Engine Paint: Brush vs. Rattle Can

[CTX-SLPR]

Howdy,

 

I have to pull the Turbo6 in the Franken-Riv to replace the rear main seal and have decided the black engine just gets lost in the black engine bay so I’m going Buick Green on the block and heads, “cast” aluminum on the intake, and black on the stamped/welded brackets.

 

Big question is how to put the paint on?  Of course I’m going to wire wheel and scrub the crap out of the outside of the engine to prep it but should I paint it with a foam brush out of a can or spray it with a rattle can?  Planing on going with the CARS paint, just which one.

 

Thanks

[DualQuadDave]

Spray Duplicolor FTW. Use their primer, also.  I get my paint from Classic Buicks.  Many will say it's not perfectly correct color, but it's close and it lasts. I have had bad experiences multiple times with the Bill Hirsch paint. Literally half the cans would not spray in an order of 6 or more. Got tired of it.

Edited June 8, 2019 by DualQuadDave (see edit history)

[EmTee]

x2 on Duplicolor.  I used their ceramic engine enamel spray.  I removed my valve covers, stripped and sprayed them.  For the intake manifold and heads, I sprayed some of the paint into a plastic cup and used a small hobby paint brush (~3/8").  It worked great -- the paint flowed-out nicely and looks as if it was sprayed on the cast pieces, without the fuss of masking everything for overspray.

[RivNut]

On 6/7/2019 at 11:10 PM, DualQuadDave said:

Spray Duplicolor FTW. Use their primer, also.  I get my paint from Classic Buicks.  Many will say it's not perfectly correct color, but it's close and it lasts. I have had bad experiences multiple times with the Bill Hirsch paint. Literally half the cans would not spray in an order of 6 or more. Got tired of it.

Classic Buicks just relabels Ford Green, DE1617 , and calls it Buick green.  Some time ago I posted a picture of a single nailhead valve cover painted CARS Buick green, Duplicolor Ford Green, and Duplicolor Alpine (Detroit Diesel) green for comparison.  Inside the Ford Green and the Buick green are pretty close. In sunlight, there's quite a difference.  

 

If you're going to use Ford Green, just go to your local jobber and pick up a couple of cans.

 

Ed 

[60FlatTop]

I like the Bill Hirsch engine paints. They flow well with a brush and the colors are a good match. Making me happy is not really an easy task.

 

 

I still run a 401 aie cleaner on my Riviera because the correct one covers up the good looking engine too much.

[RivVrgn]

I use POR-15. It lays good with no brush strokes and the color is (i think) spot on. Just follow the directions, clean and degrease real good and apply it with a foam brush. And as with all POR-15 wear rubber gloves or you will wear it for a few weeks.

[EmTee]

Look'n good - if I do say so myself! 

[RoadShark]

This was POR-15:

 

 

[CTX-SLPR]

Went ahead and bought two cans of the CARS spray green since it was basically the same cost as a single can of brush on and I needed door switch boots anyway.  We'll see how it turns out but since I'm painting a currently black engine its not like it'll have to match anything.

[Garysriv]

X3 on Duplicolor.  After 3 different restorations its the only paint I buy.  Doesn't clog, goes on good, and stays.