Painting Engine Tin

bottomend · Post by **bottomend** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 12:19 am

First off... how do you remove this stuff!!! I've been at it all day with household paint stripper and I've barely made a dent!

Should I just sand/steel wool what I've got and paint over that? I'm concerned about heat transference.

If I were to pull off a miracal and actully get the paint stipped off properly, do I need to prime it?

Can I use Restolium high heat paint? The POR-15 stuff is out of my budget range.

thanks

VW_Factor · Post by **VW_Factor** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 12:37 am

The cooling tin has plenty of air flowing through it already.. I dont think that transfering heat from the engine, to the tin, out to air again is going to make a lick of difference... Some tins have a gazillion coats of paint on them, and cool just fine..

I guess, do what you wish to the tin, paintwise, just make sure it fits well, and flows the air!

Chris V · Post by **Chris V** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 1:14 am

I took tons of hours to sand all of my sheetmetal BARE. Primered, sanded, painted...looked nice before gas ate it (broken carb),

Use 80 grit, 100 grit, 220, 320 and a wire brush for those hard to reach places.

VWGirl · Post by **VWGirl** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 5:02 am

I couldn't get mine sanded smooth no matter how hard I tried... it still looks pretty good... I used rustoleum grille paint so that it would have similar color to the original and hopefully hold up well... it seems to be doing okay, it's been a year now and there is only one spot I know of that is sowing any rust and that is on the corner of one of the pieces... and that is probably from one of the 4 times I pulled the engine after painting it **sigh**

bottomend · Post by **bottomend** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 12:39 pm

Thanks to you guys (and girl!) who replied so quick! I'm thinking of taking all the tin to a shop and haveing it sand blasted. If it's too expensive I'll probably pass. I just dumped a ton of money on all the engine internals (1974 1.8 bus) so I'm a little streached at this point. Any advice on paint stripper? Are there some brands made for auto paint as opposed to just "regular" paint?

bullyboy · Post by **bullyboy** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:32 pm

The paint Volkswagen used on the tin must have been the father of por15 !!
Aircraft paint stripper *extremely toxic* **don't breathe it or touch it!!**. wrap the parts in plastic bags after smearing it on. Let it soak for a few hours. Sandblasting works very well, thats the way we did it before we powdercoated all our tin this last time.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 01, 2003 7:26 pm

I had all my engine tin, fan housing, air filter housing and my fuel injection manifolds sand blasted, it was only 85 bucks, and very much worth it. All I had to do after was wipe it down with some laqur thinner, prime and paint. I am very pleased. I think it is worth the 80 bucks not to have to deal with the fumes and mess invloved with the stripper. Plus, all the rust is long gone. It's cheaper when the blaster can put all the stuff in a little blast box becasue he can recyle the the sand. I also had my type three aluminim air plenuim and outer fan housing glass bead blasted for only 40. I am very pleased with the results......

Will

kvariant · Post by **kvariant** » Tue Jul 01, 2003 7:27 pm

sorry,
thats me above, I forgot to sighn in......

Kafer_Mike · Post by **Kafer_Mike** » Tue Jul 01, 2003 8:35 pm

I brought my shroud and all of my tin to Redi-Strip and had them chemical stripped for less than $100. They came back looking fresh from the presses. It's the only way to go...

kvariant · Post by **kvariant** » Tue Jul 01, 2003 8:49 pm

I never heard of that. Is this a service that can readily be obtained anywhere, or is redi-strip the factory where they make stripper? I guess that really wold be the ideal way to go as you don't lose any metal at all. Then again, I had so much rust on mine that I guess I didn't really have a choice.
I've done some sand blasting at home as well, and while I complain about doing the stipping myself, I would have to say that doing your own blasting is atleast if not more unpleasant as dealing with strippers. However, I would have to say the heavy duty "aircraft paint remover" is by far the most effective I have been exposed to.
Will

bottomend · Post by **bottomend** » Tue Jul 01, 2003 11:40 pm

I bought the Aircraft stripper yesterday after a demonstration. 10 minutes and the paint came off with a light scrape.

To get the rust off, a body man I know said that I can use the same Muriatic acid I'm planning to use to clean out my gas tank. Making sure to neutralize the metal after with a baking soda/water mixture. Sound good?

Kafer_Mike · Post by **Kafer_Mike** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 6:20 am

Redi-Strip is a local company in Indy, though I am sure there are other people across the country that do this. Try looking under paint stripping & removing in your yellow pages.

The chemical dipping process will remove all paint and surface rust. When I was picking up my parts, there was a guy there that just had a totally rusted (surface) Model T body dipped. It came out looking like new metal. Check the link for some other examples.
http://www.redistripindy.com/photo.html

JC-ATL · Post by **JC-ATL** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 7:28 am

Careful about having stuff dipped, though, particularly Ghia bodies, as the chem-dip will remove all the lead between body and fenders, which is a royal b i t c h to recreate.

Glenn · Post by **Glenn** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 8:26 am

I've always glass beaded my tin and never had a problem getting the old paint off. Powder painting is still the best finish, longest lasting and resistant to all fluids. It's worth it in the long run.

As for aircraft paint remover... i 1st used it to take the paint off a set of Fuchs alloys that the PO sprayed black. As i was putting it on, i noticed that the brush was turning black. It works that fast. I let it sit for 10 minutes and then just hosed it off. Great stuff and won't hurt the metal.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 10:42 pm

I agree Bead Blaster is the way to go.. There very cheap to buy and even cheaper to make. My buddy has one he made for like Twenty bucks . They totally strip paint and rust.. million and one uses for a bead blaster