Anyone ever painted their engine while mounted?

[D-Max2012]

Has anyone ever took on the challenge of painting their engine, while still mounted in the bike? After almost 3 years of trying to get my 91 engine working right, I finally have it running smooth from idle to WOT. The P.O. did not care for the max properly and removed the paint on the stator cover, water pump, and shift cover. So,, now I have a two toned bike . Not to mention scuff marks and engine wear, on the cylinder stacks. I have no problem taking the covers off to paint them, but I'd hate to have to remove the engine, after countless hours of work, trying to get it running right.

I know the best way is to remove the engine, break it down, sandblast it, then powder coat it.. I'm not looking for perfection. just a decent looking job from about 10 feet away.. :biglaugh:


Any thoughts?

 

[davesax36]

Wayne does it. Spend lots of time taping.

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[Hijinx1812]

I recently did mine in the frame. It wasn't as bad as how you described yours, though. My uppers were starting to flake off of my 95 and it looked like crap. I used vhf black case paint. Prep - I used a fine grit sandpaper to remove the loose original paint & feather the remaining paint that was still sticking. Then I wiped it down with a rag sprayed with autozone engine degreaser. Then I used a clean rag with plain water to rinse it. Once the engine was dry, I taped off all of the areas I didn't want paint on. It's not difficult to do, just very time consuming. Take your time & im sure it'll turn out fine.

 

[D-Max2012]

Thanks for info.. What is the paint you used? VHF Black Case Paint.. Never heard of that one.. (unless your auto correct turned VHT (Very High Temp) to VHF)..
No primer was needed?
After the de-greaser, just a water bath and dry?
How did it come out, and how long ago was it done and how does it still look?

Sorry for all the questions, but I am interested.

thanks

 

[Hijinx1812]

Lol - yes, vht (damn autocorrect). I actually just did it today, so I don't know about the longevity. I sanded, degreased, rinsed, and then follows the directions on the can. I think it turned out pretty good. It's not perfect, but it looks a lot better than it did & im very happy with it.

 

[Hijinx1812]

No primer

 

[D-Max2012]

Cool.. did you use High Gloss, Semi or Flat black?

 

[D-Max2012]

I think the stock engine has a Semi-Gloss look.

 

[Hijinx1812]

SP903 satin black. I got it on eBay for $11 and change. Again, I just did my upper motor as my lower was fine. I tried posting a pic but it keeps crashing on me!

 

[CaptainKyle]

This one was done using eastwood engine epoxy

 

[sdt354]

Thanks for info.. What is the paint you used? VHF Black Case Paint.. Never heard of that one.. (unless your auto correct turned VHT (Very High Temp) to VHF)..
No primer was needed?
After the de-greaser, just a water bath and dry?
How did it come out, and how long ago was it done and how does it still look?

Sorry for all the questions, but I am interested.

thanks

I did mine this spring. I considered it a pain in the *** and will never do all that taping ever again. It's a lot of work. I sanded off any scaled areas then wiped it down with acetone well. These pics were before I compounded it. That should wait a week or two.I put several coats of VHT black on. I used the whole can. Next time I'm pulling the engine and soda blasting it, then painting it on an engine stand. I swear!
Steve-o

 

[Dorney]

I did mine this spring. I considered it a pain in the *** and will never do all that taping ever again. It's a lot of work. I sanded off any scaled areas then wiped it down with acetone well. These pics were before I compounded it. That should wait a week or two.I put several coats of VHT black on. I used the whole can. Next time I'm pulling the engine and soda blasting it, then painting it on an engine stand. I swear!
Steve-o

Hi Steve-O
I thought about painting mine in the frame & then I thought better of it. I'm glad I did with all the hard to get places it was hard enough.

Dave

 

[wildweasel_pt]

Its already hard enough to paint it out of the frame. Go the extra mile and remove it to do it properly. it takes a couple hours to remove the engine and the double to install. Frame goes into engine while engine stands on a platform. I would recommend removing swingarm, gas tank and rad to do it properly without scratching anything else

 

[jdeitz1979]

Myself personally, it's not easy getting the motor out, but the end results are way better.


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[sdt354]

Hi Steve-O
I thought about painting mine in the frame & then I thought better of it. I'm glad I did with all the hard to get places it was hard enough.

Dave

+1, there are places you won't get in the frame. And like Fred said, a better job is done with engine out. You'll spend the time taping anyway.
Steve-o

 

[wayne z]

There are places you won't get with it in the frame, but most of those places can't be seen after it is buttoned up.

I removed as much hardware and plastic as possible, fine sanded all I could reach and feathered the worn or chipped places.

Then I sanded the aluminum stripes on the engine clean and coated them with clear engine enamel from NAPA.

I then carefully masked and exacto trimmed the clear stuff with green tape and proceded to mask the rest of the immediate bike from the engine.

Aluminum foil is the best thing for quick masking of large and unweildy spaces, just span and crinkle into all kinds of places and finish with the green tape. 2" tape workks for everything.

After done masking, I used the simi-gloss black engine enamel from NAPA.

Turned out beautifully.

Before and after pics: