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Engine: Paint or not?

Andy

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Wilmington, NC
I'm at the point with my bike that if I'm gonna paint the engine, now is the time. I was wondering if anyone else had done it, how it held up and what brand of paint worked well.

I have the side and head covers polished, so I'm either going to leave them alone or clear powder coat. The rest will be black. I think gloss black. It's all still in pieces, so I'll paint the crankcase, barrels and head as separate pieces I think.

I just used degreaser on the parts, nothing has been blasted. I really think that should be fine as long as they're clean.

Anybody have any experiences, good or bad, to share?
 
i painted my engine with Duplicolor high temp engine paint satin black held up really well my only problem was my carbs tended to leak or over flow and ruin the paint, allways just before a show too. touch ups are a bitch to get a match and smooth with out sanding a large area! i used a good degreaser the cleaned with alcahol and a fine scotchbrite pad.
 
Maybe I should stick with just painting the top end. Might keep the touch up problems to a minimum. Thanks for the tip!
 
If you clean and degrease it well and use automotive paint through a sprayer you won't have any problems with a little bit of gas ruining it.
 
I was thinking of using high temp engine paint from a rattle can. It must be the hardener additive that makes the difference in the paint from the spray gun. Something I hadn't considered. Thanks!

I see Harbor Freight has a set of HVLP guns for 50. The reviews are all good too. I'm sure I have a 20% off coupon in my paper or email today. I think I'll run over there this afternoon. I need them anyway.
 
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These ones? http://www.harborfreight.com/professional-automotive-hvlp-spray-gun-kit-94572.html If so I was thinking about picking up a set of those too. If you end up getting them, let us know how they work. If you want to go cheap on paint, tractor and implement paint with the hardener is some pretty tough stuff. I don't think they have clear but the hardener makes it a little more glossy. Make sure you wear a respirator though, the chemical in the hardener is nasty stuff. I painted an old car once with that stuff once and it only cost like $35 or $40. Sure it's not as nice as expensive paint, but it's a hell of a lot more durable than spray paint.
 
Those are the ones. I got them for 40 with a coupon. I'm not a pro painter but I'll give you my .02 worth once I try try them.

Tractor paint will be fine for the engine. Just want it blacked out and looking nice. Durability is key on the engine. IMO.
 
I'm thinking about giving ceramic header paint a try. I figure it would have to be hard and at least a bit chemical resistant.

Anyone tried that?
 
I'm thinking about giving ceramic header paint a try. I figure it would have to be hard and at least a bit chemical resistant.

Anyone tried that?

I have used ceramic paint from Caswell Inc. good company paint is hard to get an even coat. They also have a great product for sealing gas tanks its an epoxy type and isnt efected by ethenol fuels
 
I just clean my engine with brake cleaner and a brush, blow it off with compressed air and spray on some high heat paint . Did that two years ago and just redid it when I rebuilt the top end to pretty her up a bit .Keep in mind my bike is a bit of a rat
 
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