Engine paint

[nobears]

What all needs engine paint and what can I just use regular old spray paint on? As I’m building a new motor anyways I may as well shoot a coat if the good ceramic engine paint on it. I know block and heads need engine paint but what about oil pan, front cover, balancer, accessory drive, and water pump?

 

[b454rat]

Make sure they are all super clean, grease/oil free, mask off any parts don't want painted, then paint with whatever color you want.

 

[Erik the Awful]

Clean the block good and tape off all the ports and bolt holes. Spray a good etching primer on the bare metal. Then shoot it with either 'engine paint', or regular body paint. You don't even need special 'high-temp' paint. On some of my older engines I just cleaned them and used VHT engine paint. It doesn't look terrible, but doing it right would have lasted longer and looked better.

Of course, with WCJr I just left the block how it looked after I wire brushed it clean. I'm going a bit incognito with it, so the old, dusty and rusty look is fine. The headers are obvious, but everything else is a bit stealthy.

 

[nobears]

Im gonna have the block and heads batted at the machine shop so only prep they should need is a good wipe down with brake cleaner.