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I just bought a '75 cl360 and need some help restoring it. The biggest question on my mind right now is how to paint the engine. I want to shoot it black, but I'm scared to use just a DBC for fear of it burning off or discoloring. I shot my carbs with an etch/DBC/2002 clear and I guess I'll see how that holds up (who knows, the paint might just all fall off the second I put fuel in them) My first guess would lean towards epoxies such as sherwin williams polane line (they have a realy nice flat black) but I really don't know how hot an air cooled engine gets.

anyway, I know that these are very "nuts and bolts" type questions which doesn't seem to be the focus of this board. But I was hoping that some of you folks might be able to point me towards some good sources for restorers and people looking into the fabrication side of the sport like me.

thanks for reading

kit

I'm not into restoring bikes, but I do work on guns. There are a couple products out there which are actually bake-on finishes, so you wouldn't have to worry about the heat.

If you're interested, look for a product called Gun Kote:

http://www.kgcoatings.com/gunkote.html

No, I don't make a dime off anything this website sells, or anything like that, it's just a product I really, really like.

If you want to repaint your engine, get High Temp BBQ paint. Aircooled engines will get hot and will cook any other regular paint right off, and possibly light it up.

Gasoline will likely also strip off whatever you shot your carbs with.

Best bet is to take the engine apart, completely clean whatever parts you want to paint with a good degreaser, then really hot soapy water, rinse with really hot water (near boiling is good - the hotter the water is, the quicker it will evaporate/dry on the part)

Take an air hose and make sure you blow all the water out of whatever nooks and crannies are left so that the piece is bone dry. At this point, latex/vinyl gloves are your friends - you don't want to leave any oily fingerprints on your now spotless engine.

Thoroughly mask off everything you don't want paint getting into - this means all gasket surfaces, cylinders, bolt holes, oil passages, etc......

then follow the directions on the can of hightemp paint. You can let it dry on it its own, or you can speed up the process by baking it in the oven; the can will have directions.

alternatively, take it to a paint shop and let them do it.

i used a couple of coats of duplicolor 'engine enamel' on mine 2 years ago, seems to be holding pretty good. no flaking, chipping or peeling, and that sucker runs pretty hot.

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/engine.html

WhyteGryphon wrote:If you want to repaint your engine, get High Temp BBQ paint....

...alternatively, take it to a paint shop and let them do it.

Yeah I thought about the BBQ paint for a second, but I'm looking for the way that companies like Harley, S&S, and whatnot actually coat thier cases. I've indirectly heard that some older companies used to powder coat them, but that doesn't make sense to me (PCing is just melted plastic). I'll be coating it either while or just after I have it rebuilt.

Yeah I'd be surprised if the carbs hold up long... that's more of an exeriment, but I'll certianly be happy if they do.

I'm a certified automotive refinisher and kind of have my own paint shop, I shoot a lot of car parts... just not engine parts.

I know there is powder-coatings that will take the heat of an engine, and many bikes do have their engines coated. I hear it holds up well, just like powder coating on any other part. Meaning, tougher than paint, but almost impossible to repair if chipped or damaged. But that's about all I know, so.....

I do alot of this stuff and I have found that ceramic header paint works good on engines. Its good up to 1200F. They also sell a ceramic clear that I use over bead blasted aluminum.
Check this place out for alot of different coatings.

http://www.eastwoodco.com/

I painted the peeling cylinder head on mine with BBQ paint, good for 1200f, and it has done pretty well. I also found a 1500f exhaust manifold paint, which seems to work pretty well on my headers. The 1500 stuff is made by VHT, which I presume means very high temp. At your auto supply, maybe.