Painting my engine
 

My new engine will be ready for install hopefully soon and I have been thinking of painting it before it gets dropped in. Right now, its still in Houston getting built and balanced. Hopefully it'll be ready sometime this week.

Obviously, my original plans of keeping my DD lightly modded got tossed out the window lol, and now that I'm in the grips of modding fever, of which there are only two known prescriptions for aleviation:

1. More cowbell

2. mod til you drop

I've decided to go with options #2. Although I live in Texas, I don't own a cowbell, let alone a cow.

So, here's my dilemma, whats the best paint to use on my engine while its sitting on an engine rack. I did a little searching lastnight and saw a kit like the ones for painting brake calipers and another one using Krylon spray paints. My color choice is going to be universal black, pros/cons with this color would be appreciated. Also, I'm not looking for an extreme show quality paint job, mainly a decent one that would look good for local car shows and such. My thoughts regarding the black color are based purely on how it would look with chrome engine accesories and the fact my car is Mineral Grey.
Here's some pics for referrence/ideas:

Attachment 24861
Attachment 24862

more...
 

Empty engine bay:

Attachment 24859

Diamond forged pistons: (giggles)

Attachment 24860

so, discuss...

P.S. Anyone that thinks Mineral Grey is an ugly color ain't right in the head...

sry...i'm no help when it comes to engine paint....but the car looks awesome dude.

I thought it was best to paint before assembly.Black is a nice color but isn't there enought black in the engine bay? I like red.Red,Black,And chrome.....Thats what i like.

Honestly, I think with the MG..

You need to take a minimalist's approach. Maybe some satin silver or MG painted valve covers & CAI/RAI, and some Billett accessories (dipstick, oil cap, radiator cap, etc..). As far as painting the block.. I guess black would be OK, but what's the point? I guess if it was black it could give a slightly better look, but are you planning on showing the car?

Basically, what Im saying is.. From what I've seen, less is usually more when it comes to a color like MG.

That's just my :2cents: ..


BTW: I think that wade95 would have some more info for you on the subject of the actual painting.

Unfortunately for me, the engine is being built 200 miles away in Houston. I would have liked to have painted it before it got sent down there, but I didn't even start thinking of doing that until a few days ago. I was hoping I'd be able to mask off the areas that don't need paint, barring that, I don't know. I hadn't thought about red other than the calipers, so I'll consider it. Thanks for the comment Kains.

I hear what your saying, and minimalist is the look I went with on the exterior. I went with chrome wheels, a chrome gas cap, and removed the wing. I was wanting the GT to be the antithesis of the Mach1 since the Mach is such a bright, in-your-face color. I like the idea of using satin silver on sections. I really haven't thought this out completely and may not be able to follow through with painting the block. Thanks for your response and ideas Wnr.

As for the car being put in shows, not so much interested in that other than the local stuff. But I'm dropping 8 grand into this and was wanting the thing to look good on the outside as well as be bullet proof on the inside.

the block is seasoned black to start with.. but I'd go with something traditional ford like powder blue.

Thanks for the input R3d, will consider it as well. On a side note, I'll be getting the engine back wednesday and hopefully shortly there after I'll be able to get it dyno'd. I'm really anxious to see how the heads, intake and engine will perform. We're estimating a 9:1 CR with the heads and am looking to run 14 psi when the Paxton is installed. We'll be running a stock crank so I believe I'll eb limited to under 500 FWHP. But the s/c will be a little while, I need to recharge my bank account before I install it. With it n/a for now, I'm not looking to get a subtantial gain in regards to hp/tq but it will definitely be better than stock and I may run it with a mild 75 NO2 shot for $hits and giggles.

heck yeaa...u'll have to get us some pix of it installed...and that dyno sheet!

X2, Ford Corporate Blue (dark blue) or Ford Blue (plain blue).