engine paint

[fmichaels]

a local machine shop is rebuilding my 67 AH engine and doing a great job i might add. how do i go about painting the engine and what stages of rebuild do i have to consider the various painting steps? also for item such as the fan blade, can these items be powder coated? i know powder coating is durable but requires heat that some metals might warp under. in the end i want an engine that isn't just spray painted to chip at first touch.

 

[John Loftus]

I'm having my big healey engine rebuilt and will be using Hirsch engine paint. This is a very high quality aircraft engine paint. https://www.hirschauto.com/ I'm not sure if they have your colors but you might want to check. Anyway, the procedure I'm using is this. After the engine is rebuilt and sorted out on a test stand I will do a final degrease on the motor. Any of the stamped steel parts (valve cover, timing cover, side covers, pan, etc.) will be removed or taped off and primed with high heat primer. The cast parts (block,head) do not require any primer. The manifold will get a coat of exhaust manifold paint. Then the whole engine will get sprayed with the Healey green paint from Hirsch. They recommend a 2 week cure on the paint before starting the engine.

I'm not having any parts powercoated. My concern with powder coat is being able to do touch ups. Seems that it would be difficult to do if you do get some chips or other problems.

Cheers,
John

 

[George Zeck]

I had my re-built / painted / etc from Eric Jones from Delaware, OH (ex-MG-Columbus guy). It's a great job. He's also done work for a couple of buddies. All are happy.

Call him and mention I sent you there -- he'd be happy to give you a pointer or two. 740-363-2203

f you'd like a pic to see his work: gzeck@email.com and I will send you some. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hammer.gif

Tx-

George Zeck
1964 Sprite

 

[spritenut]

For the correct color (58 thru 67) BMC engine paint, email Paul Asgeirsson <pasgeirsson@worldnet.att.net>
I powdercoated my fan and some other parts, no warping.
And it is very durable.
For a correct paint job (in my opinion) paint everything separatly. Thus showing unpainted gasket edges.
It is easy enough to touch up any chipped nuts and bolts by spraying some paint in a cup and using a brush on the knicks. I prime the sheetmetal parts, v/cover, sump, t/cover and front and rear engine plates. Not the cast parts.

 

[fmichaels]

thanks for the advice. for the most part, the engine is still in enough pieces to be able to paint it as you have mentioned. thanks again!

 

[sfovc2003]

John:
Which Hirsch color are you using and is it identical to the Healey green that came from the factory? My engine is ready for paint, but I was just going to use the Moss paint. The Hirsch product sounds better.

 

[John Loftus]

Tony,

They have the Healey green color as a drop down in the menu when you order. I haven't opened the can yet to check the color but this paint has gotten good reviews both in color and durability from the concours types on the Healey list so I'm sure it will be fine.

Cheers,
John

 

[fmichaels]

just a quick follow up on the engine paint from hirsch. the austin healey green is actually a sparkly metallic green for the larger healeys and is not the olive green that we are used to seeing. oh well! i was looking forward to using hirsch since their paint is high quality. thanks for the site anyway. looks like moss may be my next stop!

 

[Tullamore]

Except that the later Sprites such as my 69 had their engines painted the metallic green.

 

[fmichaels]

good point, i was only familiar with the 67 and earlier engine color schemes. would have been nice to have the olive green available though. hirsch said they have only a limited request for the metallic green as it is so mixing the olive green would not be cost effective. sooo if everyone asks for olive green ..... thanks again for the help

 

[dklawson]

I thought the A-Series engines (4-cyl.) were painted what my Australian friends have affectionately called "hedgehog puke green". This has no metallic and is a darker olive green. If you're painting the engine yourself, do it in pieces as suggested. I was very pleased with the results I got using the THICK engine enamel from POR-15. This is not the urethane type coating used by POR for rust prevention, it's a very, very thick enamel for one or two coat coverage of blocks. Brush it on castings, spray it on things like valve covers. In spite of what they tell you, don't thin it with their solvent, use mineral spirits. When applying a second coat, do it while the first is still tacky or wait several days for the first coat to completely dry. I like their paint.

As for the fan, I thought this was a unique shade of yellow. If you're going for a nearly perfect match, you can go to Nissan and buy the screaming yellow they used on their 4WD trucks during the past few years.

Powder coat is great but to make it cost effective you'll need to assemble a large batch of parts to coat all at once. Yes, it's heated to fuse and flow out the particles, but I believe it's only a few hundred degrees. Warpage of formed parts will be minimal and the original shape should return without problems. Using it on a block would be very expensive because of its mass. You'd have to heat the whole block up to the paint's melting/flow temperature. That would be a lot of oven time.