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aluminum paint?

5K views 23 replies 11 participants last post by  sh0rtlife 
#1 ·
has anyone found an aluminum paint for painting a "stained" engine to bring back that factory look?
lets face it aluminum can does and will eventualy stain to a point where it cant be brought back to its factory look without actualy removing material, im hoping someones found a solution in the form of paint

ive got a wicked steam setup for cleaning engine parts, as i have a direct hookup outside to the 60gal hotwater heater which we keep "over hot" compared to most ppl, so hooking up the presure washer to it nets some WONDERFUL results, but stained aluminum will always remain
 
#2 ·
Other than hydro blast which is pretty expensive, I thoroughly cleaned and painted my engine parts with aluminum color engine enamel paint. I am very satisfied with the results.
 

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#4 ·
i tryed it about uhhh well lets just say it was a long time ago ie 15-20+ years and while the results were GREAT the coating itself was thin enough that it was easily damaged, adding more coats didnt help, it basicly required a clear coat, and ive NEVER found a clear coat that doesnt yellow on engine heat of course their castcoat for castiorn is amazing
 
#5 ·
I work with a company that makes aluminum clad LARGE heat exchangers (like football field large) for power plants. When there is localized damage to the aluminum, the shop sprays Metafux 70-52 over the area. The end result is a dry film of 99.5% aluminum. It’s amazingly durable, abrasion resistant, and The end result looks better than the raw aluminum. I know you can buy smal quantities on Amazon.

 
#7 ·
Sorry, didn’t realize it was so hard to find in the US, there is a US distributor so you might want to give them a call. It’s a European product and our shop in Asia uses quite a bit of it,

Yes, it’s pricey.
 
#11 ·
I haven't needed to paint my Alfa engines but I do paint my MG engines (cast iron). I use Rustoleum - their "Merlot" is a good match for MG Maroon. Rustoleum has two downsides - it is slow drying and it must be re-coated within one hour or after 48+ hours (under ideal drying conditions) or it will wrinkle & lift. Warming up the parts after painting helps to speed the drying - I have put them in a tent made from an old blanket with a drop light (60W incandescent bulb) for warmth.

The engine should not get hot enough to affect enamel paint. If it does, you have bigger problems to worry about than the paint...
 
#15 ·
This is what I used. To prep, I plugged all holes and spent a lot of time masking everything, block, oil pans, and front timing cover and sand blasted it. ONLY the painted surfaces were exposed! If I remember correctly I used duct or gorilla tape. Washed thoroughly with dawn dish soap, power washed, then when it was nice and clean, I did it again. Blew it out with compressed air and let it sit it the sun to dry. I masked the parts and painted, followed the directions on the can. 3 coats total.
 

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#17 ·
Paint is inappropriate for aluminum engines. It will be effected by oils and fuel vapors, but as well reduces heat dissipation.
Stained blocks cam be easily cleaned to remove stains by using full strength Zep industrial cleaner (home Depo) which removes the organic stains. (A couple of sprays with this each high pressured off)
Then a few sprays with Alumabright (NAPA) followed each time by high pressure cleaning to remove the film from the Zep.

Works cleaning the inside during engine rebuilds, In & out the blocks look like new.
 
#18 ·
next youll tell me paint shouldnt be used on any engine block or worse NOTHING should ever be painted or coated....sorry but BS, paint protects and unless your laying it on ungodly thick you cant actualy mitigate the heat dissipation...when was the last time you saw a set of aluminum brake calipers that were NOT coated?...a whole lot more critical than engine heat

while your combination does work for "some" staining it will not work on ALL staining, and does nothing to cover/fix/hide staining from chemicals or corrosion ...ive got multiple sets of valvecovers and an engine block for proof..when the aluminum changes colors it typicaly can never be brought back and can only be painted..thus my quest for a paint that looks the part

as far as paints inability to survive chemicals..your clearly missinformed, many paints survive BETTER than aluminum under chemical fire..and if your using good quality chemical resistant paint(and you should be) it will even survive fuel vapor and even raw fuel to some extent .....ive never seen oil effect good quality propperly laid chemical resistant paint...but ive seen it stain aluminum to the point it cant be brought back
 
#19 ·
I think the engines do look best in their original aluminum. I used Autosol with a brass brush and the pieces came out similar to the original. I want to try that product from NAPA. I do like the look of the painted engines as well, but I am happy with the original look.

John
 
#24 ·
dont get me wrong i LOVE clean shiney aluminum....even more so i adore polished aluminum but maintaining said look can sometimes become an uphill battle that youll never win without a full rebuild every time you need to bring it back, where paint in the same situ will do the job for 10x the time

thus why im looking for paint that will very closely mimic the original finish and shine, basicly a "set it and forget it"

i know very VERY well that "polished" aluminum can not be copied with paint...but ive seen solid results from powder

over the years ive come to the conclusion that some manufacturers may have electro plated their blocks with clear zinc or such to prevent corsion effects...as ive seen some alfa blocks that were unobtainably shiny, best guess is that depending on where an engine lived would depend on how much "abuse" it would get from the elements reflecting on how much coating loss would happen
 
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