Ok, So I wanna paint my engine cover a glossy red, with the "3.5 V6" and the nissan logo chrome. Obviously I'm gonna need high temperature paint to do so, but I can only find high temperature resistant paint in a spraypaint; which is fine, but I'm gonna need to do all in the little crevices in between the chrome letters and numbers. Does anybody know how I would do that with spray paint, or if theres a high temperature brush paint I can use? In case you can't tell, I've never spray pained anything before.. lol

 

you know what, I think I figured out an idea... I could tape off the large area around the "3.5 V6" and just use a razor blade to cut around the areas I want to paint. That'll work right?

 

Brushing paint will look awfull... will leave streaks!!

You better off spraying

 

Yes, that should work! Just be carefull with the razor blade (not to damage the engine cover).

 

yeah... or the already painted areas.. i planed on painting the raised areas of the cover first.. that way i'm never cutting on an already painted area, and cutting my paint off

i'll post pics... it's gonna look sexy with my shined and polished intake manifold

 

Has anyone else done this? it seems like it would look badass, but I want to see it before I try it

 

does the surface need to be primed or clearcoated or anything like that before i start painting it?

 

i would think it needs primed, but i'd like to know myself also before i attempt it

 

anybody?

 

It would be good to scuff up the surface a little before you painted with some 800-1000 grit paper, make sure to do it evenly. You could also pick up some sanding paste for plastics and an abrasive pad (Kept with the steel wool and stuff in Stores) Get a mild one meant for "scuffing". Once you think you've done it good enough... rinse it off really well, the water should stream off evenly. If water beads, you need to sand more. Dry it with something non lint, or just let it sit out in the sun/ hit it with compressed air or something.

It should look dull and scuffed uniformly, if it has shiny spots, back to sanding

It would be a good idea to pick up some anti-static spray because plastic attracts dust so easily (You don't wanna paint over dust ) Once that dries, spray it with an "Adhesion promoter" - It can be found at Home Depot or Lowes or whatever. Let it dry.

Once that is dry you have to decide whether a sealer or primer is better for your situation, if the part looks pretty new and doesn't have any defects... you'd be fine with going with a sealer, then a topcoat of the color fo your choice, then clearcoat. However, if you have minor scratches it may be a better idea to prime, then paint, then clear.

Let the color you want it to be dry in between coats as you may need 3-5 coats for an even uniform look, if you try to do too much on the first coat it will look like ****, so take your time and spray evenly.

Hope that helped.

 

Ive done this. I painted the engine cover merlot and chromed the letters. I've actuall done it twice. I messed up real bad the 1st time. Basiclly I washed then sanded down the cover a bit. I taped off the emblem area Then I used some black primer. Seems to bring out a better color in reds. After that I spray painted the Intake manifold cover chrome and the words chrome. I let it dry for a day. I taped off the V6 3.5 and the intake manifold area. Once everything was coverd I used some merlot auto spray paint and put about 3 coats on. I waited about 30 min in between coats since I laid them on thick. Once I got the paint lookin the way i wanted I hit the top with about 2 coats of clearcoat. I find it to be a little stronger. also the primer I used was a high heat engine primer the clear coat was also high heat engine paint just in clear.

I messed up the 1st time becuase I painted the letters last. I taped it all off but the metalic paint seems to find cracks really easy.

just dont rush the process. I decided to clay bar my car at the same time so when I got tired from using the clay I just went back to painting the cover.

I'll try to post some pics later.

 

Well, technically you can't chrome plastic letters...

My advice, to be honest, is take it to a body shop. I had painted my engine cover twice myself, and it came out nice... however, the body shop did an amazing job, and especially with the clearcoat, it helps A LOT. Get a quote. I had them do mine in Gloss Black with a Medium Red "3.5 V6" and it looks great IMO.

 

yeah, i would like to see some pics.. it sounds cool

how much did they charge you? i wanna do it myself, but i dont wanna f it up.. lol

 

my uncle did this for me. he owns a paint and body shop.

 

I want to do the same.

 

If you are still considering using a brush for the crevices- spray the can into a small bottle lid and fill it up... then brush away