Need to prep my engine bay for painting.. the engine is out and Im going to have it painted Satin black with a nice gloss finish before I put the new engine in but I need to do some prep work first before I take it in to get painted so I have a few questions.

Whats a good Engine degreaser to use?

What Grit sandpaper to use to remove paint/rust combo?

What Primer to use after paint and rust is removed?

Thanks for the help

 

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As far as engine degreaser, it doesn't really matter. I use Carb and choke cleaner, that works pretty well. After you degrease everything, you will need to use a good wax and grease remover on the entire surface. PPG's DX 320 is good for this. Then I would use 320 grit wet/dry sand paper to sand everything, and use a scotchbrite pad everywhere you can't sand with the paper - leave NO shiny areas! Then clean everything again before priming. As for primer, I would use PPG's DP90 epoxy primer, it has excellant adhesion, and will provide a good base to paint over.

Are you wanting a semi-gloss or satin engine bay? If you are, then painting everything satin black, and putting a gloss clear over it will make it GLOSS black, not satin black. If you are wanting satin black, then either use a single stage semi-gloss black, or put a flattening agent in the clear to keep it from getting glossy. Clearing over satin black will make it gloss black, so it kind of defeats the purpose. Besides, all basecoats are flat until you clear them. The clear is what makes them glossy.
Good luck with everything!

 

Well it's going to have a gloss finish so I assuming it will be a flat black with a clear coat. It doesnt really matter to me as long as it looks better then what was started with.

Where can you get the primer from local parts store?

Will the same methods for removing wax off the paint of the car work for the engine bay? (Dawn dish soap)

I don't plan to do much hand work, What im going to do is use my die grinder and use a grit paper on the disc and do it that way to save time.

 

re engine bay

I would just degrease everything and wash w dawn dish soap. Give it a good wipe down w dx330. Then a good scuffing w a red scotchbrite pad should be enough. If you use anything more agressive than that you will need to put down a primer-suracer to fill in deeper sand scratches, then wet sand. ( alot of extra unecassary work) After you scuff it all out, wash w dawn dish soap, dry it out, tape engine bay off really good. Then hit it w dx330 again, and tack rag.Then spray epoxy primer 1 or two coats is enough. PPG makes it in black,gray, white etc. Let the epoxy "flash off" for about 30 mins and spray what ever color you decide to go w right on top of it.Good luck!

 

re engine bay again

Yes you can buy the stuff at most any parts or paint supply house.2nd.... Sorry.....Plan on everything by hand. It will be much nicer.

 

I would agree with doing everything sanding wise by hand. 90% of the area you won't be able to hit inthe engine bay othrwise.

 

good instructions! I'd personally put more than 1 color coat on it just so you have some room so you have room to wetsand out any problems you might run into (drips or whatever).

 

good instructions

Hey thanks for the props.......I was saying 1 or two coats of expoxy primer. Then topcoat with whatever. I would use PPG # 9248 dcc(concept) satin black. It requires an activator too, so it will be quite durable. I'd say at least 3 good wet coatsof the top coat.

 

new idea

You know I just thought of this. The other choice a guy could do is just paint the bay the same color as the car. You could use single stage urethane right on top of the epoxy primer. No need to clear coat the shine is already in the paint!

 

Ok this may be a stupid question but the car will not be painted right away can i still primer now and paint within the next month or so?

 

paint time

Generally the rule of thumb is to get the next coat of paint on within a 24 hour window. If you don't, you'll need to scuff and re-apply the (in this case)epoxy primer. If it were me I would prep bay as described earlier and just get it done over a nice weekend. take it all the way to the final color coat. Then you can tape off the engine bay before you paint on the exterior.Hope that helps you man!

 

The dawn dish soap idea is good for the initial degreasing, but I wouldn't wash it with soap and water after you have sanded, because no matter how fast you dry it off, you always run the risk of it rusting somewhere, and just because you don't see any rust, doesn't mean that it hasn't started somewhere. After you finish sanding - with 320 sandpaper, or a red scotchbrite, I would just clean it with either DX 320 or DX103.

And if you prime and then wait to paint it, you will need to re-scuff the primer before you spray the basecoat.
And like Chris said, don't mess with the die-grinder, it will take longer than you realize, and sanding by hand goes faster than you think.

And this is not really applicable, BUT I'll mention it anyway. As far as waiting to paint the bay until later, the primer will need to be re-suffed, but if you would prime and then follow that with your basecoat, you wouldn't need to re-apply the basecoat later. BUT you have to be able to keep it EXTREMELY clean during that time frame.
Primer does have a certain window in when you can topcoat it, and when it needs to be sanded, but with baescoat the reason paint companies say to clear the basecoat with in 24 hours is because in most shops there is too high of a risk of contmination if you wait, but if the car is sitting in your garage covered in plastic, and no-one touches it, the window for clearing is indefinite. That info is straight from the mouth of a PPG paint chemist, so I think he knows what he's talking about.
And when I painted my car, the basecoat was on the car over 48 hours before the clear was applied, and its doing just fine, and its been on there 3 years now.
But Colin is right, GENERALLY, you should topcoat with in 24 hours, but that applies more to catylized paints than basecoats.

 

great info

I did not know that the base window is indefinate. Thats awesome info!

 

dont forget to pressurewash the opti

 

The reason why I asked is because im not doing the painting and the appointment for the paint work isnt until mid may, There extremely busy right now and can't get it in any sooner. I was going to let them handle it all but i figured i would like to do some of it myself since the motor is out and it will save money.

Heres a pic that I used as a refrence that i want my engine bay to look like when finished. A local speed shop did this bay and cleaned it up for a customer

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I plan to relocate some wires and possibly the fuse box since im not running a LT1 anymore I won't have the powersteering to worry about either.

 

Ya, I was taught at school that EVERYTHING had the 24 hour window, so I was a little confused when my paint rep at work said that basecoat was indefinite, so when we had several people from PPG come into work and look over our process, I asked the chemist and he said the same thing.

But you are right that primers, sealers, candies, and clears - all catylized paints DO have the 24 hour window. You don't have to scuff and re-shoot, just scuff and clean.

That "indefinite" topcoating window definietly helped me out also. Especially when complex graphics are concerned.

I don't claim to know everything, I just try to help.

Good info by the way!

 

Ok well the weather is getting nice so Im going to attempt to do this over the coarse of a couple of days.

But I want to make sure im clear... It's ok to primer now as long as it's re scuffed before the paint is applied? Im not doing the painting until late may early june.

You make a lot of reference to PPG What does that stand for? Couldn't find any PPG here at the local parts store.. I have more to try tomorrow though.

Thanks guys

 

**************** I love those valve covers man, those are sharp. As far as a degreaser did you figure out what's the best stuff to use? I usually use Gunk Engine Degreaser, and cut it with water. I've used it in the past when I had antifreeze shoot all over the place, darn level sensor came out. But that stuff (Gunk) took it all off.

 

hey where did all my paint techs go?