Engine painting

[Fezza]

Hi everyone,

Recently bought a GN250 which I intend to strip down, rebuild and modify. Visually, the engine isn't looking as good as I want it, the silvers dull and a bit flaky- whats the best way to get it looking good again? Should I spray/ paint it or is there a polish for the job?

Thanks

 

[carnivorous chicken]

Difficult/impossible to polish a painted engine with flaking or crappy paint; you'll likely wind up just taking off the paint. I learned this years ago the hard way.

Repainting is your best option. If you are tearing down the engine, get all the pieces you want to paint media blasted -- people will argue for days over what's best, soda vs bead vs sand -- and then paint with high temp paint made specifically for engines. Last engine I did I went with soda blasting, and as long as the engine's pretty clean it'll work fine. Other media can mar the surface a bit, although if you're painting it might not matter too much as paint will fill in abrasions.

 

[Fezza]

Great, thanks for your help

 

[Tim]

Some people have had good luck soda-blasting a complete engine, having carefully blocked off any possible inlets.

SODA, not sand or glass or bead etc. SODA blasting.

Otherwise, tear the engine down and do it 'right'. If you're looking for an awesome paint-free finish, check out VAPOR blasting. It's fantastic and there is a shop in the US that does it reasonably. You ship them your stuff and it's pretty cheap relatively speaking. No need to paint after.

I prefer having my engine cases blasted clean and then I leave them bare aluminum. No paint to flake off.