket screws so you can remove them later. If you have YICS engine don't paint around valve cover bolts( they will be hard to remove and ruin paint later) paint valve cover off the engine. Same goes for filter cover and any other part that come s off for servicing.

 

I plan on doing this too soon so let me know how it goes. I have done it before on a different bike though.

Some folks here would tell you to take everything apart and paint it off the bike - that's probably the "right" thing to do but in the real world not everyone has this luxury with time and money. You can get decent results but the key like with any spray job is preparation and to take your time especially time between primer and coats. Remove any attached hoses or mask them. Mask of sections and paint them in blocks as though they we taken apart. Remove plugs and use a short blanking bolt helps. Try and be as accurate with your masking as possible, take time and use gorilla tape on areas that normal masking won't stick to such as the nuts. You probably have some surface rust. You can order replacement nuts and bolts and swap them out one at a time too after - or during if you really want to take that time. Take off anything you can to make it easier. rear brake lever etc.

Obviously you're probably planning on using the VHT high-heat engine paint and the primer. You'll want to get it as clean as possible so get rid of any oil, dirt and virgin blood. You can use brake cleaner, soap and water and a toothbrush and Q-tips (wear a mask).

Protect your front brake caliper and disk with an old t-shirt - just for good insurance against being a dumb-ass.

Start painting from the bottom up so you can get the underneath without caring too much about over-spray up, even though it should be masked.

Then it's just basic rattle-can spray painting techniques for both primer and top coat. Not sure how much you've done of that so forgive me if I'm telling you stuff you already know.

• Mask, gloves and good ventilation and remove pets, pet food, kids and homeless people away from area.
  
• Always start with a tack coat - very light - lighter than you think it should be. Just a very fine misting in 1/2 second controlled bursts. Let it almost dry.
• Then do one pass from about 8 inches away - spray in burst in one direction, start from outside your spray area and go across to outside the other side and stop spraying. Max 1 second bursts of spraying.
  
• Do this in lines all in the same direction and don't try and overlap. You won't cover it all, this is ok. Let it dry EXACTLY the right amount of time it says on can for second coat and do the same thing again in the opposite direction and try and hit areas that you missed first time. Let it dry again the right amount of time.
• Do this again if need be but 3 coats should be enough. That said 4 nicely laid down thin coats are better than 2 thick coats. Just build it up.
  
• Don't be tempted to rush and "fill-in" any spots you missed - you will make a run. Just leave it, let it dry and then do another smaller passover as above.
• I recommend letting the primer dry overnight before color coat regardless of what it says on the can - it will cure better - do all you priming first.
• When done - do not remove masking until it's completely cured.
  
• Always have a clean wet rag on hand to wipe off any mistakes quickly and do-over.

 

get a box of this stuff

https://www.glad.com/food-storage/plastic-wrap/press-n-seal/
thank me later

 

Polock, that's genius!