I am painting the engine bay of my Fiero. I've got a couple of questions and hoping someone can guide me in a direction.
Are engine compartments painted black or the color of the car these days? Who makes a good paint for this purpose? Will the paint used to paint the car withstand the punishment dished out under the hood?
Being metal I'd say it's painted black, easier to keep clean and such. I painted mine black but wanted to brighten it up so I wrapped the engine bay with reflective heat insulation, looks great! As for paint, normal rustomleum rattle can is more than fine. Go for it!
When I dropped the cradle out of mine I touched up some of the paint in the engine compartment with Rustoleum high temp paint . It is a rattle can but it can take the heat and is more tolerant to oil than your basic paint.
Well, I thought I would check with the car paint store and they sold me some nifty, but expensive, 4 to 1 paint with a catalyst. I'm taking the cradle and the car to the sand blaster and taking it down to the metal. I'll use the gun I use in my woodworking business to shoot the stuff. It cleans up with lacquer thinner so that will be easy.
Rattle can paint is fine for engine bay. I recommend gloss black as its much easier to keep looking nice. Hardened epoxy type paint in the engine bay is way overkill. I dont even use it on my show cars. I do see a new trend at car shows of people using pickup truck bedliner in the engine bay.
I have had better results with duplicolor than rustoleum for long term performance. I typically use the semi gloss black rather than gloss black, but that is just personal preference.
I have had better results with duplicolor than rustoleum for long term performance. I typically use the semi gloss black rather than gloss black, but that is just personal preference.
The earliest new car I bought that wasn't black, was a 93 Grand AM, then a 97 Dakota, then a 2000 Grand Prix, then a 2008 Ford Explorer. All the engine bay parts that are a part of the chassis were painted body color. All the bolt-on pieces like radiator and fan supports, fender mud walls, cradle, etc., were black. The Fiero space frame, which includes all of the engine bay, was black.
I like semi gloss too, but have found out over the years that it does stain and spot where glossy paint sheds anything and wipes right up. I recently had a guy in my old Corvette club have me shoot his engine bay in catalyzed gloss black.
At first I was kicking around the idea of using the pickup bed liner (Line-x) but they said it would sluff off from the heat. I figured it might be overkill too. Nevertheless, I got the catalyzed paint in the gloss black.
The other day I was snooping around under my 87 and noticed some rust under there. There are two struts that go to the front that were almost gone! I'd like to find a way to flip the car over so I could work on the bottom but as yet, I don't think it would be worth making a jig to roll it over. I also noticed where the radiator pipe had a good dent in it that had to have restricted the flow. I'm not quite sure how to approach this. I am thinking of maybe cutting it and scabbing in a splice. I'm not sure if there are new radiator pipes out there in 1 inch. Perhaps it might be better to go with 1.5 and have it made at the muffler shop. Better flow?
Btw all newer cars have black engine bays... I recommend black, or insulation. Black hides lots of things....
Not quite true. Most modern cars tend to have the inside of the engine bay area the same color as the rest of the body. Go to your local dealers and open the hoods on several different models and look at the shock towers and firewall. You'll find them to be the same color as the body, and on the firewall likely partially covered by a black colored felt like material.
Originally posted by kgoodyear: At first I was kicking around the idea of using the pickup bed liner (Line-x) but they said it would sluff off from the heat.
Lizard Skin would work, but might be a bit more expensive. It's at least designed to shield from heat and be a sound deadener both. And I think you can paint on top of it too.
At first I was kicking around the idea of using the pickup bed liner (Line-x) but they said it would sluff off from the heat. I figured it might be overkill too. Nevertheless, I got the catalyzed paint in the gloss black.
Who told you ? I find that hard to believe since its a lot tougher than just a regular spray can paint. I paint engines with regular car body paint and it dont burn off. It does get burnt spots around the heads at the exhaust ports and maybe some hot spots on the intake manifold. I see a lot of weekend car shows, lots with it on engine bays and never seen one peeling yet.
One thing you have to know is Fieros were built differently than most cars on the road - even now.
The majority of the cars on the road utilize a uni-body construction. What this means is that portions of the body are part of the underlying chassis. These are typically the roof and rear quarter panels. Then everything else is bolted up to it. Since the fixed panels are part of the chassis construction, they become integral to the structural make-up of the car. On the assembly line since the colors are usually picked out beforehand, the entire uni-body frame has to be painted one single color to ensure that the fix body panels are body color. Otherwise more man power would have to go into place to mask of sections of the car. This is why these style cars have engine bays, door sills, and such, that match the car's color.
The Fiero on the other hand is a stamped space frame design. Unlike a uni-body, a space frame does not require any body panels to be in place for the car to operate - you can take every body panel off and drive the car, unlike a uni-body. This allows it to be one single color - black - on the assembly line to save time.
Typical aerosol spray cans are fine to touch up the engine compartment. I've used the Duplicolor gloss black in my bay. I remove all that nasty 30 year old insulation, scrub everything possible down, remove what I can, and then hit all of it with the black.
At first I was kicking around the idea of using the pickup bed liner (Line-x) but they said it would sluff off from the heat. I figured it might be overkill too. Nevertheless, I got the catalyzed paint in the gloss black.
The other day I was snooping around under my 87 and noticed some rust under there. There are two struts that go to the front that were almost gone! I'd like to find a way to flip the car over so I could work on the bottom but as yet, I don't think it would be worth making a jig to roll it over. I also noticed where the radiator pipe had a good dent in it that had to have restricted the flow. I'm not quite sure how to approach this. I am thinking of maybe cutting it and scabbing in a splice. I'm not sure if there are new radiator pipes out there in 1 inch. Perhaps it might be better to go with 1.5 and have it made at the muffler shop. Better flow?
I see the tubes replacable, but they are $237 each side though... that is new ones.. is that what you are asking? thanks! Stan
At first I was kicking around the idea of using the pickup bed liner (Line-x) but they said it would sluff off from the heat. I figured it might be overkill too. Nevertheless, I got the catalyzed paint in the gloss black.
The other day I was snooping around under my 87 and noticed some rust under there. There are two struts that go to the front that were almost gone! I'd like to find a way to flip the car over so I could work on the bottom but as yet, I don't think it would be worth making a jig to roll it over. I also noticed where the radiator pipe had a good dent in it that had to have restricted the flow. I'm not quite sure how to approach this. I am thinking of maybe cutting it and scabbing in a splice. I'm not sure if there are new radiator pipes out there in 1 inch. Perhaps it might be better to go with 1.5 and have it made at the muffler shop. Better flow?
I would think once you put the bedliner stuff on it is there for good or bad. If it started melting off that would be a disaster indeed! That stuff is nearly impossible to get off once it grips on there... better research that well before jumping into that puddle.. LOL
