Has anyone ever painted their engine bay? Guide me...

[TROLL]

Ok so I've got the Supra all apart and I'm trying to not try to do every single thing in the world to it right now, there's always time to work on all the odds and ends later, but I'm starting to think that while the engine bay is pretty bare I should paint it just to keep things looking fresh. The engine and trans are still in, but most everything else is out so the inner fenders / strut towers are bare, and so is the firewall.
I know I wont be able to paint 100% of the bay with the engine in place, but I should be able to get great coverage on the inner fenders / strut towers which are the most visible part, and also get some coverage on the side of the frame rails and some on the firewall as well.

Now... my big question is... can I use spraypaint and end up with good results? I've read it both ways... a lot of guys spraypaint their bay with Krylon Satin Black or Eastwood Underhood Black or something similar and the results look great and they say they're happy, but how well does this hold up 1, 2, or 5 years down the road?
The goal here is to improve the appearance of the engine bay so if I'm going to do it I want to make sure that the results are a noticeable improvement on where it is currently, which isnt too bad really (just some white scratches here and there which really stick out on the black paint).

So does anyone have experience with this? Or does anyone have a professional paint setup that is portable enough that they could bring it to my car to spray on automotive paint?

Thanks in advance oh wise and diverse TSTers...

[CarbonIS]

don't use krylon, it is latex based and melts under high temps.

[TROLL]

Ah, good to know. I've been leaning toward the Eastwood Under Hood Black... because after all, thats what it is designed for.
The fact that some guys say they have good luck with Krylon is the exact reason I want to doublecheck all of this... they probably have no idea what they're talking about or their standards are lower than mine on what a 'good job' is.

[CarbonIS]

rustoleum is really the best off-the-shelf spraypaint to use for automotive purposes, it is enamel based
and tends to bond much better with metal than something like krylon. You can also increase the chances
of the paint bonding if you use a self-etching primer, which can be found in automotive catalogs as well as
some home improvement stores. The only issue with rustoleum is you need to be careful of your surroundings
when you spray it because it gets overspray EVERYWHERE

I'd be interested in seeing how the eastwood stuff would work out, I don't really know anything about it.

[Renegade_]

Rustoleum works really well if you apply it well. I used it for patching up spots in my engine bay and if you take your time with it it comes out really smooth. I sanded the area I wanted to spray (not really necessary, but hey) and sprayed a few coats and the **** shines. Put a layer of clear over it and you'll be in even better shape

[TROLL]

I wanted to ask you, the self etching primer... would I still use that if I'm painting over the original paint and primer, or is it only for bare metal?
I plan to just scuff up the existing paint a bit and go over top of it... from what I'm told the best primer the car will ever see is the original so you should leave it on there.

[evomike]

Well you'll need self etching primer over bare metal, you can get good results from spray paint if you take your time. But if you don't wanna do that go buy a $40 spray gun and a gallon of single stage black. That'll be enough that if you mess up you can redo it, and its cheap enough.

[TROLL]

I've got a 26 gallon compressor which I was told really isnt big enough, and I dont have any of the filters or any of the other proper equipment.
If someone with the proper equipment and osme experience wants to come help me out with this then lets talk about it... I'm all for getting some proper automotive paint in there if I can, I'm just not trying to make it a long, drawn out, expensive project with everything else I have going on with the car.

[93EGY8]

PM 95_GSR on this one..his bay work is incredible

[TROLL]

actually i sent him a message earlier today. he's not all that close but i'm interested in talking to him about it.

i'm really torn between doing a million projects on the car right now and having it take forever vs. just getting the important stuff done now to get it done and on the road quicker but still leave some projects on the table. i've decided to not try to do everything right now because if so the car wont be on the road for a long time... but i do think that trying to get some paint in the engine bay right now while everything is apart is a good idea though.

[evomike]

I can't send pm's from my phone but feel free to pm me, I have done thousands of bays. Your compressor would be big enough I could bring my guns over and we could do it in a few hours if you want. Let me know.

[TROLL]

ah i'll just respond here then for now instead of PMing you... you do paint work? i didnt know that... but yeah if you've got the experience and the equipment then lets talk about it for sure.
i'm a perfectionist so i'll warn you now . but it is the engine bay and its not quite as crucial as the exterior of the car so i'm not gonna be totally insane about it.

[evomike]

Yeah for 10 years now, and I'm sure you've probably seen my work. I painted ryan turks car he drove last year the candy red s13. But yeah let me know I'd be down to help.

[TROLL]

awesome... sounds good. i'm actually probably going to end up needing a panel or two painted down the road as well, but i'm not worrying about that stuff just yet.
i'll shoot you a PM with my number and you can just give me a call when you have a chance to talk. if possible i am looking to do this soon though so i can continue on with getting the engine bay back together.

[evomike]

That's fine let me know

[TROLL]

still waiting for a call from evomike and 95_GSR....

:twiddles thumbs:

[Eclipse GSX 61]

Don't waste your time with do it yourself. Look around for the best pricing on powdercoating. It'll save you the hassle later. Or you can get parts polished whatever you prefer.

I know JNZ has their new JNZFinishing of powdercoating and polishing.

[TROLL]

i'm talking about the bay itself, not parts of the engine .

i am learning to polish myself though, i have the proper tools to get it done, but yes from what i've seen so far its very time consuming, so i'm going to save that for later. get the car running first, then polish spares in my extra time and swap them into the car. if i bail on the polishing though then i will get some stuff powdercoated...

[Vince@R/TTuning]

Ive painted a few myself, its not to Bad...i have just the standard moisture filters on my compressor and everything seemed fine. every paint company has a pretty standard single stage black they sell. I have had good results with Sikens Rally Black, if you do the majority of the prep work and most of the taping i cant see a body shop charging you that much to shot it...i have a one i deal with if ya want their names...