Whoever had my IROC before me tried painting the engine compartment black. Unfortunately, I think he painted over dirt and grime cuz a lot of it came off and is clumpy . So right now, half of it is black and the rest is yellow. I'd like to make it uniform, and I think it'd be easier and cleaner to paint it black than to try to color match it back to the yellow. To do this, do you recommend masking and spraying? Or with a brush? It seems like it'd be easier with a brush but just want to see what you guys think. Also, I'll be sure to have it clean before painting unlike the previous owner

 

No on the brush. You wont be able to do it right w/o removing the engine.

 

LOL, pull at the engine huh? No No, he can spray it, just mask off certain areas, make sure you clean really well, and start bending that arm.

Spray paint baby!

 

He could do it that way, but no, he wouldnt be doing a good job. Maybe if you're pennyless, you can just do a hack spray paint job. In my opinion, that's not much better than what you've got right now.

 

Well, for the best job you should pull the motor this way you have access to a larger area! Or you could just tape a whole lot of stuff off and in a year or so you can have what you are looking at in your driveway right now. If you are not going to do things right the first time, it is usually best not to do it at all! Trust me, i just got done painting my bay, it is easy as hell with the motor out but then again i am doing a swap. Good luck with that.

 

you better off taping off the engine and dipping the front end in paint!! j/k

pull that engine so you can get all the nookes and crannies to make your engine bay look great!!

good luck..

 

Speaking from experience, the minimum you really can expect to do is pull everything out of the fender/firewall areas, remove the wiring harness, and tear down the motor to the block and heads. But if you're this far, I suggest just pulling the bell housing screws, exhaust, and motor mounts to go ahead and get the motor out of the way so you can actually get in there and wet sand. See, it's a catch 22. It took me a week of evening work to remove everything, power wash, clean, wetsand, prime, paint, and reassemble most everything in my engine bay. Painting a thirdgen engine bay is quite a chore. You best do it right the first time just like was said above.

 

I agree, it will look soooooooooooo much better if you yank the engine and components out and do it professionally.

 

Yanking the engine is not the easiest thing to do.


Maybe this guy is just looking for an interm solution.

Clean it up really good.
Mask up.
And Spray Away.

You should probably used zero rust, or if you ant to paint it on, use Por-15. It will prevent rust, and stop any that is there....

 

I can't imagine painting those tight quarters without pulling the motor. You're going to have runs in some spots and other spots where you can't even get any paint to cover. Spraying it with the motor in may help it look better than it does now, but it'll still look half-assed.

 

I'll agree with the previous posters in that it is easier to paint an engine compartment with the engine out, but you CAN do a good job with it in if you remove the battery, coolant/washer jugs, etc, and carefully mask the rest. Aluminum foil works very well for oddly shaped items that are hard to mask. Wrap the engine in plastic to protect it. As long as you get the surface clean, sand it adequately, and use a decent quality paint in a relatively warm (70 deg is ideal), dry area you can get a good job. It will never be as nice as an engine compartment that is painted (body color) and cleared with a gun, but it can be passable until you have to pull the engine and can redo it. Its definitely better than a dull and chipped original paint, or a poorly done repaint. This method is getting by until the engine comes out, then it will be repainted.