Just as the title says. Whats your technique? Assembled and paint while masked, or disassembled and masked off and paint, or some completely different way? How do you do it?

~T.J.

 

I've found painting this is easier when they are apart. The downside to that is you have to be more careful while reassembling so you don't chip your new paint. Just make sure everything is completely rust/grease/dirt free before you do anything, prep is the key to a good paintjob.

 

The way I'm doing it with the engine I'm currently building is to paint them while they're apart, masking off the sensitive areas with bristol board and masking tape.

It would seem to me that it gets into all the nooks and crannies better than doing it with the engine assembled, and you'll get better paint adhesion since the housings are also MUCH easier to clean when they're apart.

Jon

 

I leave my housings and plates nekkid. Running commando, yah.

 

Apart. Use a brass brush on a drill and go to town cleaning the hell out of the thing. Then mask off the sides and shove some paper towels inside the ports, and your golden.

 

I plan on doing the same with the 13b I'm rebuilding right now, but if I were to paint them I'd do it while the engine is apart....

 

Me, too.

If nothing else, it's easier to mask on the flat sides, and the parts are easier to move around your workspace in case you dry in a different place than you spray, or are space-challenged. Also, less to re-do if you have an error.

 

Thats kind of the route I was planning on going, just masking the sides and going for it, but I figured I would ask. Ive ran them through the parts washer and brass wire wheeled them already, so theyre nice and clean.

~T.J.

 

I do something similar but put the plates and housings together and hold them in place with a few tension bolts. Use a pnumatic die grinder (or drill) with a brass wheel.

 

When I powder coat, I clean the housings and irons with solvent, blow dry then bead blast them, a trip to the oven to bake out the remaining oil, another blast and then a good soapy wash and dry again in the oven. Bead blasting leaves a slightly more textured surface on the housing than a wire wheel, but it creates more surface area for the paint to bond.

 

I have a glass bead blaster I bought and used for some aluminum heads I could use to blast them, and I thought about that. I was just worried about the internal surfaces, do you just tape them all off? Whats your trick there?

~T.J.

 

Yes, just tape them off. Use a box cutter or Xacto knife to get it cut exactly.

 

You don't really need to tape them off if you can control your spray angle. You do need to wash them extremely well before and after as the cavities will trap sand and introduce it into the oil and coolant after assembly. I even bead blast the coolant passages to clean them out.

 

Just sand blast the irons. Wire wheel the housings. Paint the irons. I have found that the paint stays on the irons better than the aluminum housings. I have always used engine enamal paint. Here is some pics on my Half-Bridge.

 

i agree, a wire wheel i a drill or die grinder works well on the aluminum. i hate it when ppl paint the aluminum parts. looks better nice and shinny.

 

Im thinking black and silver like above, so if I can get a nice natural color I will keep that. I thought about clear coat too though.

~T.J.

 

If you want to preserve the shine on the housings, use DupliColor high temp clear.

 

I always use the Dupli Color engine paints for my engines, always had good luck with them. Thanks everyone.

~T.J.