Just finishing up my engine and I love the look of my paint but when I torqued down the bolts the paint chipped all around the bolts. !@##$$%$. Use at your own discretion.

Ive tried both the red and blue. I was not satisfied with the look at all. It didnt look like an anodized finish at all. Just looked like a candyapple red/ blue. At least in the photos, your engine looks pretty good though. Hopefully, you can use a model paint brush to touch up the chips after you get it all bolted together. Just spray it in a cap and let it dry a little before brushing it, otherwise it will be too thin to cover.

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 02-07-2013).]

Powder Coating. all im gonna say

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88 Formula CJB Arrived Finally. #689 of 1252
Time to start Working TONY!
There are Two kinds of Fiero's : Notchies and Donors!

-Spray some of the paint in a cup
-Get a small paint brush
-Touch up the chipped spots
-Better than it was

How about using some washers?

edit due to me not reading it was Metalcast paint.

[This message has been edited by tntcary (edited 02-08-2013).]

I have used metalcast paint before and I agree with roger. IMHO its pretty craptacular for the price and the finish is about the same as a candy touch up paint I had awhile back. Before you install your 3.8 I would do some reading on their site and see if it will take any heat. I don't remember if it does or not but I'm leaning to the not. On the good side it does look good in the pic lol. In the future I would invest in some HF powdercoat and pick up a oven at salvation army or something.

Id say before tightening lightly oil the painted surface.
But yeah touch up with a brush at this point.

quote Originally posted by Kento: Powder Coating. all im gonna say

Actually even a candy powdercoat can do this aswell I had it happen on my plenum transparent red over ultra chrome... I think I'm goin to pull it re powdercoat it and torque it down while the plenum is still hot. See if that works

I've used this stuff before.

Duplicolor makes a specialty heat-resistant primer that is supposed to be applied before you apply the Metalcast paint. Normally you have to apply it to a bare metal surface to get the specific look, but the specialty primer they make will also allow the same effect with heat treatment. It should have been on the same shelf - or approximate area - as where you bought that particular rattle of Metalcast.

Anyway it goes, it's really not that great of a product. For it to work fairly good, you have to REALLY light coat it, let it sit for a while (I think I let each coat set for a few days), then apply the next coat. When I was using it I would throw on around three to four coats. Even then, I still ran into the exact same issues of it periodically flaking when bolts were torqued. The spray-in-a-cup-and-apply-with-a-small-brush method mentioned above is a great idea to touch up spots.

Oh well it is what is is now. I picked up some small model paint brushes and will touch it up when done. As for the temperature the can said good to 500f and was recommended for valve covers and such. I did use the prep spray and ground coat before the red as recommended and all coats were done within an hour, also recommended. I like the color personally but Im not happy over all. I think its just not that great of a product. The silver I used is a VHT caliper paint and it was also clear coated and baked. I had no issues with it so I give it a thumbs up. The black is just an engine enamel.

Ive never had any problems on an engine just using regular paint or auto paint. The only place it didnt hold up well was maybe around the exhaust ports on the heads.