Tuning an engine usually involves upgrading it. speed characteristics or the introduction of new features. The car engine is located under the hood, and its appearance most drivers are not interested. Nevertheless, there are cars that participate in all kinds of competitions, exhibitions, shows, where the appearance of the engine also plays a role. In the framework of this article, we will consider how to paint a car engine yourself, what paint to use for this, and what features this procedure has.
Table of contents:How and why car engines are painted
As noted above, the main purpose of painting an automobile engine is to change its appearance. A painted motor, especially when done correctly, looks extremely unusual and attracts attention.
Please note: To paint the engine, it must be completely removed from the car and disassembled, so often the procedure for painting the motor is combined with the overhaul procedure.
They paint the engine not in assembled form, but in detail, and often use for each element different colors or shades of colors, thereby giving them an unusual appearance. In addition to differences in color, paints should differ in characteristics. This is dictated by the fact that some parts of the car work with elevated temperatures, others at lower levels, others are made of plastic and so on. For each element to be painted, you need to select your own type of paint, focusing on its performance characteristics.
Important: The service life of the applied paint depends on how correctly the paint is selected for each element of the car engine paintwork.
It is worth noting that painting an automobile engine in some cases is not only giving it an unusual appearance. However, painting can be done to reduce the effects of corrosion on engine components.
How to prepare an engine for painting
Painting a car engine is a very time consuming process. It is recommended to carry it out indoors.
The first step in preparing the engine for painting is to remove it from the car body for subsequent cleaning. Each element that will be painted must be well washed, cleaned and degreased. This process maximum attention is required. If it is not enough to clean the parts on which the paint will be applied, this will lead to its rapid destruction.
Please note: The quickest and easiest way to clean an engine in preparation for painting is by sandblasting. This method allows you to quickly clean engine elements, including complex shapes, and at the same time remove rust residues from them, if any. When sandblasting the engine components, pay attention to sealing the working holes to avoid getting water with a cleaning compound inside the engine.
If there are serious pockets of corrosion on the elements of the car engine, they will need to be sanded before painting. You can do this in manual mode(using sandpaper), or using grinding wheel, which can be quite difficult due to the shape of the parts.
Please Note: After Sanding automotive parts it is not necessary to prime it, as is customary in the case of a body. Most often, paint is applied directly to the sanded surface.
Another milestone when preparing the engine for painting, it is the sealing of all holes. For this, paint can be used or, for example, if the hole is a thread, a bolt must be screwed into it or a stud must be installed. Other types of plugs can also be used to avoid the risk of paint getting inside the engine.
Car engine paint
An ideal option for painting the main elements of a car engine is powder paint. The complexity of its application is that it requires baking the part in a thermal oven after application for maximum fixation on the surface. Not all drivers go to specialized service centers when painting the engine, and they have thermal furnaces and other necessary equipment may simply not be.
In such cases, you can use the usual heat-resistant paint, which is easily purchased from automotive or hardware stores.
Please note: Heat resistant or powder paint is not required for all parts. It is advisable to paint with them only those engine elements that are very hot during operation. For example, these can be parts of the cylinder head (heating up to +400 degrees Celsius), exhaust manifold (heating over +900 degrees Celsius). At the same time, various tanks with liquids or intake manifold do not heat up much when the motor is running, and they can be painted with ordinary paints.
To paint engine elements, you should purchase paints from trusted manufacturers. At the same time, it is optimal if all types of paints that will be used for painting engine elements are from the same manufacturer - this will reduce the likelihood of differences in the “shine” of the paint and the thickness of the applied layer. Among well-known manufacturers car paints we can distinguish the companies Body and Abro, which are widely represented in stores.
Painting of car engine parts is carried out using a spray gun. It should be kept at a distance of about 15-20 cm from the surface to be painted. To keep the paint better, it is usually applied in 2-3 layers. Depending on the type of paint, it may be required different time for drying parts. Most often, drying after painting takes at least 24 hours.
In order to protect Engine block VAZ 21126 from the aggressive environment, it was decided to paint it. In addition, the appearance is much more pleasant and pleasing to the eye. It was decided to choose a bright color yellow for several reasons. First, it's my favorite color. Secondly, pollution from oil and other liquids is clearly visible on light, which makes it easier to find a malfunction and its timely elimination. And thirdly, it is easier to wash such an engine. The original color of the block is blue-gray, the paint is not very resistant, rusty places quickly appear. The photo clearly shows the native factory coating engine VAZ 21126 .
Long chose the paint, which paint the motor. There were several options, this is paint in spray cans for calipers, just ordinary heat-resistant enamel for furnaces, etc., Hammerite paint is normal and with a hammer effect. Let's consider each option in detail. Krasska in Spray cans, although they squeak, which holds up to 600 degrees, quickly flies around. Those who have tried say that it is complete nonsense. Heat-resistant enamel for stoves is also not suitable, as it is usually produced in either black or gray. Hammerite paint, although it has a very positive reviews from those who painted the blocks, and has a good color variety, was also not used, since it was not possible to find out exactly how heat-resistant it was, because. it is stated that it can withstand high temperatures, but for a short time. It should also be noted that heat resistant paint enough expensive pleasure. As a result of long research, doubts and struggle with oneself, a special paint for the engine was chosen, which is sold in bulk.
Preparation for painting
Before painting, the block was subjected to preparation, firstly, it was washed from all kinds of greasy contaminants. Secondly, all threaded holes are plugged with foam to avoid paint ingress. Third, the surface of the block engine VAZ 21126 was degreased with acetone. Since the surface of the block is rather rough, the paint was applied with a brush, being careful not to drip. Pleased with the fact that the paint has a slight smell. Due to which the block engine VAZ 21126 was painted at home without damage. In total, 3 layers of paint were laid, because. She doesn't have very good coverage. Photo result.
Old, Soviet power units were covered with a greenish or brown silver primer, and some were not covered with anything, but after a few years all motors acquired the same dark brown color. You have to deal with painting the car engine and modern driver, because today, although motors emit less soot, trying to fit products into the Euro reference standards, a film of dust, oil and soot forms on them anyway. Such a build-up has a high density and low thermal conductivity, which leads to overheating of the motor and its rapid wear, especially during the summer.
A film of dirt gradually destroys the engine paintwork and causes corrosion. Ordinary moisture, chlorine and sulfur compounds slowly, but with enviable tenacity, corrode the metal. At first glance, the motor is not such a noticeable detail, but it is worth recalling that this is the most expensive element of the car, the wrong and untimely care of which can hit the owner’s wallet hard.
Engine cleaning
factory painting motor is carried out on hot metal, as a result of which the paint has better grip. It is more difficult to remove such a noticeable paintwork than usual. In this case, it is necessary not to damage the aluminum parts of the car, and some corners can only be reached with special brushes. Homemade scrapers, coarse abrasives, brushes and rags - standard set for cleaning motors.
After removing carbon deposits and old paint, the surface of the motor must be thoroughly degreased. Special products are sold for this, such as car shampoos from Karcher or the Russian Engine Cleaner. Such compounds soften the remaining dirt and degrease the surface at the same time. Flushing is done with a strong pressure of water from a hose.
In the absence of funds for a branded cleaner, more attention should be paid to mechanical cleaning, and degreasing should be done with acetone, solvent or xylene. In workshops, a mixture of soda ash, trisodium phosphate, sodium metasilicate and detergent additives is prepared for these purposes - the motor is immersed in a mixture heated to 90 ° C. Areas that do not need to be painted will need to be protected. To do this, you can use the following, easily removable with water mixture:
- 2/10 dextrin;
- 4/10 chalk;
- 1/10 water;
- 3/10 glycerin.
Paint preparation
During operation, some elements of the engine can heat up to 500 ° C, but the main planes, such as the cylinder block, are cooled with standard antifreeze, rated at 80-90 ° C. Such elements can be painted with ordinary silver, but heat-resistant paint is still required. Factory painting is carried out with a primer containing zinc, silicon or graphite. These elements provide heat resistance to the paint, but the main element is aluminum, which has high thermal conductivity and the ability to create anti-corrosion alloys with other metals.
As you can see, there are no features in the factory paint - you can make it at home. The first step is to make the silverware itself, although the usual instructions for PAP-1 and PAP-2 indicate that you need to mix aluminum powder with varnish or drying oil, but for power unit these methods are not always suitable. The best solution seems to be a universal epoxy adhesive. Both aluminum powder and glue can be found on the shelves of the nearest hardware store.
The proportions directly depend on the degree of heating. Unfortunately, accurate data are available only for special heat-resistant varnishes, but the average material indicators are almost the same, and you can equal the following figures: a ratio of 2 to 5 (2 - aluminum, 5 - glue or special varnish) withstands approximately 350-400 ° C . The solvent needs about 100 g per 1 m2 of area, paint - 1 kg (± 100 g) per 1 m2. It is assumed that in terms of paint consumption, the engine is no different from a conventional surface.
Too thick paint can be diluted with a solvent from any neutral nitro paint. Aluminum powder is thoroughly mixed with thermal varnish or glue, while the powder is thrown in small portions. Engine painting is no different from the usual one: a thickness of 15-20 microns is achieved by applying 2-3 layers of coating. The paint dries after a few hours, but baking occurs when the car is first started and the engine warms up.
If you decide to paint the engine yourself, then you should immediately notice that this is a very laborious task, but rewarding - the result is impressive. However, in order for the engine to look like new and really please the eye, you need to responsibly approach the painting process.
Preparing to paint the engine
Before applying paint, it is necessary to completely disassemble the engine and remove the gearbox shafts, crankshaft, pistons and everything else. First, all parts to be painted must be rinsed using gasoline to wash off any remaining oil. After that, it is required to remove carbon deposits and dust by sandblasting, while it is important that all internal parts and openings are tightly closed. But, since the sand is likely to get into the engine housing, so it will need to be blown out after processing. It's pretty long way, but people's ingenuity found another solution - immerse the engine in water, add washing powder and boil, it's very easy to clean the dirt from the engine fins.
What paint is suitable for painting the engine?
The paint must be heat-resistant, because the engine gets very hot - this can lead to cracking. Special paint withstands temperatures up to +1100 degrees: BODY paint, Zerta enamel, ABRO or Tikkurila paint.
You can paint the engine with a roller, spray paint or use powder paint - your choice. It is better to paint the engine of a motorcycle, car or scooter black because it has good heat dissipation and will cool down quickly. You will also need to harden the paint to make it stick better, and it will become resistant to gasoline in a week.
Engine painting
After cleaning the engine, it is necessary to perform additional degreasing with a rag with acetone or another solvent. Before applying paint to engine parts, it is recommended to stir it properly - until it is homogeneous. After that, you can apply paint, priming is not necessary, because this can cause the engine to overheat, it is better to simply prepare the surface with high quality. Pay attention to the temperature in the room or on the street, it should not exceed +40 degrees. metal surfaces paint in 3 layers, one will be enough for plastic. After drying, thermal hardening is recommended at a temperature of +180 to +400 for 15 minutes - this will ensure greater durability of the paint. Happy update!
Painting an engine is a time-consuming task that not everyone can handle. But if your hands serve you faithfully, then the result will please not only you, but also your pride.
So where to start. Like any other type of painting, mandatory preparatory work is required.
The choice of coloring composition
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The first issue that must be resolved immediately is the choice of paint. The ideal option for painting the engine would be to use powder paint, followed by polymerization in a thermal oven. This requires a tribostatic pistol and equipment costing about 15 thousand dollars. Therefore, such an option, which provides for painting valve cover and the engine with their own hands, disappears.
In connection with the above, we will try to find an option acceptable for everyone who decides to paint the engine by hand. The most important criteria for choosing a paint coating are its high heat resistance and good painting properties on parts, bends and knots.
It is not necessary to buy only expensive paint with heat-resistant qualities. On some parts that are not subject to high temperature, other, less expensive paint may be used. The result of this will not be worse.
How to prepare paint for painting the engine and valve cover with your own hands
Such a process consists in mixing various components in certain proportions. The main such mixture is silver, which includes aluminum powder, varnish, drying oil, "epoxy" and a solvent. All of these can be bought at a regular hardware store. The ratio of metal powder and drying oil ("epoxy", varnish) is 2:5. 
Aluminum powder can be replaced with another metal powder, but not more than 30% (for example, zinc powder can be used). Such paint can act as a replacement in those places where the heating is minimal ( attachments, intake manifold, pipes, hoses, etc.).
The rest must be painted with high level heat resistance, able to withstand temperatures up to 400 degrees Celsius. The most heat resistant paint (above 1100 degrees Celsius) is used to paint the exhaust manifold.
Preparing for painting
Before painting, one of complex processes- engine disassembly, in which the gearbox shafts, pistons, crankshaft and other parts that do not need outside intervention are removed.
Then it is necessary to clean the engine of oil residues, soot and adhering dust. The easiest way to do this is with a sandblaster. Do not forget that all internal parts must be well closed. Sand that has fallen on the surface must then be carefully shaken off, but it is better to blow it with a compressor.
Note: by folk way the engine after disassembly can be lowered into the water, add to it washing powder and boil.
Also great way will use special means to clean the engine. The main thing is to walk well along all the bends and ribs of the engine.
After washing, you need to remove traces of rust (if there are any). This can be done with P400 abrasive paper.
Putty, sanding and primer
Often, these steps are not used to paint the engine. But if you decide to do everything according to the rules, then you definitely need to blow through all the holes after each grinding to remove even the smallest particles of sawn putty and abrasive.
Sealing
For valve cover and engine painting, it is very important that inner part remained untouched. Therefore, bolts must be screwed into all threaded holes, and where there is no thread, wooden plugs should be hammered and glued on top with adhesive tape. This is necessary to avoid blockage of oil and air channels.
Paint is applied to the engine with an airbrush, a balloon (when using a ready-made composition) or a roller (parts that are painted with silver paint). Spraying is applied in 2-3 layers at a temperature of 20-25 degrees Celsius. Drying is carried out in the same conditions during the day.
The final stage is the collection and installation of the engine in its place.
