engine paint question

I know this question has probably been asked a lot on here but... I am doing a 64 max wedge and its time to paint the motor. I wanted to do the whole graveyard cars thing with the primer and all but I guess I will have to use the spray can method instead. Its basically all bare metal. I scuffed up the Milodon pan and it has new aluminum heads and a bare block/intake. Whats the best method? What brand Orange and also do I need to primer. I have a lot of work in the car and don't want the paint to flake off the heads or anything. Thanks, Jan

I ain't a painter per se but when I do (at the amateur level that I do) I finish my cleaning by drowning the surfaces with brake kleen to get em surgically clean cuz as we know prep is 90% of the game. Others will chime in

I like a zinc-rich primer, especially for the aluminum parts. Gotta clean everything & use a wax & grease remover, of course. Max Wedges got the brownish shade of "Hemi Orange", also known as Race Hemi Orange. I think I used the VHT brand on mine but that was a few years ago. Seems every rattle-can brand is a different shade: some yellowish, some reddish.
Everything should be about room temp, so hopefully you're good there.
I've painted my aluminum heads & intakes to match the block for 40 years, and haven't had one peel or flake yet.

Not a expert by any means but in my experience those gold color milodon pans need the finish removed otherwise there will be adhesion issues.

Get a Preval sprayer from your local hardware store and you can use automotive grade primers and paints.

http://www.preval.com/

If you do use rattle cans beware of possible color variations from one can to the next. It's all too easy to end up with a cylinder head, intake, etc that won't quite match the rest of the engine based on where you were at when you switched to a new can of paint. The Mopar Performance Hemi orange cans I bought many years ago were all over the place.

Plasti Kote makes the best orange engine color for Mopar.

POR-15 Hemi Orange

Roger Gibson has the correct Race Hemi Orange in pint cans.

He did say he was using rattle cans, which really isn't a problem. Unless one buys the MP cans, which are the worst crap ever.

I've got 20+ years on a 440 primed, and rattle-canned with MP street-hemi orange...

It's holding-up real well...


That was when paint was paint...

I like the eastwoods engine paint with hardener added. A cheap harbor freight paint gun and $50 in paint/hardener and you have a nice finish that immune to solvents/stains from fuel leaks, coolant leaks, oil leaks, etc.

Can't vouch for originality. I wasn't around when these were new, and every car you see at a show looks slightly different. You'd likely need to do a side by side of a good quality survivor to tell

EK2 body paint (without the metallic) is real close to the Maxwedge engine color Race Hemi Orange. I've never used primer and it stays stuck if the parts are surgically clean.

I've used Hirsch paints on all my builds, even works good with a brush! www.hirschauto.com

decades ago I remember the "race hemi" MP rattle cans looked like a very close to the normal Chrysler orange and the "street hemi" cans were a pukey yellow/orange tinted paint that looked horrible. I think I am remembering the "names" correctly but I definitely remember that the one that was supposed to be "correct" was not & the other one that was supposed to be for the other app was actually very good (to my untrained eye) for the "regular" orange I was after.

Rattle can paint quality has gone to crap over the years and it wont hold a shine well for over a year now IMHO. Real auto paint is the only way to go if you want a shine that will last.

How long does one of those Preval canisters last? Could you paint and engine with 1, 2 3 or 4?

2 preval sprayers should be enough to do a whole engine.

Buy one with the spray unit and the glass jar, and a second spray unit. Probably $16.00 +/- for the pair. Once you have the glass jar you can clean it with reducer and reuse it over and over.

I use them for priming small items all the time. Best thing is the air pressure is relatively low so you don't end up with a fog of overspray that gets all over the place.

I've heard good on Preval over the years & the price ($16) is dirt cheap. the only thing I could see going wrong is improper surface prep/contamination in your mixing steps/moisture in the hose. EDIT I Googled it & it has its own pressurized cans of propellent so that elims the air hose potential issue

No matter what route I take proper prep is key. I just have never mixed paint before and that was my concern. If i can get the mix figured out the Preval sounds like a possibility. I will keep you all informed and thanks for the advice. I used to be able to just click on brouse to post a pic but that seems to have changed? I may have to get my daughter to help me out there lol

I went back to my grade/high school in Kansas where I grew up & the 1st grade school rooms had computers (for the students not the teacher). EDIT here's how high tech I am

Say what you want, but rotary phones are kinda fun to use.

Any auto paint store can help with how to mix the paint. The preval glass jars are graduated so you can use the hash marks to get to the correct ratio of paint, reducer, hardener depending on what you need.

These preval thingies. The spray pattern is a big circle and you can't tip the unit beyond 45 degrees? How do you paint a horizontal surface? How do you get even coverage out of a cone spray vs a fan?

I would not attempt to use one to paint something large and flat like a hood on some sawhorses for example. No way would you get a nice even finish on something that large with a Preval. You could use one to apply a two part primer on a hood if you wanted as you would eventually sand it and paint it later with a real paint gun.

I use them for priming parts (big and small), and painting smallish things. I have painted engine blocks and heads with them and they came out with a nice even finish. Rough cast iron engine parts are very forgiving with any paint.

Doing an oil pan and valve covers works if you have the paint mixture aligned with the air temp so it flows out smooth. Too much reducer and you'll get runs. Not enough and its orange peel city - same as with a real paint gun.

They do leak if you tilt them too far back when the jar is full. The propellant will ice up and stop spraying if you hold the trigger down continuously. For painting an engine that should not be an issue.

https://youtu.be/bO_LCNHA5Vc

Neil that is good additional Preval info. I ain't never used one but I will keep all of your experience in mind if/when I do.