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Engine Paint

R

Rodd

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Antelope, CA
I am seeing different paint on everyones engine projects. What type of paint is being used for the intakes, turbos, blocks, headers, etc.? I'm thinking the headers get some type of ceramic paint due to heat but not sure. And does the header ceramic paint work as well as header/exhaust wrap?
 
Most DIY paints are definitely a "looks good for the TTS picture" only effort. It all comes down to the prep and product. Even the ceramic coatings on the exhaust manifolds by 'professional' shops failed which, in hind sight from reading more info after the fact, is my fault because my prep wasn't sufficient. Chris can explain it better.
For the cooler parts on the motor such as intake manifolds and turbo compressor housings I've used both engine paint and powder coating. The powder coating gave the best results and cleans much easier.
 
Thanks guys. I was wondering if anything that I'm seeing in peoples pictures serves a purpose other than visual.
 
Yeah the pro coatings are the best, but when someone can’t afford that option, Longest lasting paint would be good info to share.
Of all the engines I have painted over the years, i never really paid attention to which brand did better. I had some that were disappointing in the first year and others that looked good a few years later. But never did write down brand ‘x, y, or z’.

Who has lots of years and remembers the exact paint they used?
 
I've always had good luck painting the engine with rustoleum black first and then the color I wanted after that. The engine paint at the auto parts stores seem to let moisture thru and the engine would bleed rust through the paint.
 
I have had good luck wrapping the manifolds and then painting them with the header paint designed for it.

Brand: Thermo-Tec paint 2000 degrees and Exhaust Wrap Coating. It's held up well to extreme EGT when bare painted on the turbo exhaust housing.

I can touch the wrapped exhaust parts after a hard run. More heat to turbo helps as well.

Other than keeping it cool under the hood paint elsewhere doesn't make it go faster.
 
Thanks guy's! Sure gives me a lot of options to look at. I'd love to have the manifolds ceramic coated but I'd rather put that extra money toward upgraded parts like having chris coat the bearings. Warwagon had a good idea exhaust wrap then paint. The key for me is keeping the heat down in the engine bay so really just need to wrap and not paint. I guess the question I have is what will keep the temps down the Eastwood high temp ceramic coating that Chris uses or wrapping the manifolds, cross over, and down pipe?
 
Now I have another question. Which wrap is better with heat control the fabric wraps or the foil type wraps?
 
I have used DEI wrap and the companion silicone paint with great success. The DEI paint alone has held up nicely on my downpipe adapter for 4 years now.
 
Twisted Steel Performance said:
Wrap....
Click to expand...

I would like to expand on "Wrap". Wrap is just that and alone can fail easily and fall off. The better way to do it is "wrap" and then paint the wrap so it becomes hard. The painted hard wrap can't come loose and unwind on it's own. The amount of air coming off the engine cooling fan is just one thing to work the wrap loose. This way minor/major damage from swapping injectors etc doesn't cause it to all fall off. The crossover is very hard to keep on with all the critters like Leprechauns hitting it at 65 MPH. I don't bother with the crossover pipe anymore. In conjunction with the paint I push the wrap ends under itself and avoid using 10,000 stainless ties on the manifolds. The paint locks the wrap in place. Wrap the manifolds and the downpipe. A turbo blanket is a expensive single item, but, worth it.

Just saying the paint is the easy part of wrapping.

https://www.thermotec.com/products/exhaust-insulating

https://www.thermotec.com/products/coatings-adhesives/hi-heat-coating

To finish off a clean and well-protected Exhaust Insulating Wrap application it is recommended to use the Hi-Heat Coating. The coating will protect the wrap from abrasion and harmful liquid spills. Extra resins and binders toughen the surface, extend the life of wrap by protecting it from friction, and seals the pores to minimize the penetration of harmful liquids. Hi-Heat Coating can handle direct and continuous heat of 2000 degrees Fahrenheit when used with ThermoTec Exhaust Insulating Products. The coating also works excellent as a paint directly on metal surfaces and can handle continuous temperatures up to 1200 degrees Fahrenheit.
 
WarWagon said:
I would like to expand on "Wrap". Wrap is just that and alone can fail easily and fall off. The better way to do it is "wrap" and then paint the wrap so it becomes hard. The painted hard wrap can't come loose and unwind on it's own. The amount of air coming off the engine cooling fan is just one thing to work the wrap loose. This way minor/major damage from swapping injectors etc doesn't cause it to all fall off. The crossover is very hard to keep on with all the critters like Leprechauns hitting it at 65 MPH. I don't bother with the crossover pipe anymore. In conjunction with the paint I push the wrap ends under itself and avoid using 10,000 stainless ties on the manifolds. The paint locks the wrap in place. Wrap the manifolds and the downpipe. A turbo blanket is a expensive single item, but, worth it.

Just saying the paint is the easy part of wrapping.

https://www.thermotec.com/products/exhaust-insulating

https://www.thermotec.com/products/coatings-adhesives/hi-heat-coating

To finish off a clean and well-protected Exhaust Insulating Wrap application it is recommended to use the Hi-Heat Coating. The coating will protect the wrap from abrasion and harmful liquid spills. Extra resins and binders toughen the surface, extend the life of wrap by protecting it from friction, and seals the pores to minimize the penetration of harmful liquids. Hi-Heat Coating can handle direct and continuous heat of 2000 degrees Fahrenheit when used with ThermoTec Exhaust Insulating Products. The coating also works excellent as a paint directly on metal surfaces and can handle continuous temperatures up to 1200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Click to expand...
This is true and that is what I did. Even my crossover has held up well. And you’re right, the spraying is the easy part.....wrapping gets hard on the fingers pretty quick.
 
Over the years on my marine diesel rebuilds I've been using Duplicolor Ceramic Engine Paint with good results, partly because they supply Alpine Green for Detroits in the rattlecan. I'd say it's as much about prior prep as it is the paint itself when it comes to holding up on engine blocks. You can find a post here of a 6-110 I recently rebuilt that is Duplicolor and if you scroll down you may find other engines that I have done all using the same.
https://www.facebook.com/Whitworth-Marine-Services-LLC-153070114801902/


Cheers
Nobby
 
WarWagon said:
I would like to expand on "Wrap". Wrap is just that and alone can fail easily and fall off. The better way to do it is "wrap" and then paint the wrap so it becomes hard. The painted hard wrap can't come loose and unwind on it's own. The amount of air coming off the engine cooling fan is just one thing to work the wrap loose. This way minor/major damage from swapping injectors etc doesn't cause it to all fall off. The crossover is very hard to keep on with all the critters like Leprechauns hitting it at 65 MPH. I don't bother with the crossover pipe anymore. In conjunction with the paint I push the wrap ends under itself and avoid using 10,000 stainless ties on the manifolds. The paint locks the wrap in place. Wrap the manifolds and the downpipe. A turbo blanket is a expensive single item, but, worth it.

Just saying the paint is the easy part of wrapping.

https://www.thermotec.com/products/exhaust-insulating

https://www.thermotec.com/products/coatings-adhesives/hi-heat-coating

To finish off a clean and well-protected Exhaust Insulating Wrap application it is recommended to use the Hi-Heat Coating. The coating will protect the wrap from abrasion and harmful liquid spills. Extra resins and binders toughen the surface, extend the life of wrap by protecting it from friction, and seals the pores to minimize the penetration of harmful liquids. Hi-Heat Coating can handle direct and continuous heat of 2000 degrees Fahrenheit when used with ThermoTec Exhaust Insulating Products. The coating also works excellent as a paint directly on metal surfaces and can handle continuous temperatures up to 1200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Click to expand...

Thanks WW. Makes sense.
 
I had a thought- duck and cover!!

The turbo blankets work well and are not hard to install.
Wrap is a pita to install, then needs paint. so why not use blankets on the pipe?

When I worked at the plastics to fuel outfit, we bought precut blanket wraps for piping. For mega insulation there was a 2part covering material that went on like split pipe insulation or "pool noodles". It was about an inch thick and couldn't handle vibration well, but we put blanket material over it. The blankets were like long skinny rectangles that had grommets in it for closing and securing. they handled ridiculous heat, like 2500f iirc. and those pipe blankets reminded me of turbo blanket material.

I will try looking up the outfit's info tonight and see what I can find. no clue why I never thought of it before :banghead:
 
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