latest on engine paint?

vibrac

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I have perused the forum and found these suggestions most are a few years old so how did they wear?

International Paints "ONE COAT HEAT RESISTANT ENAMEL"
Halfords High Temperature Engine Enamel Paint - Gloss Black (cant belive Halfords have sold anything usefull since 1965 :) )
Simoniz Engine Enamel Paint GLOSS BLACK (is this sperex?)
Techcote High Temperature Gloss Black Paint
Black Smoothrite (hammerite)

I have heard about all the plastic coating too shiney/melting suggestions and the two pack carceogenic route so will avoid those

My preference (at the moment) is Black smoothrite I use it elsewhere its easily available I just would like some long term feedback on it (and the other suggestions) and any new ones
 
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greg brillus

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Has anyone ever tried POR 15 Engine enamels....? Heat resistant and very tough.....I've seen some of their product brushed on to a VW floor pan, and the finnish was extremly good and you could not look like marking it with your finger nail.....only down side is being an enamel it is slow drying, so needs a dust free environment to stop any grit getting on the surface.....I might try some on our race engine, as i think with a little thinning it can be sprayed on for a more uniform finnish. As a side i use 2 pac gloss black on Shadow engines....never had any probs.....finnish is way better than original, but isn't that what everyone mostly wants....my supply of Pinchin Johnsons best stove enamel has just run out....Darn it...!!! GB.
 

minivin

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Interesting subject, as I am presently trying to get all the parts together to get my twin engine project finished in black. Previous experience for me with engines being powder coated were two Rotax engines, one a Harley Davidson MT350 that I restored and a CCM Armstrong MT500 that I have just finished. These engines are quite comparable to a Vincent engine, what with their large aluminium mass and dry sump construction. Neither engine has shown any issues, but I am still interested to hear about alternative solutions, as one of the issues I potentially would have is that the Rotax engines were done in a satin black coating, while I would be wanting gloss black on the twin engine, and from what I have seen the gloss finish seems to go on a lot thicker, which could result in either over heating of the engine or failure of the coating?
 

greg brillus

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In response to Minivin, well almost any paint is going to be thicker these days, given the original finish was only one layer thick ( being dipped and no primer used) the original paint was very good quality and obviously no longer available. The Shadow engines i have done have a coat of etch primer, then a light dust coat of 2 pac, followed by a thicker top coat...with a stong emphasis on keeping the paint as thin as possible. This is a challenge on finned items like barrels and heads where too thin a coating results in the edges of the fins being transparent in bright daylight. This is why i asked about the POR 15 as it is a very dense paint with excellent coverage, and probably would produce an equal if not better finish than the original, whilst still using just one coat......Greg.
 

Howard

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Fairly sure I used Simonize and it came off when my tank split and leaked "petrol" on it.

I'm using Plasticote (don't think it's actually plastic) engine enamel on top of etch primer at the moment, and that seems ok, (but only up to 6 months so far).

H
 

vibrac

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I have perused the forum and found these suggestions most are a few years old so how did they wear?

International Paints "ONE COAT HEAT RESISTANT ENAMEL"
Halfords High Temperature Engine Enamel Paint - Gloss Black (cant belive Halfords have sold anything usefull since 1965 :) )
Simoniz Engine Enamel Paint GLOSS BLACK (is this sperex?)
Techcote High Temperature Gloss Black Paint
Black Smoothrite (hammerite)

I have heard about all the plastic coating too shiney/melting suggestions and the two pack carceogenic route so will avoid those

My preference (at the moment) is Black smoothrite I use it elsewhere its easily available I just would like some long term feedback on it (and the other suggestions) and any new ones

two more to add then
Plasticoat
POR15 (in UK Frosts or Holden stock this)
I will do a test with smoothrite and petrol
we should forget Simoniz perhaps although I am not sure if they have two products (see my quote above)
 
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vibrac

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an interesting side question as it seems we are gravitating to aerosols.
unused as I am to metric what is the square meterage of a twin engine outside head barrel crank?
 

Ducvelo

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I've had reasonable results with Hycote high temp black gloss engine enamel (off ebay). I'm sure it's not as stable as 2 pack etc, but I was surprised at the good finish for a simple application. Dulls a little with petrol (to probably a more authentic colour), but doesn't strip, and easy to touch up.
 

Paul Ennis

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I did my crankcases with Humbrol enamel and the covers, heads and barrels with Plasti-kote. That was 40,000 miles ago and the bike still looks pretty good. SSL10900.jpg

Paul.
 
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