Engine dress up

Jesstzn

Jesstzn

New member
Did a little changing today .. Painting ( BTW it matches the calipers)

Before



[IMG]http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21459/p/574418_8357232328373022650_vl.jpg



After



571128_6350769917460810498_vl.jpg
 
Looking good :D tell me did you paint that your self or bought the parts.



Also is that tenis ball on the outside of the car, just curious because I used to use one hanging on a string, it helped to park in the garage without hitting anything , like the wall (car to big for the garage 6" clearance in the front ,6 "at the back):nixweiss
 
explorer said:
Looking good :D tell me did you paint that your self or bought the parts.



Also is that tenis ball on the outside of the car, just curious because I used to use one hanging on a string, it helped to park in the garage without hitting anything , like the wall (car to big for the garage 6" clearance in the front ,6 "at the back):nixweiss
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I painted it all myself .. yeep a tennis ball .. same use as yours.
 
Shoot, thats what I did wrong! I had a bowling ball hanging there...45 broken windshields later I figured something was wrong!



Looking good! Do those panel-things pop in and out pretty easy?
 
Dale DeSteno said:


Looking good! Do those panel-things pop in and out pretty easy?
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The valve covers and the middle engine cover are held on by plastic 1/4 turn type fasteners and the rest just pop off. Painting wasn't too bad .. cost around $20 Canadian
 
Wow. That's looking pretty sharp. There was a New Beetle that had their covers painted in that mirage color. Pretty sharp looking. I wish my car had those covers so I could dress it up a little more. I'm jealous. :bigups
 
Woah, did you do that with a spray can? I can never get stuff orange-peel free. :(



You polish and wax it, even wet sand it?



Good lookin'!
 
That looks great. I hate how most modern cars have so much plastic on the engine that you can't see anything. But, that red really makes it look hot. Great job.
 
AkronSi said:
That looks great. I hate how most modern cars have so much plastic on the engine that you can't see anything. But, that red really makes it look hot. Great job.
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did you use a brush on paint? and, did it smoke a lot the first few times you drove it - that's what they say will happen...
 
blankpro... no smoke at all , these parts don't get that hot.



CrxSi90 here is the proceedure I used;



1) I removed the pieces and did a thorough Dawn wash

2) Sanded with 400 then 600 but I never took all the texture off

3) Wiped it down twice thoroughly with a body shop prep solvent

4) I used Plasti-Kote Caliper paint on it ( cuz I had some) took about 1 1/2 cans.

5) I applied numerous "VERY" light coats. I found if I applied too heavy the solvents in the paint would lift oils or something in the plastic and I would get fish eyes. Prior to each coat I warmed the piece with a hair dryer and immediatly after a coat I dried it with heat.

6) After I had the color and depth I wanted I shot it with Plasti-Kote #629 Clear coat. I warmed the piece first with the hair dryer then sprayed about 1/2 the piece with a heavy clear coat and immediatly hit it with the hair dryer. This way there was no runs and it didn't seperate the color below.



Note;

I removed the fasteners by turning the piece over and using a Dremel with a burr I cut as small slot in the side of the fastener hole then slipped the fastener out.



The 3 raised lines on the valve covers I masked over with 3/4" masking tape and the tape was exactly the same width as all 3 lines. Once the tape was on secure I took a razor knife and slit off the portions of tape between the lines leaving the top of the lines masked over.



Cost $8.00 - Brake Caliper Paint

$7.00 - Clear coat

$7.00 - Prepsol ( Which I use for a lot of other paint pre cleaning.)



Time was a good part of a day and I left the parts sit for 24+ hours before reinstalling.



Body shop here wanted $250 to shoot it after I prepped it. Not as nice as jonboys which I envy. $$$ are all Canadian funds so US$$ would be bout 2/3.
 
Looks great! I have found that using a flex agent prior to the color coat when painting plastic underhood pieces like this help the paint live. I've used a couple of different products, one is call Bull Dog. This just helps the paint stick to plastic pieces.
 
No.. this isn't a bump



Just as an update .. today I did some polish testing on my test pieces then went on to the engine pieces. Menzerna Final Polish used on the Plasti-Kote clear does a great job of bringing up the final gloss. As with any spray can applied finish its not going to be as perfect as body shop sprayed but this is getting very close ..



BTW the reason I am being *brand* specific is because I know it works. Wether other brands of Hi-Temp paint/clear combos will be the same I don't know.



I also tested hot engine oil on it and there is no effect after 5 min.. Gas rubbed on it for 5 min will eventually wear through the clear but a drizzle on it with a wipe off has no effect. The paint with no clear will show some rub off with gas. I am sure just like other paint brake fluid will get to it.
 
CRXSi90 said:
Woah, did you do that with a spray can? I can never get stuff orange-peel free. :(



You polish and wax it, even wet sand it?



Good lookin'!
Click to expand...



I kind of missed your question .. To get it orange peel free I heated the plastic part and applied numerous thin layers then for the last layer I applied it very heavy to the point I thought it would run then hit it with the hair dryer to set it. Seemed to work good. Then the clear I applied I did rather heavy and used the hair dryer to set it. Came out mostly orange peel free.



Phil Orange Peel is where the paint takes on a texture just like on the peel of an orange. Sort of rough looking.
 
phil7533 said:
What the heck is orange peel?
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Orange peel is what it says. i.e have you ever looked at the skin of an orange? look at that and then on some paint from the factory and you'll see the same thing. If the paint doesn't look absolutely optically perfect that's what it is. It makes objects in the paint look distorted. The only way to remove it is either wetsanding and compounding or just heave compouding and a rotary buffer. That's the best I can put it,,,,,,,91
 
Looks good !!!!!



I may have to try the same on my 1.8t, although the V6 is a better engine to dress up.........well done
 
Dale DeSteno said:
Shoot, thats what I did wrong! I had a bowling ball hanging there...45 broken windshields later I figured something was wrong!
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That has to be the laugh of the day! Thanks, Dale!



:D
 
Upgraded my engine compartment also.........
 

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