Ok so as of about a month ago i took the old swap that i had out due to a little annoying oil leak from a craigslist oil pump (Drove me crazy, did every single seal/gasket and thats the only thing that leaked!!). Anyways now im getting an LSD gsr motor from HMO in about 3 weeks. so during my down time im doing a wire tuck/ ABS delete/ and e-bay painting. i want to TRY to do this the right way....so far i have bought a 35 gallon craftsman compressor and a cheap HF gun w/ pressure regulator (this is most likely all the painting ill be doin for a while, should i still upgrade gun?) AND a cheap corolla while my project is under way lol

so questions....

My bay is pretty clean already so all i need to do is scuff it up with 400grit? scotch bright pad? then paint? change tip on HF gun??

The driver side (next to abs pump) feels like 100grit and is very rough from fluids over the years, how could i get rid of that? will it require primer after?

Also BC/CC or single stage for a semi-glossy e bay? (anybody mix paint in socal??)

my car at first....

my compressor 400$...making life easy ha

the good side (just rough up and paint??)

the bad side??

A little wash


Any help would be really really great cause i wanna get started by saterday. thanks

 

btw only looking to just repaint with the factory red, no weld/filler or anything like that thankz

 

my best advice to give you since you're repainting it red anyways. u dont need to seal it, but you do need to clean the **** out of it... spend a lottt of time cleaning it, then sanding/scuffing it... then cleaning it again, be4 you spray base. engine bays are probably the one area that takes so much abuse but never get cleaned. so make sure you get every crack and crevice. grey scotchbrite and 500grit..

i believe i used a similar sized craftsman compressor for my enginebay. worked fine. but since i had no filters, be careful of moisture leaking from the couplers (where the connectors are for the hoses)

 

Ok so when im done cleaning clean 3 more times, got it.

As for the moisture i was thinking about a 35$ inline filter from sears to catch the water/moisture, good idea?

 

yeah, just for safety measures, i would do that. i noticed my hose leaked a bit of water from moisture build up, but luckily none got on the surface. and as far as dust goes. of course if you're spraying in your garage, you're more then likely going to get dust. so just make sure you use compressed air to blow out the area around your engine bay. i didnt set up tarps or anything, i just sprayed in the garage and actually got pretty damn good results

of course mask off anything u dont want overspray on... u literally will spend 90percent of your time, cleaning/scrubbing/scuffing/masking/cleaning. 10 percent of the time will be painting

 

yeah here at my work i got rolls and rolls of clear plastic that im planning to use as soon as its ready, hopfully it helps.

But now i gotta ask lol,

what brand paint did you use?... single stage? bc/cc?
what gun was used?
did you also just sand the shine off and lay paint?
are you happy with it?

 

-i used sherwin willams AWX line of base.. and their lower line of clear from their FINISH 1 line.
-used a devilbiss gun for the base, then cleaned it out realllly good and used it for clear. (tested my fan spray pattern on a piece of masking paper be4 i sprayed the car)
-i scuffed/sanded all the gloss off thats all you need.
-very happy.

there isnt a magical way of doing things, its not rocket science. so just have confidence cuz there is a procedure. just stick to it, and you're just as golden as any "professional" shop may do.

keep attention to detail, and dont take any short cuts. use the right products. wax and degreaser to clean everything, tack rag to finish up any dust sitting... then spray

 

^^thanks for the info now im feeling just a little more confident (not that i wasent before).

Ok so yesterday i went out and bought scuff pad/sandpaper..320 for the "bad side" and 600 to remove the shine everywhere else (couldent find 500 anyware), and today ill be getting the inline filter for my compressor, mabye do a very little simple diy ha



and what i thought would happen happened, the color on the "bad side" came right off from fluids/age that im pretty much at bare metel in a few spots and im sure there might be a little more to come. This means primer huh? do i only primer a section?? im thinking if i do need to shoot primer i can use the HF gun for primer then buy a devilbiss gun off ebay to shoot paint/clear?


Anybody with advice about all of this??!?

 

post a picture of the problematic area

 

the problematic area, and really the only thing that im worried about at this point. That little section is pretty smooth now its just that it has reached metel. i dont expect much more metel to show after this section.
Is this a problem??

Really nobody else?? wow good thing for this guy^^ ha

 

not a problem at all. all you have to do is continue to clean and prep this area just like the rest of the engine bay

the only thing you'll do differently is with the sandpaper, sand the edges of the paint till u cant feel them anymore... you can go to an automotive paint store and ask them for a self-etching primer pen. or you can go to any store that sells rattle can paint... and pick up a can of self etching primer or epoxy primer.

when you're ready to paint the engine pay, spray the bare metal area's first... let it flash off for 15 minutes... then spray your base and clear on the entire engine bay.

 

thanks alot!!, this really put's my mind at rest for the time being. i will most likey be cleaning/sanding the bay alllll week, mabye even get to spray over this 3 day week

ill be back with some updates when im just about ready to paint

ALL criticism welcomed....

 

inline water filter

Ok so for anybody reading and wanting to know what thery are or how to install one...

Things needed:

• 1 Inline Filter (got mine at sears 40$)
• 2 boxes of fittings (home depot 10$)
• razor
• teflon tape
• wrench
• flat head

THE FILTER:
It has a clear window so you can see water build up and empty it.


FITTINGS:


CUT THE HOSE:
i cut mine about 3ft from the tank giving it enough slack


INCERT FITTING:


SCREW THE CLAMP:


TEFLON IT ALL UP:
(These are the fittings going on the filter)


After that repeat the steps for the other side of the hose you cut, then find a nice spot you would like to mount it..









Now your tools that will be free of any water that might cause damage and also in my case leave your paint free of water

 

FYI that tiny filter is not going to do a whole lot. You will probably be good for short amounts of time and/or non-humid days.

I have both of these hooked up and I still get some water from time to time:

 

well i dont experience alot of water anyway it was just a small precaution i guess.

and it looks like your located in humid muggy tx., Im located in the dry so cali weather. (should make a diffrence right??)

But ill be happy if it even helps a little.

 

why not sand the whole engine bay down as much as possible and spray a nice prime coat before you do your base coat. might as well have it last as long as possible if your gonna take the time to do it.

 

Haha, yeah you should fair a lot better out in Cali. I just wanted to give an FYI in case you do have any issues

 

Haha,thanks for the heads up

 

Well cause i heard that it was not nedded, that honda does a really good job prepping the car from the factory and if im painting it the same color all that is needed is to take off the "shine" by roughing it up with some semi fine grit paper, clean, then lay basecoat/clearcoat..right?

(heard there is no clear coat on engine bays??true? its pretty shiny)

plus i wouldent want to ruin the integrity of an already really clean bay with my novice skills if thats the only metel showing. make sense ha?

 

Clear coat help protect the paint.. I never really used the inline filter.

 

yes, there is clear coat... most engine bays may have a flatter then others. but they always have clearcoat

 

bump for some nice info in this thread.

 

Yeah i would've thought so, some spots in my bay that get a little wax really shine. If only the WHOLE bay was like that i wouldent even be painting it...o well, its all good

 

Thanks, i should have more up soon on my bay painting experience.

And im also upgrading my gun.

 

Sand down the whole engine bay, PRIMER THEN PAINT. Primer does what its supposed to do, seal and make the paint bond to the surface. If you spray Base over that bay and dont clean it SPOTLESS, you'll get flaking and chipping.

You do know, when you take a corner, your engine bay flexes right? if you put 4 nice coats on that surface without anything to help bond it, believe me, you'll have problems.