Painting Engine Compartment

[Namerow]

The engine compartment in my 70 Z was treated to a less-than-stellar, engine-in re-spray by the PO when the main bodywork was painted.  Incomplete coverage, quick-and-dirty masking.  I'm hoping to remedy that, but I'd like to get some opinions on how to go about it.  Here's where things stand at the moment:

• Engine is still in the car, but completely stripped.  Only the block, head, valve cover, timing cover and oil pan are still in place.
• Exhaust downpipe still attached to the main pipe.  Just hanging in open space.  Could be removed, I suppose, if it helps with paint gun clearance.
• Firewall, fender aprons, and rad bulkhead stripped pretty much clean of lines, wiring and parts.  All that's left are the fuel delivery/return line and the vapor return line.

I really, really don't want to hoist the engine out if I can help it.  Nor do I want to remove the hood.  I'll be forced to lean in over the fender on each side to do the application, leaning on the top of the valve cover for support when necessary.  The spray angles and access for the firewall and the rad bulkhead don't look too bad.  Nor do the top halves of the fender aprons.  However, gun angles for lower fender aprons and the tops of the frame rails will challenged by the engine being in the way, so the paint will need to be shot at a downward angle of about 60 degrees.

Does anyone have any hands-on experience with painting the engine compartment with the engine in place like this.  Any tips for gun choice and technique?

Also:  Any tips for getting decent coverage under the battery support bracket?

If have available a regular gun with a 1.3mm nozzle, a touch-up gun with a 0.8mm nozzle, and an airbrush.

The new paint is a dark green metallic catalyzed (two-pack) urethane.  It'll be going on top of the dark green urethane that was previously laid down by the PO (sanded and cleaned, of course).

[cbuczesk]

At this point you could have the engine out in 15-20 minutes. There's only 8-10 bolts to undo. With that out of the way painting will be much easier, better and faster.

Chuck

 

[gwri8]

I painted mine with the engine in.  I did't want to remove a perfectly running engine just to clean it up. 

Mine is more of a driver than a show car and since it is the engine bay and prone to future grease, oil and scratches, I felt like it did not have to be perfect but be better than the original factory finish.  Yours sounds like it is already at a good starting point.

Instead of a spray gun, I went to a automotive paint store and and had them mix my paint code (#240) in Acrylic and put it in a couple of Aerosol Spray cans. Much easier than getting a spray gun in there IMO. I could do the hard to reach spots like the battery tray area. You just have to be careful where the nozzle is aiming. Then I worked on one side at a time, cleaning, removing parts, and masking anything left Like AC hoses, wiring harness, etc. with masking tape and Paper shop towels.  The trick with keeping it cleanable and shiny is to clear coat. It had to be compatible with the enamel. Got that at an Automotive store.  The firewall was the hardest with the brake lines still attached. That is why I did one side at a time.

Overall, I'm happy with the results considering nothing major had to pulled.  As a bonus, I even painted the visible parts of the engine block with ford blue using the same method, I  keep an extra can of paint since there is always something to do under the hood and I can retouch or re-do something if needed.

I have posted before and after pictures on the AFM boot thread if you haven't seen them yet.

 

[madkaw]

You are so close to yanking the motor , just do it. The time you spend pulling the motor will be made up by the ease of painting an empty engine compartment.

[Namerow]

2 hours ago, gwri8 said:

Instead of a spray gun, I went to a automotive paint store and and had them mix my paint code (#240) in Acrylic and put it in a couple of Aerosol Spray cans. Much easier than getting a spray gun in there IMO.

Thanks for these notes, Greg.  I have certainly thought of going the rattle can route, for exactly the reasons you mention.  I suppose I'm shying away from it now because the body of my car has been sprayed with a non-stock green metallic and two previous attempts at colour matching (packaged in aerosol cans) by two different paint shops were unsuccessful.  I've gone to a third paint supplier (recommended by a high-end restoration shop here in my city) and had them mix up a quart can of urethane which I'm expecting (based on their reputation) to be a correct match.  While I'd intended this for use on the engine compartment and the front/corner valence pieces, I also want to have some left for possible future spot-touchups, so maybe I can reconcile putting most of it back on the shelf for that purpose.  The urethane supplier doesn't do aerosol cans, but they have listed their ingredients build on the side of the can, so I suppose I could take that to a 'regular' paint store and have them mix it up in acrylic enamel form (not sure whether the ingredients and proportions would be specific only to urethane, though).

Anybody else have any thoughts or experiences to share?

[Namerow]

2 minutes ago, madkaw said:

You are so close to yanking the motor , just do it. The time you spend pulling the motor will be made up by the ease of painting an empty engine compartment.

I know, I know (sigh) .  I'm hoping that someone will convince me it's do-able without taking that step.  As I near the end of Year 3 with this project while also holding down a full-time job, I'm getting really conscious of 'mission creep'.  Pulling the engine and then re-installing it after the paintwork will probably add two weekends of work to the project (re-and-re hood single-handed, find/prep places in my one-car garage to store hood and engine, build and then tear down engine hoist, maneuver hoist and car into correct positions, etc).  There's no doubt in my mind that 'engine out' is the 100% solution.  I'm just trying to learn whether 'engine in' will generate a 70% solution vs. a 30% solution, if you get what I mean.

[madkaw]

I think it's doable to try it with the engine in -especially since all the accessories are out of the way. Get a jam gun or even an airbrush and go for it.  You can crawl all the way in the compartment if you need to and get a better angle. 

Engine out means you can paint it easily as well as any service or paint to the crossmember . Without engine you could pull the brake lines further away from the firewall to have an easier time painting. 

[cbuczesk]

59 minutes ago, Namerow said:

I know, I know (sigh) .  I'm hoping that someone will convince me it's do-able without taking that step.  As I near the end of Year 3 with this project while also holding down a full-time job, I'm getting really conscious of 'mission creep'.  Pulling the engine and then re-installing it after the paintwork will probably add two weekends of work to the project (re-and-re hood single-handed, find/prep places in my one-car garage to store hood and engine, build and then tear down engine hoist, maneuver hoist and car into correct positions, etc).  There's no doubt in my mind that 'engine out' is the 100% solution.  I'm just trying to learn whether 'engine in' will generate a 70% solution vs. a 30% solution, if you get what I mean.

Last Monday I put the car on jack stands and removed the wheels, hood, bumper, fenders, HL buckets, some RF suspension and engine. Then I repaired the right frame and T/C rod pocket rail that were bent when an E30 BMW hit me and went over my nose. The frame was cracked in a couple places so I repaired that too. I applied some paint and called it a day. Tuesday was spent replacing damaged suspension and steering parts. Both motor mounts were sheered off and teeth were broken inside the steering rack so that was replaced. A friend came over and helped guide me with the engine installation. We quit around 7pm. My point is that if I can do all of that in a couple days I'm sure you can pull the engine in a couple days.

Chuck

 

[sweatybetty]

8 hours ago, Namerow said:

I know, I know (sigh) .  I'm hoping that someone will convince me it's do-able without taking that step.  As I near the end of Year 3 with this project while also holding down a full-time job, I'm getting really conscious of 'mission creep'.  Pulling the engine and then re-installing it after the paintwork will probably add two weekends of work to the project (re-and-re hood single-handed, find/prep places in my one-car garage to store hood and engine, build and then tear down engine hoist, maneuver hoist and car into correct positions, etc).  There's no doubt in my mind that 'engine out' is the 100% solution.  I'm just trying to learn whether 'engine in' will generate a 70% solution vs. a 30% solution, if you get what I mean.

3 years is a long time, and then get a so-so result that could be much better by spending a couple of extra days pulling the engine, cleaning, prepping, masking and painting.

i had a hell of a time spraying the engine compartment even with the entire car stripped. there is not enough room to stand inside without rubbing the fresh paint, and reaching every corner from the outside was also a PITA. take your pick.............