Use a high volume low pressure spray gun If you have a low CFM compressor.You can buy a very good gun I am using a 60 gallon 10-11 ccfm rom Home Depot. We painted my car using an old DeVilbas gun. I get lots praise on the quality. I will ad that we used approximately over $1k in material
Thoughts on engine removal
- Thread starter e9Leveque
- Start date
All good thoughts - found a HVLP gun and figure with the compressor I should be good to go. And Don, I will spend a lot of time prepping and I am also a Simple Green cleaner guy. My hope though was that the dry ice blasting will do the yeoman's work for me and I will just be doing the last bit clean-up. I'll make sure to take pre-post photos. Thanks for all of the tips so far. This week will be peeling off the bitumen and disconnecting everything in preparation for lifting out that engine this weekend when I can get some help. Lots of photos will be taken to make sure it all goes back together correctly! I also very much appreciate the photos in Steve's thread since he has it all laid out so nicely.
The rattle cans work well for an engine bay because once everything is back in, you don't see a large percentage of it. A high quality mixed spray paint in a can with a good nozzle can lay down paint surprisingly well, unlike a hardware store can. Then a 2k clear will make it all purty, stain resistant, and hide small flaws. I thought about going the gun/compressor route as I have a 60 gallon one with plenty of CFM. I would certainly use it for exterior or large panels as Scott mentions but for under the hood I didn't want to mess with measuring paint, mixing, removing all water from the lines, cleaning everything etc etc for each coat. Not to mention the $$$$. If I ran out of paint or messed up like when I put the wrong honey comb fender insulation on, I'd just order a couple more cans from the supplier and redo it. They got to know me pretty well by the end of it.
Well, I think that this will end up being one of those circumstances where I can go easy or I can go hard and I may end up just taking the plunge. In another question, why are rubber engine mounts $100 per mount and also totally unavailable?
I was very please with the paint my local PPG shop had mixed up and put in a can. I got 3 cans and it was $58/per can Polaris same color my painter used to paint the rest of the car. Make a huge diffence and really easy to do.
color code was 32589 Polaris 60 And I love the high 5 priper
color code was 32589 Polaris 60 And I love the high 5 priper
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that's good to know - i was thinking of painting my lokari fender liners in ceylon. that could be a good way to do it.
Another shop to add to the list...
Scottpb
New Member
Any thoughts on dropping the engine and transmission out the bottom with the subframe? I am considering doing that on my recently acquired 1972 E3 Bavaria to clean up and reseal the engine and transmission and rebuild the front suspension and steering. I have done it that way on a couple of 2002's and it worked great. It helps that i have a lift, but have done it without one as well.
Also Curious what the dry ice blasting is costing you. I asked for a quote at a shop here in N. Virginia and it was between$2K and $4K - Ouch!! Would also be interested in seeing before and after pics.
Also Curious what the dry ice blasting is costing you. I asked for a quote at a shop here in N. Virginia and it was between$2K and $4K - Ouch!! Would also be interested in seeing before and after pics.
I don't have a lift that would make it easy so I think it's coming out the top.
The dry ice blasting is $1000 for underside, $500 for all wheel wells and $500 for engine bay. I will definitely take some pictures before and after. The primary motivation was the underside, since I spent an hour cleaning an inch of grime off the front driver side and it looked better but not great. From there the wheel wells seemed obvious and then the whole motivation for THIS thread was whether the work of removing the engine to get it cleaned and then me repainting was worth it. Clearly I've decided yes.
The dry ice blasting is $1000 for underside, $500 for all wheel wells and $500 for engine bay. I will definitely take some pictures before and after. The primary motivation was the underside, since I spent an hour cleaning an inch of grime off the front driver side and it looked better but not great. From there the wheel wells seemed obvious and then the whole motivation for THIS thread was whether the work of removing the engine to get it cleaned and then me repainting was worth it. Clearly I've decided yes.
Scottpb
New Member
Sounds like a great decision!!! Looking forward to the pics.
That price for ice blasting is an absolute deal compared to prices on the east coast!
I'm jealous - when I emailed Lokari about getting some fenders they said they aren't shipping to the US these days. Makes sense and I think a lot of international suppliers are taking the same stance.
An update since I said I'd post after the dry ice blasting. I posted some photos in this thread:
Overall, I would highly recommend the process, and the local Seattle guy Dick Breakey who operates under the name Affordable Dry Ice Blasting was indeed affordable and did a great job. Since my car didn't have engine or transmission he was even able/willing to come pick it up with his car carrier and I arranged a tow back to my home.
At this point I figure since the underside is as clean as it's going to be I'll probably re-spray it with some rustproofing and then will prep/paint the engine bay and may decide to include the wheel wells once I get an idea how they look now.
Overall, I would highly recommend the process, and the local Seattle guy Dick Breakey who operates under the name Affordable Dry Ice Blasting was indeed affordable and did a great job. Since my car didn't have engine or transmission he was even able/willing to come pick it up with his car carrier and I arranged a tow back to my home.
At this point I figure since the underside is as clean as it's going to be I'll probably re-spray it with some rustproofing and then will prep/paint the engine bay and may decide to include the wheel wells once I get an idea how they look now.
Since those of you who responded to this thread had motivated me to go for it, thought I’d post an update - this weekend it gets done! Engine is out and the whole car has been wrapped in plastic for protection. I have two days of good weather so will be tackling the engine bay, wheels wells and underside. Figure I’ll rustproof engine bay with rust-negating primer, then spray the 2-3 coats of body color on the engine bay and wheel wells followed by the clear coat. I’ll do some seam sealing in between primer and body color paint. I’m planning to apply some new Wurth stone guard to the underside and then will rattle can that a more dark gray. I’ll post some after pictures once it’s complete - wish me luck…
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Etching primer works well after scrubbing and then scuffing the paint. For scratches I use high build primer.
I was planning to do RustBullet first to have it counteract any of the rust spots, then will scuff and paint over that. I think that it serves similarly to an etching primer