No More Chevy Engine Bay

[66 Sat]

Thanks guys, it's a big relief now it's done.
It was nearly a disaster, I thought I had the spray gun adjusted properly (spraying onto a panel of wood) but there were blotches and runs everywhere. I kept going, adjusting the gun while I was spraying, thinking "what the hell, I'm here now", and then just wiped off all the dodgy areas with a rag while it was wet. I then immediately sprayed back over those areas and it all blended perfectly!
The gun kept blowing off the hose too, so I was holding onto it with my other hand. How it turned out so well I'll never know.

 

[matthon]

The engine will look much better too.

 

[dual fours]

That is a job I have been working on for some time now, removing the black paint to get to the original FK5 paint. I painted the engine bay and under the hood black back in the '80's. I thought the factory paint job with it's runs and bumps looked somewhat sloppy and black covered very nicely. All the black paint will be removed at some point to reveal the factory flaws.
Your work on the engine bay looks super.

 

[kiwigtx]

Nice work, and a great colour.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Looks good, now paint those inspection covers and the upper control arm hardware black for picky guys like me.

 

[rich hourigan]

Nice job, can i ask what brand of paint did you use? and was it single stage or base?clear.. thanks and it looks great, i will be doing mine once it warms up, it will be my first...Rich

 

[66 Sat]

Nice job, can i ask what brand of paint did you use? and was it single stage or base?clear.. thanks and it looks great, i will be doing mine once it warms up, it will be my first...Rich

It was base and then clear. The make was De Beer.
I'm a real amateur, have only painted the engine bay once before (in black) and suspension components, k-frame etc, which was all single stage epoxy enamel.
Good luck with yours, the good part of painting the engine bay is the engine, brake cylinder, battery etc will hide most of it - the critical areas to get right are the inner fenders and the cowl.

 

[Tinker67]

Beautiful improvement

 

[moparedtn]

Righteous. Proper.

 

[toolmanmike]

Sure, if the car was BLACK from the factory.

That's what I tell people when they feed me crap at a car show. "I'm thinking of painting it black. I just got a head start when I had the engine out."

 

[65wgn440]

Sure, if the car was BLACK from the factory.

Nope, two white cars also. Both of those were wagons, btw.

 

[Kern Dog]

Why would they be different?
I’ve nwver heard of any A, B or E body that ever came with a black engine bay unless the whole car was black.

 

[joe smith]

Thanks guys, it's a big relief now it's done.
It was nearly a disaster, I thought I had the spray gun adjusted properly (spraying onto a panel of wood) but there were blotches and runs everywhere. I kept going, adjusting the gun while I was spraying, thinking "what the hell, I'm here now", and then just wiped off all the dodgy areas with a rag while it was wet. I then immediately sprayed back over those areas and it all blended perfectly!
The gun kept blowing off the hose too, so I was holding onto it with my other hand. How it turned out so well I'll never know.

A painter taught me years ago, if you eff up when you first start a paint job, take a rag with lacquer thinner, wipe it all off, let it dry and start over.... Works pretty good

 

[65wgn440]

Why would they be different?
I’ve nwver heard of any A, B or E body that ever came with a black engine bay unless the whole car was black.

I don't know, never really have it much thought before, just figured that's the way it was. I do not have the '63 anymore, but do have the '65, so I took a close look at it earlier. Car is under construction still, so not complete under hood. Can definitely see white where components are missing, but because of other circumstances, I am still thinking it has always been this way. I will have to show you some pics. Like the black paint is not only on top of the flange where fender meets inner fender, but is actually applied to the mating surface on fender where it bolts to inner. I have owned this car since 1980 and it was completely stock when I bought it from a used car lot. NOTHING about the black paint screams "I was done with a spray can by some punk one day". That paint has been there a loooong time. If you saw exactly how and where it is applied, you would see what I mean. You have me pretty curious now. I have some guys I know that run a body shop down the street from my shop, I'll have the one guy stop down and get his opinion. Oh btw, car is still original paint.

 

[Kern Dog]

To paint the engine bay of a white car with another color required an additional step that would cost the factory time and money with no return on the "investment".
Factory prototypes, factory authorized customs and show cars often had black engine bays because they just took production cars and modified them to suit the needs.
A 2 year old used car could have been spray bombed by the dealer if the engine bay looked ratty or had a battery explosion.

 

[ZR9B]

It is now "correct".

I remember in high school the chevy guys...its the same color under the hood...wow!