Painting Beta engine block

[mangocrazy]

I've had my bare 2L Spider engine block sat on an engine stand for close to a year now, without getting round to preparing it for paint. The block had been given to Stanwood Engineering in Bawtry on Guy Croft's recommendation and had gone through their ultrasonic tank. When it emerged it looked pretty much brand new. While it was there the block was bored to accept the +0.4mm Vick Auto pistons I had, and the complete bottom end will return to Stanwood in the full ness of time to be reassembled. I'll rebuild the top end myself (probably).

Anyway, first step was to mask off all the areas that don't need or want painting. I must confess, I hadn't realised what a fiddly and time-consuming task it would be. I'd also forgotten that there are 6 sides to an engine block, all of which need treatment. The block is full of machined faces to which components bolt, and these have to be protected. There are also a lot of machined circular recesses that are almost impossible to blank off using masking tape. For those I used thick cardboard, cut slightly oversize and then crimped into place using a small screwdriver.

What you see here took me over a day, and the back of the block has still not been touched. Ho-hum...

Picture 1: The large side closest to camera is the base of the block with all the crankcase webs covered. The side mounted to the engine stand is the clutch/gearbox end. The block had to come off the engine stand to mask that side, as it was impossible to do in situ. More delay...

Picture 2: This gives a better view of the fiddly nature of the masking process. The masking tape I used is cloth-based and can be quite fairly accurately with a sharp Stanley blade.

Picture 3: And this view shows the top deck all masked up, and the copious use of CAD (cardboard-aided design) in blanking off parts that must remain paint-free. Hopefully the next set of photos will show the masking complete and 2K epoxy primer applied.

Sometime this year, would be nice...

[rossocorsa]

Blimey! I just did mine in grey floor paint with a brush 🤣

[mangocrazy]

Blimey! I just did mine in grey floor paint with a brush 🤣

I'm starting to appreciate the wisdom of that approach...   

[rossocorsa]

Blimey! I just did mine in grey floor paint with a brush 🤣

I'm starting to appreciate the wisdom of that approach...  

To be honest I don't think the block gets as hot etc. as you might imagine, so whilst floor paint isn't perfect it's not bad either.

[peteracs]

I may be wrong remembering, but have it in my mind Guy Croft used Hammerite. Suspect I read it in his book.

[mangocrazy]

I may be wrong remembering, but have it in my mind Guy Croft used Hammerite. Suspect I read it in his book.

Yes, he did use Hammerite. I'm sure I've read it in his book, and he told me in person. My thinking was that as I'd got it so thoroughly cleaned I might as well try and get the best possible finish on it I can. The amount of time it's taken me to get this far has made me seriously question the wisdom of that decision.

But it's nearly ready for paint now, so I will persist... 

[rossocorsa]

I may be wrong remembering, but have it in my mind Guy Croft used Hammerite. Suspect I read it in his book.

Yes, he did use Hammerite. I'm sure I've read it in his book, and he told me in person. My thinking was that as I'd got it so thoroughly cleaned I might as well try and get the best possible finish on it I can. The amount of time it's taken me to get this far has made me seriously question the wisdom of that decision.

But it's nearly ready for paint now, so I will persist... 

The engine will be too posh to go back in the car!

[mangocrazy]

Well - let's just say that things didn't quite go according to plan... I'd bought two cans of fancy 2K epoxy primer (supposed to the primer of choice in all the best bodyshops) and it went on nicely enough, but started 'whiskering' (the best way I can describe it) as it was drying. I let it go touch dry and then tried brushing off the whiskers as best I could. Some areas didn't whisker, others did so it may have been inadequate surface preparation.

I'd previously gone over the whole engine with isopropyl alcohol-infused poly wipes, so I'm not sure what was going on. After two coats of primer, wet on wet, I then started spraying the top coat. I'd completed one coat on the back of the engine, and it was looking pretty good. I turned the engine through 180 degrees to spray the front and after a couple of passes, the spray nozzle started spitting and passing droplets, not spray. I turned the can upside down, cleared the nozzle and tried again and it just wouldn't stop spitting out droplets. At this point I'd had enough and threw the can in the bin.

I was determined to get the job finished so swallowed my pride, went down the local B&Q and got a can of smooth silver Hammerite and a decent quality paint brush. At least my masking off had made it a much simpler proposition to hand paint so that's what I did, and it came out looking pretty good. It was annoying to have to cover up the 'good' side I'd sprayed, but I wasn't really interested in a two-tone engine...

So GC was right again! I should have gone with Hammerite straight off, if I'm honest. No pictures yet, I was in such a hurry I never had chance to take any, but I will do next time I'm back in Stafford.

[mangocrazy]

The repainted engine block went off to Stanwood Engineering in Bawtry today, along with the GC prepped and balanced crankshaft, Vick Auto 10:1 pistons/rings, GC Cunningham rods and sundry bearings, gaskets, oil seals, core plugs and housings. They are going to effectively build me a short engine from the above components. I'll finish off the sump and oil pump when I get it back and then start steeling myself for the top-end build.

At last some progress is being made...

[mangocrazy]

As part of getting everything ready for the rebuild I've had the camboxes vapour blasted and powder-coated satin/matt gold, but with the surface of the raised 'Lancia' type left uncoated. I'm not sure if you'll be able to see this, but here is Powdercoating Shropshire's Facebook post with photos:

https://www.facebook.com/powdercoatingshropshire/posts/922081081319082?