first coat of colour on, with engine lying on primary casing. going to wait two hours, then turn engine to rest on horizontal cylinder head bolts. then spray the other side. then wait another two more hours. update with pictures at 12:00
Oooo, its exciting. Gonna have to wait till next year to paint mine I think, wanna get it on then in frame and cure with little time in between.
well, it took a little longer than I thought to do the colour coat - the heater i left in garage had cut out and it was cold. So I had to wait for it to heat up again. Here is the result so far - lacquer to go tomorrow night. and another... This has the Halfords glitter spray on it over Simoniz Wheel Steel. I was worried about the temperature issue, but did not like the grey/silver VHT option. I realise I could have waited and ordered something of the net, but I really need to get on with it now! So... I looked at the chemical composition of the VHT paint and the Wheel Steel (you can get the safety data sheets from Halfords website MySDS ) I found that they were close to identical - so that is what I have gone with. To be honest, my biggest worry is that I used the wrong degreaser - I found a specialist pre paint degreaser when I was in halfords, but that was after I had acid etch primed! I used a mixture of chain clean and contact cleaner. Worried that this will have left some hydrocarbons behind and the paint will just slip off at the first chance. If I was strating again, I would have used Halfords Surface Cleaner (or similar http://www.halfords.com/motoring/paints-body-repair/rust-removal-treatment/halfords-surface-cleaner-300ml Then Halfords enamel paint adhesion promoter (or similar) Halfords Enamel Paint Adhesion Promoter Spray 300ml
I agree, I hope your paint stays on just fine, mine didnt hence the reason Im doing it again. Thanks for the tips though i will get some of that stuff. I dont think you would need the promoter if you used etch primer though?
I was thinking promoter instead of etch primer just about to finish the 500ml can of lacquer. This will be sixth coat. Surprised at how slow the gloss is to build up. Coming now. Will need another can!
ran out of lacquer on the last coat, will go buy the 'high gloss' lacquer for the last few coats. time to own up - i made a silly decision yesterday - i like the images which show some variety of finish on the casings - to pick out details such as lines and circles - like this one... so - i thought i could sand off the colour layers already applied before starting to lacquer... well, it did not go well - the dremmel attachment i was using had too rough a grade sandpaper, so I have rough lines. and the aluminium is not enough of a contrast to the colour i have chosen. I stopped at the three lines on the near side casing. hopefully they will not be a weakpoint for the weather to get under the paint. here is a picture of the engine warming before its sixth coat of lacquer, but it dosen't really show the surface. glad i added the sparkles
Well, going to get the new lacquer was a BIG MISTAKE. i'm not sure what the problem was... either I put it on too thick (because I was used to the other spray nozzle) or it reacted with the earlier type. The result was a crinkled appearance, like I had wrapped the engine in cling film (badly). I made this a bit worse by immediately trying to rub it off! So - I have rubbed it down a bit, and re-sprayed it with colour coat where it was most badly affected. There are areas where it is OK. It is a bit of a shame that the finish will not be as I hoped, but this is a learning curve, so not a complete loss.
OK, so I prepared the heads for the blasters. I tried to get the anti-vibe spacers out from between the fins, but they are stuck fast. I did really try, honest. When I got to the blasters, they suggested dipping them in the acid bath. As I was concerned about the rough surface that blasting might have produced, I agreed. This was a good, and bad, decision... They came up brilliantly clean after just a few minutes, all for £30, and the anti-vibe spacers remained intact and in place. The bad news was that the cam bearings are knackered - oh well. I removed the valve covers and cam shaft holding caps (they are going to be silver). I then painted the heads with VHT black, two tins, from Halfords. I then baked them in the oven for a few hours (perhaps a bit too long). I put them in the warming oven first, then after an hour moved them to the hot one for a further 2-3 hours). They were scarily hot and the oil film on the inside carbonised [EDIT: WARNING - this carbonised oil in the heads caused lots of problems later on - it blocked the oil passages - DO NOT HEAT THE HEADS THIS HOT] One thing I have learnt is that aluminium foil tape is brilliant for masking, as it is rigid and holds an impression that can be cut round. It is easier to remove BEFORE baking in the oven though! [EDIT: I have since found out that this VHT paint is not resistant to petrol - it needs lacquering][/QUOTE]
Its all a learning process for me too as I messed up last time and will do mine after yours is finished so I can try and get the best results I can following this awesome thread
I think I learned my lesson regarding engine paint / lacquer........... The 80's Guzzi taught me not to do it..........so much easier to leave it as sand cast finish and chuck a bucket of water over it if it was used in salty conditions, but when it got grimy, just slapped Gunk over it, scrubbed it with a brush and blasted it with cold water. OK, polish castings that can be got at and maintained easily, but for the main lump I would now have it shot blasted or similar.
just trying out my new phone let's see if this picture of my barrell uploads. Clearly needs painting now the dishwasher has done it's worst!
The brings back memories of painting my 900 monster engine 3 years ago. Ducati John had it stripped for replacing the cylinder studs and I painted the bits whilst it was apart. I Used Simoniz VHT aluminium engine paint. Excellent stuff! And still looks good.
This was due to the lacquer not being compatible with the paint, right? Use the same format for both coatings and this does not happen.
OK - I have been off this thread far too long. First day of my holiday - so I finished the primary casing and alternator cover off in gloss black (Vauxhall Diamond Black - Halfords). The valve covers and camshaft holding caps are now silver (Halfords again). These were first acid etch primed.
