Anybody here have a painted block?

I'm planning out my 3.4 swap, and I'm trying to decide how much "dress up" i'm going to do it , other than the normal stuff like powdercoating the exhaust manifolds, timing chain cover, oil pan, and a few other things to silver. I have the fiero valve covers, and I was thinking of painting the engine red to match the re highlights on them (polished aluminum on the rest of the covers), but it's hard to know how much if it will show. So much of the engine is covered up in these things.

how much of this block, if painted, would actually show? I'm wondering if it's worth it

 

There's cute little motors, that's for sure. I wish I painted mine when I had it out.

 

i painted mine. Its f*rd blue but only because of the blue pearl in the paint!



I would suggest ceramic coating the exhaust manifolds...powder coating will burn off easily. Even the high temp powder isn't as durable as the ceramic

 

really? I thought the temp that they used to powercoat was higher than the manifolds got.

thanks for the info.

 

powdercoat typically cures at 350-400 degrees. exhaust gas temps can be over 1,000 degrees F. When driving hard with a naturally aspirated motor, you probably wont see temps that high, though. My headers on my car are powder coated (I didn't do ceramic yet when I did them). don't get me wrong, it wont come off for a while but, the ceramic will likely last a lot longer! I just looked at a can of high temp powder that I have and it says resists heat up to 250*.

 

What about header paint?

 

look into techline coatings, they offer a coating that will work on the headers and it will cure with the exhaust heat. i used it on all my turbo piping.

http://www.techlinecoatingswebstore....minum_4oz.html

header paint for you will not hold up to the standards i feel you have for the engine appearance.

powder coat will work on every part of your engine however...as everything on mine is powder coated. block is aluminum and the accents are a candy teal. oil pan and motor mounts are black

 

header paint is horrible.

 

thats about the best i can show you off how all the colors show up. may have a few more ill look.