Engine Bay
One of the biggest eye sores is a crappy engine bay. Now I don't have the talent of many weekend wrench turners but you have to start some where so why not the engine bay. Back when I put in my 'newer' motor I tried to just rattle can my engine bay. It looked better but only slightly. I learned that it takes a lot of work to get things looking great. So at that point I decided that when the time came I would try to do it right.
That time was when I pulled all of my suspension to do the upgrades that I had planed. This allowed me to pull everything from the engine bay and to pull the motor only took a couple hours more so this was the time to try to paint the egine bay again.
The hardest part of this project is getting 40 years of grim and under coating off the car. I found the easiest way to do this was to use a propane torch and melt it off. Then finish it off a wire wheel. It makes a super mess and will smoke you out of the garage. Good times!
There were two spots in my engine bay that needed attention. One was under the battery tray. I needed the welding practice so I gave it a try. It did not come out very well at all but at the time I figured I would cover it up with a new battery tray so I left it. Now that I think I might put the battery in the trunk I wish I had done a better job at fixing it.
I also had a small section where the fender attaches to the engine bay. This fix was a little better. I am ok with it for now but I may go back and redo it later. I have learned enough now on the repairs that I believe I will be able to do a fair job on the cowl and quarters.
Then I took my trusty old wire wheel and cleaned up all the metal. I stripped and cleaned it up about as well as I could. Then I went down to my local HomeDepot and bought a can of Rustoleum primer. Then stopped at the local HarborFreight and bought a $15 air spray gun. I tapped off the areas of the car that I didn't want to get paint on. Pushed the front of the car out of the garage and started learning.
The primer went on pretty well but I had to do 3 coats to get good coverage. I also did light coats and moved on until it dried. Primer dries fast so I was able to do the 3 coats over 2 days. I also did the priming early so there was less wind and bugs that could cause problems.
I have to say I am pretty happy with the primer. Now to do the same thing for the paint. The paint was a hard choice for me. I don't like the flat looking paint and I didn't want a gloss in there either. So I went with a Satin. Black Satin. I applied 3 coats the same way I did the primer. It looks pretty good I must say. I picked up a spray can for touch ups as I am sure that I will mark it up over time.
Results: not bad, eh?
I am happy with the results. The paint is pretty tough and easy to touch up. Would I do it again like this, I don't know. I think next time I will get a rotisary and do the whole body at once. One thing is for sure, it does look a whole lot better and should look super when the motor is back in there. I learned a lot with this project.
BEFORE
AFTER
