Engine Paint

[oldawg]

I have someone lined up to clean and paint the 8-71s in my 58YF. He prefers to brush and, from what I can tell, it probably makes sense. Want to go with bright white. Anybody have any recomendations for which paint?

Thanks,
Greg

[captddis]

I like bright white Rustolium.

[Angela]

I like bright white Rustolium.

Me too! I made a promise to my boat that anytime an engine part comes off, it does not go back on without being completely stripped, re-primed with zinc primer, and then two coats of bright white Rustoleum. No regrets. I love to walk through the engine room and run my hand over the freshly painted parts. Even though some of them are a couple years old now...still love the feel of that paint.

[Northcott]

Can Rustolium take the heat? Also, how do you degrease the engine well enough to get good bonding?

[MikeP]

Rustoleum works fine for the engine except for the first couple of inches of the exhaust manifold at each port. White rustoleum will discolor to a dark gray in that area. Exhaust manifold paint would be better for that but I just let it discolor - it looks like a working engine!

Don't paint elec wires/hoses/cables.

[luckydave215]

Rustoleum is an oil based enamel, and as such bonds just fine to oily surfaces. You could paint a blob of grease and it would stick.
Linear polyurethane paints (Imron, etc) are awesome, but adequate prep is seldom reasonable, or even possible, in an engine room. For that reason I paint everything in my ER with Rustoleum gloss white.

[oldawg]

I thought all Rustoleum was in aerosol form...now i know different. I think there is a marine version of Rustoleum. Do I use that or just plain old Home Depot stuff? Thanks for your replies.

[Angela]

I used the Rustoleum from Home Depot a couple of years ago and it's holding up perfectly. No peeling, no melting, no flaking, no smudging - looks just as good as the day I painted it.

[jim rosenthal]

POR-15 also make an engine paint which is VERY durable and I think comes in brush and spray. Very heat-resistant. Good stuff. However, wear gloves and do not get it on your hands; it will NOT come off. Ask me how I know.

[RT46]

Rustoleum in gloss white is what i use.

brushed on with a throw away brush comes out awesome.

I even like the small cans that are only a few ounces for touch ups.

A quart is only about $11, the small cans are only about $3-4

I have not painted the mainifolds with rustoleum. The rustoleum high heat paint does not come in gloss white.