So, my engine is all apart, timing cover heads oilpan valley covers intake everything is seperate. Everything is all clean and some parts are even primed ready to be painted. My question is, should I wait to put everything together and then paint it? Or is it better to paint it part by part then put it together? I'm guessing it may look better if I do it the second way? Thanks.
Well I'm planning on painting everything ultimately, just wondering if it is a better idea to do it while the peices are off rather than on
Ive always painted the long block as a unit and done the intake and other bolt on stuff separate. that way you can detail in diff colors if ya wanna add some contrast.
I painted my short block this past weekend. I prefer to have everything painted separately as it adds the little details, such as clean gaskets, etc. My oil pan was already painted, but I needed a good way to keep paint out of the bottom of the motor, so I stuck some newspaper between the block and the pan, tightened the pan, then taped the rest of the pan to protect it. I also put the timing cover and oil pump on to cover the timing chain (so not everything is painted separately, I guess). I used the old water pump and some newspaper to cover what else I didn't want painted. Lastly, I took the two thin cardboard inserts that came inside the engine gasket set to cover the top of the engine. I used the head gaskets to trace them to fit over the top of the cylinders because there is a portion of the block that is exposed after the heads are put on. (I'm actually using aluminum heads that will cover this area, but they will still be somewhat exposed to the elements due to the shape of the gaskets and I don't want any rust). Anyway, here's the result. I used two coats of high-heat primer, then three coats of Krylon 2114. The hardest part was getting the back of the block painted with the engine stand in they way.
Adrian, unless you plan on painting some items different colors, I'd wait until it was assembled and paint everything together. That's how I did it - fully assembled sitting on the stand.
I paint it both ways. I do timing cover & wpump, oil pan, etc, then hit um all again once assembled to get the gaskets and such.
Assembled, prepped, ready to paint: <a href="http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q299/moleary70/05-10-09%20update/?action=view¤t=455build011.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q299/moleary70/05-10-09%20update/455build011.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> Painted, ready for detail: <a href="http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q299/moleary70/05-10-09%20update/?action=view¤t=455build018.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q299/moleary70/05-10-09%20update/455build018.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> Painted, ready for detail: <a href="http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q299/moleary70/05-10-09%20update/?action=view¤t=455build015.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q299/moleary70/05-10-09%20update/455build015.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><a href="http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q299/moleary70/05-10-09%20update/?action=view¤t=455build057.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q299/moleary70/05-10-09%20update/455build057.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> Detailed, ready to drop in: <a href="http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q299/moleary70/05-10-09%20update/?action=view¤t=455build4.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q299/moleary70/05-10-09%20update/455build4.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> <a href="http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q299/moleary70/05-10-09%20update/?action=view¤t=455build040.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q299/moleary70/05-10-09%20update/455build040.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
