Paint type for engine bay

[AmadeusCharger500]

I have painted 2 engine bays with base/clear. The one thing I don't like about this is how difficult it is to polish to a clear finish. I end up leaving many sections rough.

I am currently working on my 3rd and would like opinions on the type of paint may have gotten good results i.e. glossy and shiny.

I am leaning towards Acrylic Urethane with my only rational being its advertised as outstanding gloss, depth and chemical resistance.

Thanks

[Charger-Bodie]

For what you're doing there Id go with the single stage Acrylic urethane , like you said

[Big Lebowski]

  I get a bad time for "glossing" the engine bays, some Mopar folks say the engine bay wasn't as shiny as the body.

[hemi-hampton]

You can't get a good gloss with Base/Clear with out rubbing? LEON.

[bill440rt]

Keep two guns filled with clear. One gravity feed, & the other a gravity feed touch-up gun. I use the touch up gun for getting into the hard to reach areas, & the bigger gun for the larger areas such as the firewall & aprons. The touch up gun works real nice for "shooting" the paint in the real hard to reach areas, such as where the rails tuck under the firewall.

[1969chargerrtse]

Did mine with single stage urethane and it came out great.

[knitz01]

WOW that looks awsome

[Silver R/T]

You can't get a good gloss with Base/Clear with out rubbing? LEON.

thats what I was thinking. You should be able to lay out bc/cc nice and glossy, really depends on your gun setup though.

[AmadeusCharger500]

From what I remember the base/clear requires color sanding for which I just haven't figured out how to do on all the curves in the bay. On this car I just did any flat surfaces I could get the buffer on. Anything else just sat with the orange peel.
Am I missing something. Is it possible to spray in such a way it doesn't need color sanding and buffing?

[Silver R/T]

unless youre doing a show car you don't cut/buff engine bay, door jambs, trunk jamb, etc.

[hemi-hampton]

When you base clear the outside of a car it's not necessary or mandatory to rub either, you'll have a nice shine with out rubbing. Optional to rub but of course they do look better rubbed in my opinion. Heres a Cuda I did Friday withg Base Clear, did not rub yet & it has a good gloss. LEON.

[hemi-hampton]

It will take a experianced painter to lay it down glass smooth with zero orange peel & not run or sag it. To do this you gotta go to a certain invisable line & not cross it. Not easy to do, as a result almost all paint jobs will have some orange peel to some degree, some minor & some major. A inexperiaced painter will have more orange peel, dry spray &/or runs or sags then a experianced painter. LEON.

[mikepmcs]

I've been following this one a little.

I guess that is what I was thinking as well.  No reason base clear won't work in the engine bay, you just have to make sure you cover everything. What are the conditions you are spraying(ie: the whole setup) that can really play havoc on a paint job(temp,pressure, etc....)

Like bill440rt said, I myself also use the touch up gun on occasion to get to hard to reach places as well. 

But then, Brian chimes in with no problem on the single stage, and we all know he does awesome work like the rest of you guys, but my only thought when I first saw that was, different medium used in engine bay/jams etc....verse different medium used on the exterior, isn't there a pretty good possibility of a color match issue?

v/r
Mike

[Charger-Bodie]

I've been following this one a little.

I guess that is what I was thinking as well.  No reason base clear won't work in the engine bay, you just have to make sure you cover everything. What are the conditions you are spraying(ie: the whole setup) that can really play havoc on a paint job(temp,pressure, etc....)

Like bill440rt said, I myself also use the touch up gun on occasion to get to hard to reach places as well. 

But then, Brian chimes in with no problem on the single stage, and we all know he does awesome work like the rest of you guys, but my only thought when I first saw that was, different medium used in engine bay/jams etc....verse different medium used on the exterior, isn't there a pretty good possibility of a color match issue?

v/r
Mike

Mike you make some good points ! along with the rest who posted in this thread.

First off , there is no reason not to be able to use base clear in the gine compartment, It should be very easy to spray it smooth and shiny. 

BUT ,there are a couple reasons I suggested single stage in this situation , here they are :  .... the pic shows an engine compartment that is just sanded down, not stripped. even if sealed most brands of base are going to be likely to try to lift the old finish, where as the single stage isn't nearly as aggressive.  ..... the other reason is that single stage paint is far more durable than clear.

The entire underside and some of my engine compartment, and also my trunk of my Charger is single stage and it is VERY tough.

If there were any reason that would scare me off of single stage in this situation it would be the color match thing. ....But if it were me , Id spray out some of each before proceding to be sure that it is going to match the outside . ( if hes going to shoot the outside later)

[BlueSS454]

I used a single stage urethane on the underside, inside, and engine bay on my car.  It came out great.  No need to cut and buff it.  There was little to no orange peel in most of the areas.  It also makes it easier to touch up if something gets scratched or chipped.  Here are a few pics...

[AmadeusCharger500]

Wow, bluesSS.
Thats just incredible.

Yeah I used a hand held sandblaster, some sanding disc and wire wheel to clean, and it only took the loose paint and rust off. I Primered with rust encapsulator just to be safe and then laid down a coat of primer filler. I am now feather edging all those areas that paint was still uneven with bare metal, so NO, this will never be a show car.

Looks Like I will go with the single stage urethane as I can clearly see now it can look great, and the durability factor is a real Plus.

The exterior paint is going to done by a local shop. I'll just leave it up to them to match color.

Thanks everyone. Gotta get back to feather edging! Wish I had a real sandblaster.

[The70RT]

Single stage on this too.

[hemi-hampton]

Base clear on this one, although I've done a few undercarriages & engine compartment in single stage & then outside base clear, or single stage inside & out, ect, ect. LEON.

[71mopar383]

can metallic silver in single stage?