hope this is the correct forum.

I wanted to spruce up the engine bay and had seen other people paint their covers, so i did the same. original eh


full view


Engine cover close up, masking the letters was a pita but worth it


Battery cover and painted hood strut


Hood strut close up


Brake fluid cover


Very close shot of 3.5 V6, already can see a blemish


some of the pics look orangish (even the body panel in the 3rd!)but thats not how it is in person. The fifth pic is closet to the true color.

Can i paint the plenum with a high temp black paint? itd look so much better!

 

you didnt sand enough, did u even spray primer?? also looks like you could have used different brand primer, paint, and it looks like you didnt clear coat it either.

 

no primer,no sanding. the can said i didnt need to!!!!!!!

thinking about clear coating it, any suggestions?

 

well first off, if ur gonna clear coat it, just sand them down and restart it. Take like 320 and sand the crap outa it. then spray a plastics primer on it. Then sand with 400. Spray your spraypaint a couple a time, like 3 layer letting it dry between coats, then wetsand with 600, then once again with one more layer of color. Let that dry for like a day, then apply a a coat of clear coat, let it dry, then do 2 wetcoats. WetSand it down with 800, then get a rubbing/polishing compound and buff it. Then wax it if u like, itll shine real glossy. I recommend getting duplicolor for the primer, color and clear, itll make sure you dont get any funky reactions with the paints. sometimes when u mix brands of paint u get wierd *** results. GL

-B-

 

I've been wanting to put hood struts on. What kind do you have and how easy were they to put on?

 

looks aight imo

 

nice job but need to sand it, primer it, base coat then clear coat it.

 

LOL, sanding it ,primering, and clearing it would make it a nice job, right now, it is not a nice job LOL.

No offense to the original poster. it takes practice.

 

santacruzlick, the struts i have are off of ebay. A guy had tried selling the set 100 bin with n/r and 40$ start bid once. I spotted them a second time and bought them for 55 shipped. The were black originally. The ball ends were rusting so i decided to sand them down and paint em. The struts are 40lb each. The auciton included the brackets.

as far as installation, very very easy and is made much easier if you have a powerful drill and the chuck key handy (6v's of power and a hand tight chuck that makes the bit lock makes the job take longer) You should be able to install the struts in 30 min, but you have to modify the cowl which can take time.

 

oh yeah try spraying some adhesive promoter.before you prime it

 

nah, u dont need adhesion promotor if you sand it, adhesion promoter is good for slick surfaces like metal etc. just sand with 320

 

thing is that i like it, all that matters

and no i dont want a super glossy finish

 

yeah, whether or not YOU like it is the ultimate goal. Im just trying to give some advice for what MOST people look for with those engine cover paint jobs.

 

Mine looked a lot like yours, and if you used plasti paint you can actually sand after and primer not needed, I clear coated mine and they look flawless I will post pics after paint cures.

 

Can't view the pics from work. Maybe the host notworksafe.com has something to do with it.

 

Get some Bulldog Primer at any auto parts store. It sticks to plastics to paint will stick to it.

 

that looks really good. I wouldnt sand and start from scratch just yet. Give them a soap wash, 2 coats of clear and see how it comes up. If ur happy, then you've saved urself a **** load of time

im painting my brake/battery covers gloss black atm, and had a bit of trouble getting the paint to stick even using a primer. I tried some adhesion promoter and its looking good now, but takes a fair bit of time to get complete coverage over those little holes

nice job on the struts install, i like how youve put the rubber capping on the cut line, very clean. Im thinking about painting that area gloss back too now, you've created more work for me

 

What Hood strut is that?