i am going to paint my engine bay, but since i dont have the money for a paint gun, i thought i would use the engine enamel in spray cans - it would be more durable than the normal rattle can paint. my question is, if i find a spot with rust that i end up sanding down to the metal, should i prime it or just rough it up with coarse sandpaper? i ask because i assume this paint is designed for bare metal because you can use it on engine blocks.

 

use rust proof primer..
and use a self etching primer for best results

 

what is self etching primer?

 

Self etching primer is just that... it etches the surface to adhear to the metal better, and get better penetration. It's at most large hardware stores, and places with big paint sections. Unless you plan on redoing it in a year or two, primer the whole bay, not just any rust spots. Also, painting the engine bay thoroughly is quite a difficult job, you'll have to remove nearly everything in it to get to all the nooks and crannies. Make sure to take some reference pictures before you start taking things off and also while you're taking things off. Unless you have another car to look at, putting everything back can be quite difficult, especially if you're like me and it takes you a week or more to get it all done and painted.

EDIT: I forgot to mention you should take a look at Harbor Freight. They've got some nice paint guns for less than $30, and if you're lucky you can nab one on sale for $15. I've bought three, and they're really nice guns. I've had a guy that paints hotrods tell me my jobs look pretty good, and was amazed that I only paid $15 for my gun. He said if he was getting back into the business he'd probably do that too rather than spend $300 on a Devilbiss gun. Plus, when you dont clean it fast enough and paint gets dried up in the gun (especially when using Acrylic Enamel and doing a hot mix) it isn't a pisser because you can go back and get another one for $30.

 

Good advice Chris, but a $30 gun is still useless without an air compressor etc.
B- I used the high gloss engine paint. It came out shinier than regular engine paint. BTW, you dont really need engine paint to paint the bay. Oh, and I didint paint my bay with this, its the paint you see in the pic in my sig.

I am the rattle can king.
I can paint anything.

 

already got that covered there is almost nothing in my bay as im rebuilding pretty much the whole car right now. its going very slow tho because of finances.

I have an air compressor, ill have to check out these harbor frieght people, thanks for the tip

 

You mean people actually don't own air compressors?!

Chris
Who has two built-in "shop" compressors, and two roving compressors...

 

i am ordering a spray gun an sale for $13 and an air hammer on sale for $4 from harbor freight, thanks chris

 

Haha, I finally got a decent compressor a few months ago. 5hp, 60 gal upright to replace my 3hp 20 gal. Right on as brownmound would say.

 

all i have is a 2hp 6gal lol, sometimes i have to stop and let it catch up, but hey it works

 

It might be a trick to paint with it, but it shouldn't be any big deal. I used a 2gal to paint a fender, I just had to wait after each pass and let it pump up...

What paint are you going to use? If you can swing it, I would suggest Acrylic Enamel (as long as you aren't planning on red $$$$$$). It's durable as hell, and sticks like glue. I half-assed painted the engine bay on one car, didn't sand or anything but hit it with some acryli-clean, and about a year later it's still in good shape.

 

im painting it black, i didnt really have anything in mind, but since you speak so highly of the acrylic enamel i will see if i can find some of it

 

AE can get expensive. I would suggest calling some PPG, DuPont, etc. stores in your area and getting pricing. They shouldn't be too lazy to tell you what a good, cheap, black paint would cost. Stay away from metal flakes, though. They're a bitch to make look good, and are more expensive.

I think I bought a gallon of some 2002 Mazda blue and a gallon of primer for about $200. If you're planning on painting anything else, I would suggest getting a gallon of primer, otherwise a quart or so should do. Same goes for paint, a quart should do a couple coats on the engine bay and leave you a little for some touch-up later down the road. Don't take my word on volume as the bible, though. If the guys at the paint store seem like they know what they're doing (they usually do...) ask them before you buy it. Never having done it except for my aforementioned half-assed attempt, I'm not absolutely sure, just going by the fact that a quart will do the lower half of a 7.

 

Don't you also need full respirator gear with AE? And I dont mean just a filtering mask, but a true forced air fed respirator. AE is the same as DuPont Imron right?

 

Prep is a big key to a lasting paint job. Engine bays tend to get pretty grimy and greasy. My advise is to make sure it's thoroughly clean and free of any oily residue before painting. "Marine Clean" by POR-15 would be an excellent product for something like this. I use it all the time with great success! It's a water based product and you'll be able to eat off the surfaces when you're done. Give it a try.

 

I don't think so, unless the guy at the paint store was trying to get me killed. It is toxic, but not like Imron. I just use a regular old filtering mask, and I haven't gotten any more loopy or experienced any problems.

Since you brought it up, wear the mask while you're mixing the paint too. It puts out some pretty nasty smelling stuff, so I'm assuming it's toxic (gotta love that technical explanation, huh?).