Engine bay paint
 

I'm looking for aerosol spray in a semi or satin gloss black to paint my fender wells, firewall & frame rails.

Any suggestions on the best product? And any tips on prep?

As a past painter/ auto-body prepper.

Prep is key. On my Subaru WRX engine bay that I sprayed last Summer, I washed the bay down with a pressure washer and scrubbed with a sponge and soap. Also de-greased and sprayed again. Then I used your standard "grey" and "red" scotch-brite pads to scuff up the surface. (personally I'd of blasted it, but that wasn't an option for me) Washed down again, and de-greased.

Then proceeded to mask anything off I didn't want sprayed (I did my bay in candy anodized purple), then sprayed an adhesion promoter and then my base coat, let tack then sprayed another coat. Let dry, then sprayed my layers of colour, light coats are key to a good finish. I did about 8 light coats on the bay. Let it dry, then proceeded to clear coat with an HVLP gun in high gloss.

For the purple, I used a standard rattle can from Dupi-Color and its held up all Summer, and throughout the Winter.

The photo doesn't do the paint any justice, looks much better in person. I also sprayed the cradle and fender wells in black as a contrast, its a Dupli-Color product also, sprayed really nice and is a gloss. The cans come with a blue aeresol tip, which makes a "fan" pattern opposed to most cans that make a "circle" pattern so you can achieve a better coverage that's even.

Link to a photo of my bay:
http://scontent-a.cdninstagram.com/h...17869029_a.jpg

Hope this all helps.

Sikkens makes a Rally Black in spray can the works awesome for under hood stuff!! If you have bare metal then you will want to prime it first then finish said with 600-800 wet or dry sand paper. Apply it even as you can and wait at least 10-15 mins between coats depending on air temperature and metal temperature. Let me know if you need a place to get the paint as I can get it for you if you want??

Go to your local John Deere and buy some cans of John Deere Blitz Black. It sounds like a hillbilly paint but it's not. It's made by Valspar and it's really durable. It has a great satin finish that isn't too flat. It looks similar to chassis black. A lot of car guys are using it and some people paint their entire car with it. You can buy it in cans or buy a gallon and use a gun.

Scuff all the surfaces very well, then use reducer to clean off any residue before you shoot it. Obviously blasting the parts completely clean would be the best starting point and then using a quality spray can primer before paint, but that's up to you.

No John Deere in my area that I know of. Anybody use SEM or EastWood?

I was gonna degrease, pressure wash with soapy water, scuff then expoy primer before paint.

Eastwood has great products. I've used their powder coating systems and products before with zero issues. They have paint specially for underhood areas.
http://www.eastwood.com/paints/underhood-paints.html

SEM is great and dries right away. I'll take a pic of a can.

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Thanks for the pic Charlie. Have you sprayed anything recently? Can you post a pic?

I'm leaning towards LEM cause I can buy it local if I need more.

Huge fan of the Eastwood paints here. My whole under the hood area was done in their Underhood Black. The cans cost a bit more but I think it's worth it because the paint covers so much better and really seem to last longer. I've spilled brake fluid on it, hit it with pressure washer and it's been through about 4 years of hard abuse...and still looks real well.