Painting motors

[chevy_power427]

I have seen people that painted their automotive engine blocks and heads. Does anyone have a procedure for this, and it is something that might last with the temperatures.
Also will the same procedures if there are any would apply to a aircooled motorcycle engine? VHT paints might look okay in an engine block when it's all dressed up, but color choices are limited, and for a motorcycle engine, I don't think I would like the result.

 

[JWolfe]

Put epoxy under it and you can about use anything with good results. I personally use acrylic enamel and ss urethane with good results

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

Anyone ever use the SPI epoxy on the inside of a motor in the crankcase area. For years I've seen where guys use glyptal and even rustoleum. I would think with the adhesive properties of the epoxy it might be a good choice. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[bill3337]

I ground and prepped up my small block Chev, coated with 2 coats of epoxy, three coats of high build blocked nice and flat, sanded to 600 grit wet, 3 coats of base and 3 coats of clear, turned out real nice and still looks like new after over 35,000 hard driven miles, including quite a few 1/4 mile runs.

 

[Barry]

Anyone ever use the SPI epoxy on the inside of a motor in the crankcase area. For years I've seen where guys use glyptal and even rustoleum. I would think with the adhesive properties of the epoxy it might be a good choice. Anyone have any thoughts?

I disagree with doing anything inside a motor block like this, all it takes is one spot to come loose and its good bye engine.
Not long ago the yahoo on TV that does the mopars had an engine distroy itself and they had paint over-spray inside the heads, seems to me the engine had a couple hundred miles on it.

 

[Brad J.]

I use Glyptol on transmissions and aluminum oil pans on cars of the teens. Run them through a hot tank at the transmission shop to chean them out first. Those old castings are so porous it's the only way to keep them from weeping oil.

I can't see any need to use it on a modern engine. (30's-current).

When I paint engines I like to get the block/heads hot tanked at the machine shop. Removes the crap. Then a couple coats of epoxy on the bare heads/block. I then assemble the engine, go over it with scotchbright and 710 followed by waterborne. Takes some extra time but sealing the block/heads with epoxy first doesn't let the grease/oil soak into the metal during assembly.

Tip- soak the engine fasteners in 710 to remove grease. Blast the head with 80 grit aluminum oxide, stick in a cardboard box and spray a light coat of epoxy over the head. The epoxy will really bit into the textured finish. Really helps if you have to remove the bolts later. The paint stays on the bolt.