Engine Bay Painting

[supplyguy]

Need fresh thought. Ready to have my car painted from red to yellow (maybe the original orange). Had planned to have engine pulled to both make way for engine bay painting (it is red) and have mechanic rehab whatever would be good to make this puppy run for a long, long time. Unfortunately the mechanic, for whom I have the utmost respect, declined to pull the engine - too much heartache given his other priorities for a car that will never be show quality. I understand. Have talked to two other mechanics who would pull the engine - for thousands more than Plan A. So I am stuck. Paint the car red, which I really don't want, and leave the engine bay a tired, old, but matching red, paint the car another color and have a clashing engine bay, or give up on painting? If I have the car painted but leave the bay red, would it be practical to paint the bay another time when the engine needs pulling after a mechanical failure? Paying thousands for engine removal on top of thousands for paint on top of thousands for repairs would have been okay had I started with a better foundation of a car, I guess. Welcome thoughts.

[Weelan]

do you have somewhere to store an engine on an engine stand? I'd say you can pull the engine with the help of a friend if possible then tow the car to the paint? Its super light, I wouldn't imagine the paint shop would mind. Save a few thousand apparently, spend time and a couple hundred. Assuming you're close to the paint shop. Maybe make buddies with the mechanic and pay him in beer to come help you pull it?

[rodman]

Need fresh thought. Ready to have my car painted from red to yellow (maybe the original orange). Had planned to have engine pulled to both make way for engine bay painting (it is red) and have mechanic rehab whatever would be good to make this puppy run for a long, long time. Unfortunately the mechanic, for whom I have the utmost respect, declined to pull the engine - too much heartache given his other priorities for a car that will never be show quality. I understand. Have talked to two other mechanics who would pull the engine - for thousands more than Plan A. So I am stuck. Paint the car red, which I really don't want, and leave the engine bay a tired, old, but matching red, paint the car another color and have a clashing engine bay, or give up on painting? If I have the car painted but leave the bay red, would it be practical to paint the bay another time when the engine needs pulling after a mechanical failure? Paying thousands for engine removal on top of thousands for paint on top of thousands for repairs would have been okay had I started with a better foundation of a car, I guess. Welcome thoughts.

Define by what you mean as in thousands more? You can RR the motor easy yourself. Its not that hard of a job. I'll be happy walk you through it. I also removed my engine a few weeks ago. I am in process of painting my car as well and I wanted the engine bay painted.

Rodman

[kmac33]

As stated, these motors are very easy to pull. If you are going to go to the expense of painting, do it right and go with the color you really want - otherwise you are going to regret it.

[TX82FIAT]

I'm going to be in the minority on this one. Pull the engine yourself and store it on a stand. Clean and paint the engine bay yourself so no tow is involved. A black engine bay is not the same color as the rest of the car. However, it does clean up the engine bay and will look good next to a color like yellow on the car. With the exception of Fiat folks, most will never question the black engine bay. This will save you dollars on pulling the engine, towing the car and overall paint job.

[Weelan]

That's a good option too, probably better cause cheaper and no tow needed.
My engine bay is black. Doesn't seem or look wrong at all.

[supplyguy]

Okay with black engine bay. Regret pulling engine myself beyond my technical expertise and out of time.....pretty sure this will lead to "For Sale - Ran well when parked". Appreciate help though and will figure out how much money I can throw at this car.

[Razooli]

The purists won't like my answer either. My car is a driver and I've done a lot of custom things that make the concours judges shake their heads and move on. So I don't do that any more. My opinion only.

My car was painted silver from the original white by the PO. They got some of the engine bay but certainly not all. So I have "white and rust" in the nether regions. OK, you pull the engine .. Then what? You've still got to remove all the stuff on the sides of the bay. As I do repairs and improvements, I'm using Eastwood's flat black rust encapsulator to cover the original white. Takes a couple coats to cover but it blends in with previous coats well.

Have the paint shop mask and shoot as much as they can on the upper bay, then do the rest in black on your own schedule. I bought some new wire clips because the 30-year old ones will shatter when you pull them out. I mask and spray, use bristle and foam brushes, daubers for inaccessible places. Concourse quality? Of course not. But it's cheap, done on MY schedule without pulling the engine. It may take me years to complete but ... So what? If the engine ever has to be removed (hope not) the I'll do matching paint.

Before I get flamed, I certainly love the look of the bays of the restorers on this forum who have pulled the engine and all the other stuff and painted everything at once. But not everyone has the money, time and desire to go thru all that.

[supplyguy]

Lynn - Very much appreciate your response. I think in all fairness the preferred mechanic was really in agreement with you - this isn't simply about pulling the engine and painting. He is worried the dozens of 40 year old clips and wires and brackets and what not will need to be displaced, likely break, have to be sourced, and perhaps is way too much trouble for a $3000 ebay car. I should also mention that although I retired from the government this week, next week I start what I expect will be a challenging more than full time job - I will have zero free time to patch together a solution. It will take all my time to put the interior back together, and my goal is simply to be back behind the wheel enjoying my car and hopefully not be in competition for "Most Challenged" again at FFO this summer!

[supplyguy]

The plan - my painter will attempt the "paint around and under and between" approach in the engine bay for little to no charge, and do better than i can with rattle can. I plan to remove everything I possibly can with some confidence I can get the things back in place (battery, horns, wiper cowl, and anything else that loosk easy) when I drop the car off. Question is do I roll the dice and let him paint the engine bay yellow to match the new color, with risk some red/orange residual paint will still show in hard to reach places, or do I ask him to paint the bay black so I can fill in with rattle can later? Thinking carpet bombing the bay in black has higher chance of looking acceptable.

[TX82FIAT]

I'd go with the black. Keeps it easy to maintain and match for future touch up.

[Weelan]

I agree, black would be better chance of covering all the orange-red and easier to touch up later if you find little spots here and there.

[supplyguy]

Thanks - will do black!