Engine painting.HELP!

[stcin7]

I finished tearing my bike down last week so i'm starting to prep parts for powercoating and painting. I'm getting my trans cover, engine covers, ect. powder coated black. my engine with be bare or painted silver but I wanted to paint my barrel black.

So my question is, would it be a problem to paint the barrel black without taking the engine apart? Like if i taped off the head and tranny? And if I could, would it look shitty?
I want to go the easy route but I dont want it to be the ugly route.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Also if you have links to any other threads that might help please post them.

 

[tonyc]

I taped mine off when I painted the cylinders and it worked out just fine.

 

[ramman]

PM sent regarding earlier post.

 

[stcin7]

anyone else?

 

[resto]

Painting the barrels black really makes the motor stand out, in my opinion. But then, I always did have a soft spot for Triumphs.
Make sure that they are really clean ( I glass blasted mine, but had the motor out of frame) and spray on a couple of coats of black automotive brake caliper paint. Ran mine for a year and it still looks like new. Warning though, it is a real pain to mask off the head and block, lots of little curves everywhere. I have attached a pic of mine just after it was painted.

 

[visimpact]

I painted several together with no problems at all. I did complete motor gloss black and I did parts in black. Both looked good and worked fine. I sanded them. Put a light coat of epoxy on them for better adhesion and then painted.

 

[stcin7]

Warning though, it is a real pain to mask off the head and block, lots of little curves everywhere.

so did you take your engine apart or tape it? it turned out great.

 

[resto]

Left the motor intact, with the exception of taking off the side covers and tappet covers to make it easier to sand and buff. Other than that, just a lot of masking tape and newspaper. Used silver auto engine paint on the top portion of crankcase, and VHT clear on the heads and lower crankcase.

 

[stcin7]

well it turned out really good in my opinion. Ill more than likely do it the same way.
thanks for your help

 

[Spades]

Wow...both motors look great!!! Vis....what was the best method for sanding the fins?? Each one by hand or a block or ???

 

[visimpact]

I used a block. Worked out real well.

 

[TurboFarviknugn]

Vis, how is yours standing up to the heat from running ?

 

[visimpact]

Last I saw it, the heat didn't do a thing to it. Still had a decent gloss too

 

[kjliscovitz]

How do you paint it so that the ends of the cooling fins are in the polished aluminum color and the spaces between are painted?

 

[tonyc]

Paint and then file or sand

 

[brady]

VISIMPACT - what brand paint did you use on the engine?

 

[Dakota_Lew]

Yea i actually dont like to file the sides, i normally pre file it before painting and then take acetone on a Q tip and polish the fins. I have had terrible luck with files cracking paint on other builds.

 

[visimpact]

I used PPG. Any base clear will work though. I use epoxy primer first though. This is key to make sure you get excellent adhesion. Just put a light coat of black epoxy on, let it flash and go over it with base coat. Sand the fins if you are planning to have that look going and then clear it with either gloss or matte clear depending on the finish you are after. I have done many like this and they last excellent. No issues at all and the gloss holds up beautifully. Just make sure you hand sand between the fins and sand it really well. The epoxy will do the rest with bonding it to the surface.