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.

 

[Dan Mapes]

Zinc primer? Is that Rustoleum or a special primer?

 

[Jasper]

My 12v71n engines are painted white, they look terrific......BUT, what a PAIN when you need to work on them.
Firstly there is the paint chips that get into every tight spot and worst of all, the last owners primed the parts so well that most the part numbers are either non existent or can't be read.
So yes, I will repaint them when needed but make sure I leave the part numbers legible.

 

[Rich Kuehne]

I did the 454s with POR, but it was spray. Been a few years and the white looks good. Local car shop had some 1500 degree white but it is showing some black on the intake manifold.
Rich

 

[sandspur1966]

I use the Por15 products.

They have terrific primers cleaners and top coats that I did the bilges, motors and ER walls with this spring. In particular I like their rust lock product.

http://www.por15.com

 

[jim rosenthal]

Great stuff, but like I said, DON'T get it on your hands. It takes weeks to come off....their engine paints are VERY durable.