Engine cover re-paint

[andyman32]

Hiya -

My engine cover is really worn and crappy-looking. Since I'm about to do so much work under the hood, it sure would be nice to have a nice-looking hat over the thing, a little show of pride in workmanship (assuming, of course, that the car still runs after I'm through).

Yves told me that a new cover is $255; so I wondered, is it possible to just mask off and re-paint this cover's lettering?

What paint would work? Wouldn't the heat under there cause regular spray paint to degrade quickly, or even catch fire? What do you guys think about this?

[632 Regal]

regular paint would peel right off. im sure it would be possible though with some patience. Probably have to sand/scuff the old silver and then apply the new paint. Might be able to use a hard nap roller on the top and just spray the sides.

[AllanS]

With bare plastic, vinyl dye (for car seats- comes in a spray can) works amazingly well, but I haven't seen how it handles heat under the hood. It almost seems to sink into the plastic, and is very hard to get off. You have to be careful when spraying it though- the surface has to be clean, and you have to do very fine mist coats, and lots of them. Otherwise the surface will crack, or you'll get an orange peel effect. I used vinyl dye to coat the plastic face of my head unit in my last car- it was grey and didn't match the black of the e34. It gets in all the small crevices of the surface, like a very thin paint.

[632 Regal]

With bare plastic, vinyl dye (for car seats- comes in a spray can) works amazingly well, but I haven't seen how it handles heat under the hood. It almost seems to sink into the plastic, and is very hard to get off. You have to be careful when spraying it though- the surface has to be clean, and you have to do very fine mist coats, and lots of them. Otherwise the surface will crack, or you'll get an orange peel effect. I used vinyl dye to coat the plastic face of my head unit in my last car- it was grey and didn't match the black of the e34. It gets in all the small crevices of the surface, like a very thin paint.

[AllanS]

VHT makes grey... that's like a dull silver I guess... and you can get metallic silver from SEM

http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=esearch.asp&N=110&Ntk=KeywordSearch&Ntt=vinyl+dye&x=0&y=0

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/yourautotrim-store/silvermetallic.html

[casurfer911]

Just pick up a can of high heat engine enamel, you can find it at home depot/ace hardware/auto parts store for a couple bucks. Typically this paint can handle 1500 degrees, i used it over the summer painting vw engine blocks.

[andyman32]

Rock on, thanks man!


Just pick up a can of high heat engine enamel, you can find it at home depot/ace hardware/auto parts store for a couple bucks. Typically this paint can handle 1500 degrees, i used it over the summer painting vw engine blocks.

[Robin-535im]

a 50/50 solution of rubbing alcohol and vinegar, then paint it.

I had some plastic parts to prep and I went out and bought a bottle of fancy-schmancy plastic paint prep cleanser. The guys behind the counter said "be careful with that stuff, it's really dangerous. So I asked for the MSDS on it so I would know exactly what was in it.

I was using it and being really really careful for a while. Then I read the MSDS... turns out it was 50% rubbing alcohol, 50% vinegar! Talk about overpriced packaging.

Anyway - its a good cleanser for removing oily/greasy stuff for paint prep because it evaporates without a residue.

HTH

[Springfield1952]

1: I always clean the parts first with a degreaser or the 50/50 mixture Robin suggested. That way I don't sand any grease into the part. After it's sanded, I clean again.

2: Unless you're right next to the headers, the temperatures inside an engine compartment aren't THAT hot. Remember there are all kinds of stickers and plastic parts under the hood that survive the heat just fine. My point is I don't think you need paint that withstands 1500 degrees when the part you're painting won't ever see more than 150 degrees.

3: On my 530iT, I added a hood emblem to the engine cover. I drilled two holes slightly smaller than the posts on the back of the emblem and pushed it on. I like the extra color and chrome under the hood.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/curtanderson/530Engine.jpg

Good luck.

Curt.
1994 530iT
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/curtanderson/ThreequarterSmall.jpg

[andyman32]

I just picked up silver engine enamel at AutoZone today anyhow. Right now, though, this is pretty far down the list of priorities, given how many other projects NEED to be done to the thing...

What DID arrive in the mail today was my Zimmermann cross-drilled rotors and PBR ceramic pads ;) Woohoo!