What color for engine tins? Options

[stugray]

Ok, never got an answer about the two fan shroud options above.

However, I decided that powder coat was not in the budget, but the shrouds are stripped down to the original plating and ready for paint.

I bought the "High temp engine paint" (usually used for headers) in flat black and am getting ready to paint today.
Any suggestions? I had the option of "engine paint" which said it was good to 500 degrees, but that sounded a little close to air cooled engine temps for me to trust.

I have been told that charcoal lighting fluid is the best for removing grease & wax, but I have almost any other paint prep chemical to be found.

What does everyone consider the very best to clean the metal with right before paint?

Stu

[reharvey]

Gloss black and silver. It's the best!

[my wife hates my car]

So I am planning on having my engine tins powder coated, and I cant decide what color would look the best.

This is for a stock looking vintage race car so there is some desire to keep it looking original.
It will have dual webers.
However the stock semi-gloss would make the engine bay look darker and make it harder to spot oil leaks.

The outside of the car is currently silver.
The engine bay is currently gold/champagne.

I eventually plan on painting the entire car viper green, or Chevy Synergy Green like Mikey914s sawtooth but probably not for a few years.
So a color that is compatible with all three would be desirable.

Also, for the fan shroud, should I have it painted to match whatever color the tins are, or leave it looking stock?

I have one fan shroud that looks like it just came off the showroom floor.
Maybe have that one clear coated?

Thoughts?

Also, any pictures of engine bays with different paint schemes would be great.

Stu

Hey Stu,

I went with Flat Black powder coat on my metal and like the look. If you want the "Stock look" there is always gloss black.

Take a look at my pic and see what you think.

Best,
Terry

Terry, how do you get the engine case /fan shroud so clean & shiny? I am in the middle of rebuilding my 2.0 (in pieces laying on the garage floor) & just wondering, is it just clean, or do you guys spray something on there? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/WTF.gif)

[IronHillRestorations]

I don't like flat black. It's harder to clean and always looks like primer to me. Like McMark, I prefer satin black. Duplicolor makes a pretty decent high temp satin black.

[StratPlayer]

I'm going to coat a set of tins in black chrome will post the pics when their finished

[euro911]

Then tins on my new 2056 are powder-coated semi-gloss black. After going through all the trouble bead-blasting everything, I thought it was worth the extra cost over paint.
Fan shroud and transaxle are high-temp gray paint.




Some nice looking engines out here (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)


Use a drill motor with circular wire brushes on the case if you want to get it looking nice and clean. It also gets rid of the spiderweb casting marks.

I went for wrinkle black back when I had a /4. It looks really clean in the engine bay, and has a nice texture to it. These pictures don't really do it justice.

I remember us hoisting that out of there (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif)

[Ed_F]

Like what others have said, black is your best bet. I learned this many years ago from T1 people who were dumping aftermarket chrome engine tin to go back to black.

[ellisor3]

I did black chrome tins in powder coat, and body color for shroud and love it

[ellisor3]

I did black chrome tins in powder coat, and body color for shroud and love it

[CG-914]

Just make sure you powder coat!
Everything else does not work in the long run!

[StratPlayer]

Everything here is powdercoated

[Mikey914]

BK-08, semigloss black nice.