Engine paint ruined by gas

M

magnang

Been Around the Block
Can anyone recommend me some good engine paint?

I painted my engine with Duplicolor low gloss black engine paint over the winter. It was easy to work with and looked good once it was done. It definatley got the chance to cure, it was in my heated garage for 5 months, and I've had the bike idling a couple of times.

Yesterday one of my floats stuck and gas spilled onto my engine. As I was wiping it off, the paint came clean off!!!!!

I have another can of High gloss black, if I use this and add some engine clearcoat on top of it, will it hold up? Is there another brand I could use that will stand some abuse?

Sucks to pull the engine and do this again!!!!
 
While I've used the same product with much better results (so far), have you checked out VHT's extensive engine enamels? Huge selection, but I've only seen the majority of it online

http://www.vhtpaint.com/enginemetallic.html
 
Hmmm.....that seems odd to me, I have never experienced or heard of such experiences with the duplicolor! I know there are tons of people out there who have used the duplicolor on their engines, and I know many have spilled gas on them, but I have never read or heard of any of them causing paint problems! I have used it before and other brands with no ill effects from gas, oil, or other fluids! Not sure what happened. :-\
 
tWistedWheelz said:
Hmmm.....that seems odd to me, I have never experienced or heard of such experiences with the duplicolor! I know there are tons of people out there who have used the duplicolor on their engines, and I know many have spilled gas on them, but I have never read or heard of any of them causing paint problems! I have used it before and other brands with no ill effects from gas, oil, or other fluids! Not sure what happened. :-\
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sounds like maybe there was some contamination on the engine that caused the paint to not adhere properly?
 
cierrecart said:
sounds like maybe there was some contamination on the engine that caused the paint to not adhere properly?
Click to expand...

Well maybe, but that depends on what it looked like when it came off! Did it convert the paint back to a liquid state and that bubbled and wiped off, or did it flake away! If it flaked then I would suspect that the paint did not properly adhere to the engine surface, most likely due to poor prep. But if the physical state of the paint was changed by the introduction of a chemical (gas in this case) then I would say the paint itself was defective or the chemical reaction of the paints initial dry was compromised by some other chemical reaction!
 
Doesnt Duplicolor engine enamel require some heat to actually cure into a gas proof coating?

I'm more asking then stating.....just something I heard through the grapevine.
 
responded in the other post you made bud... but i will here as well, you did not final cure the paint, it needs to run at operation temp for a few hours to final cure, if you used 1200 degree that is too high of a heat tollerance for a motor and it will not final cure, 500 * will cure around *150 - 200 (if i remember off hand) that is what gives the paint its chemical resistance, it works but has to be cured right
 
And make sure you run the bike outdoors or you'll have yourself a nice gas chamber in no time :eek:
 
What's the best way to cure it? Fire it up and go for a ride for an hour or so, come home and let it cool, do the same thing the next day?
 
I can't remember what it says for engine enamel (probably similar though), but for exhaust paint it says:

1) Let the motor idle for 10 minutes, cool down for 10 minutes
2) Idle for 20, cool down for 20
3) Run the bike through the entire rpm range for 30 minutes (ie - test ride) and let it cool down for 30 minutes

Or bake it in a spare oven.
 
I used to put engine cases / covers in the oven to bake the engine enamel on them. Worked well for other parts too (levers, etc). Makes the finish very durable. BTW - don't use your food oven in your kitchen for this or your wife / girlfriend / mum will NOT be impressed ::)

For headers (1200 deg paint) I once used a butane blowtorch to cure them. Worked quite well and helped me to get them back on the bike without leaving greasy finger prints all over them (make sure you have GOOD ventilation if you try this...)
 
tWistedWheelz said:
Well maybe, but that depends on what it looked like when it came off! Did it convert the paint back to a liquid state and that bubbled and wiped off, or did it flake away! If it flaked then I would suspect that the paint did not properly adhere to the engine surface, most likely due to poor prep. But if the physical state of the paint was changed by the introduction of a chemical (gas in this case) then I would say the paint itself was defective or the chemical reaction of the paints initial dry was compromised by some other chemical reaction!
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I'm not sure what happened to my paint, but it kind of bubbled once gas hit it, and rubbed off. It didn't flake.

The prep I did on the engine:

- 1) Shot it with brake cleaner to get the grime off
- 2) Soda blasted it
- 3) Cleaned with compressed air
- 4) Cleaned with acetone
- 5) Duplicolor engine primer paint ( 3 coats)
- 6) Duplicolor low gloss black engine paint (as per instructions on the can, 2 thin coats, one heavier coat)

It's possible it didn't cure yet as I can't ride the bike yet, still have a few issues to sort out with my brakes. I idled the bike a few times and that's it, never got that hot. I don't see myself putting the engine in the oven... Might be a hard sell for the missus ;D

Before I pull the engine again, can anyone give me pointers on what the best way to paint the engine should be?
 
yep, it did not get cured! Your prep sounds fine, I would just re prep and shoot it again right before your done with it all, then just be carefull with it until you can run it well enough to allow a propper cure.
 
it bubbled because it was not cured to the metal, if it would have flaked off that would have been your prep work.
 
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