[BigDov]

Ok, i know a fair few things about the engines of the astra and things that make it tick, but when it comes to painting and whats best and clueless, so just a nice simple question,

I am planning on paining my engine cover along the lines of this photo shop, done by a member many moons ago:

but with the bottom fins if you can call them that done like auld joes van, but stilll the siver/red as above, and the lines on the name panel done silver/red :

Now my questions are these:,

1. will i have to prime the surface, if so whats best to use?
2. whats the best paint to use? was going to use some rattle cans from halfords as they stock power red and star silver as thats the colors i would like so it goes with the rest of the car, will also be getting red hoses at some point to tie it all in.

may think of other questions but can;t think of anything at the moment, forget about the fuse box and air box, they won't be getting done at the same time, may have different idea's for them

 

[harpz_s]

you myt need heat resistant paint or some form of paint that will be all right with the high temp in the engine bay
as i'm thinking that the normal paint could react to the heat and start flaking

 

[Boycie]

got it in one,

im about to start on mine, just make sure all the paint u use under the bonnet is heat resistant (Y)

 

[BigDov]

Cheers for the advice guys.

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[Vulture]

I didn't use heat resistant paint, just normal halfords primer / paint and 2K lacquer. Just make sure you let the primer dry properly before you apply the paint or else it will bubble under the heat and come through the paint / lacquer.

 

[Scotty_B]

Standard Halfords cans are fine.

Just make sure the prep is up to scratch and you'll be fine.

 

[BigDov]

I didn't use heat resistant paint, just normal halfords primer / paint and 2K lacquer. Just make sure you let the primer dry properly before you apply the paint or else it will bubble under the heat and come through the paint / lacquer.

Won't be done quickly, looking at getting a cheap engine cover off eBay then spending the time to do it properly, and allow it to dry between coats etc.

Standard Halfords cans are fine.

Just make sure the prep is up to scratch and you'll be fine.

When you say scratch you just mean score the surface with fine emerypaper to give the paint something to cling to?

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[Lashed]

Think by "up to scratch" he means "top notch / very good".

I need to redo mine, fancy a new design and adding more colour.

 

[Vulture]

Won't be done quickly, looking at getting a cheap engine cover off eBay then spending the time to do it properly, and allow it to dry between coats etc.



When you say scratch you just mean score the surface with fine emerypaper to give the paint something to cling to?

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Dont wait too long to apply the lacquer though, should apply it before the paint is touch dry otherwise the lacquer will just peel off after a while.
You want to use 400 wet and dry sand paper to sand down the rough texture.
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[BigDov]

Think by "up to scratch" he means "top notch / very good".

I need to redo mine, fancy a new design and adding more colour.

Yeah reread it again, so to prep the surface would I just wipe down using something white spirit to get rid if any contaminants on the plastic cover, the prime it? Then is is it a case of rubbing down with the wet and dry before applying the colour?

Dont wait too long to apply the lacquer though, should apply it before the paint is touch dry otherwise the lacquer will just peel off after a while.
You want to use 400 wet and dry sand paper to sand down the rough texture.
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The only problem I foresee with the lacquer is that the colours would be applied once at a time, the left to dry,the masked off for the other colour, unless there's a way to do it all in one that u havnt thought of?

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[Lashed]

I sanded my cover with 1600 wet and dry to key it before applying the primer.

Then sanded between coats, masked off the small areas and sprayed the rest.

I removed the msking before it dried fully, then let it completely dry before masking out again.

The spray the other colour on and remove the masking again before it all dries completely.

Then lacquer the lot in one go.

 

[Nimraynn]

adding more colour.

No. No more yellow. :err:

 

[Scotty_B]

I sanded my cover with 1600 wet and dry to key it before applying the primer.

Then sanded between coats, masked off the small areas and sprayed the rest.

I removed the msking before it dried fully, then let it completely dry before masking out again.

The spray the other colour on and remove the masking again before it all dries completely.

Then lacquer the lot in one go.

Exactly the way I would do it.

 

[Lashed]

No. No more yellow. :err:

You used to like my yellow bits.

 

[Nimraynn]

You used to like my yellow bits.

And I still do, but there's a limit to how much yellow one man can take :lol:

 

[Lashed]

And I still do, but there's a limit to how much yellow one man can take :lol:

I suppose, too much of a good thing and all that.

The engine bay is staying red as I've got Thurlby hoses and can't be faffed with replacing them.

 

[Vulture]

Yeah reread it again, so to prep the surface would I just wipe down using something white spirit to get rid if any contaminants on the plastic cover, the prime it? Then is is it a case of rubbing down with the wet and dry before applying the colour?



The only problem I foresee with the lacquer is that the colours would be applied once at a time, the left to dry,the masked off for the other colour, unless there's a way to do it all in one that u havnt thought of?

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

This is how mine is, what I did was spray the whole thing in the base colour, which for me was silver. Then I sprayed lacquer over the whole thing and let it dry for 2 days. Then sanded down the parts I wanted to go gloss black (only sanded off the lacquer), masked up the silver parts, sprayed gloss black and then another coat of lacquer over the whole thing.

 

[BigDov]

This is how mine is, what I did was spray the whole thing in the base colour, which for me was silver. Then I sprayed lacquer over the whole thing and let it dry for 2 days. Then sanded down the parts I wanted to go gloss black (only sanded off the lacquer), masked up the silver parts, sprayed gloss black and then another coat of lacquer over the whole thing.

Hrm, got many options, now to go source a engine cover and get this little project off the ground, thanks for the input guys. :thumbs:

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[pierced_dude]

got it in one,

im about to start on mine, just make sure all the paint u use under the bonnet is heat resistant (Y)

Hope your doing a guide with pics??!!! lol.

 

[BigDov]

ok another quick question, how important is it to have the engine cover on? Now i ask this as i was planning on buying a used cover but they are going for around 20-30 quid, not including delivery, and in my eyes paying 30 quid for something thats not going to be on the car for any length of time it pretty pointless, so was thinking of just using the current one, but obv take it off and spend a good amount of time doing it, only really have a few days off a week and don't want to rush doing it in those few days, so is the cover only there for show of does it perform some sacrificial duty to protect the top of the engine?