PREPPING ENGINE BAY FOR PAINT

[TripleBlackGator]

I'm looking for information for cleaning and prepping the engine bay for paint. I have a pressure washer, die grinder with assortment of 3M disks, and loads of assorted sandpaper. I know it's going to be a tedious and time consuming job. Any tips or tricks to make this job go any easier would be appreciated. I do not want to use chemicals. Has anyone used media blasting with anything other than sand? If so, what media and what was the cost? Any pictures of your prep project would be great too. Also, I am undecided about paint. I am thinking either PPG base/clear or a polyurethane. Your thoughts?

[Sweet T]

My prepping included removing the motor, transmission, and everything else before calling a tow truck.  Then I wrote a check and hopefully that cover it LOL.

[73chargers4404]

I on other hand spent the 3 weeks striping my firewall down ,it took buying 3 pks of die grinding discs habor freight $12 each and some more 400 grit paper about $50 worth alltogether,if i had it to do over with i would pay to have the whole car media blasted  ,i think  if your going to pay the money I would get the whole car done ,I had the bottom media blasted and now I  wish i would of done the whole car ,it would of cost less  to have them do the whole car ,then just to keep taking it up there and having them do a section at a time ,and the cost of towing it up there gets high quick ,i think the guy wanted $600 to do the whole car top and bottom with wallnut hulls ,i had just the bottom done for  $300 and a month later i paid another 100 to get just the hood done.live and learn

[moparguy01]

I sandblasted one at work here 3-4 weeks ago. took about 2 hours and roughly 400 pounds of sand to get it done, then it was epoxied and painted right afterwards since it didnt need any metal work. Really if you can get it media blasted or even just sandblasted, as long as the person doing the blasting knows what they are doing it shouldnt be a problem. it wasnt in my case. BTW the sand cost is about 6 bucks a bag, and each bag is 50 pounds. so you can get an idea on the total cost.

[Charger-Bodie]

blast it!!! sand media etc. but blast it!! if you sand it off with all the ribs and that you will loose ALOT of "crispness" and sharpness  spot welds get smooth etc. blast it epoxy it and paint it!

[moparguy01]

it also takes way less time to blast it. haha

[john108]

blast it!!! sand media etc. but blast it!! if you sand it off with all the ribs and that you will loose ALOT of "crispness" and sharpness  spot welds get smooth etc. blast it epoxy it and paint it!

Sorry for butting in on someone elses post but my question falls right in along with his.  When you say "blast it epoxy it and paint it".  Are you using an epoxy primer when you say "epoxy it"??
I am in the process of getting ready to pull my engine.  There are localized corroded area's but the 39 year old has held up in most places.
Do you guys still recommend blasting the whole thing??
John

[moparguy01]

I blast whole cars. it makes life easier, you just need to know what your doing and not use too much pressure or aim the nozzle directly at the panel and you have to keep moving!

and when he says epoxy it, yes he means epoxy primer. you sandblast, then epoxy primer it immediately, then after that you can paint it.

[Sweet T]

I would get it blasted also.  Here's mine.

[john108]

Just me again

Is there a problem with waiting too much time after epoxy primer, before the color coat?
Do months hurt?
John

[BlueSS454]

It cost me $750 to have the whole car sandblasted minus the hood and trunk lid, well worth it.  YOu can wait as long as you want before applying the color coat over epoxy primer.  Just make sure you read the tech sheets for the primer you use.  Some have to be etched if they sit more than 24 hours.  Some you can wait up to 7 days before they need to be etched.  Regardless, if you plan on letting it sit for a month or 2, I'd etch the epoxy and recoat it with the epoxy again using it as a wet on wet sealer before you are ready for the color coat.

[73chargers4404]

yah if i had it to do over i would have blasted the whole car ,but theres to many factors why I do not do it now ,when I first started working on my car 6 years ago I still was uneasy about primeing my car now I dont worry at all about it.theres alot of stuff i did 5 years ago that i look at now and think man that looks like shit  so i redo it .live and learn, yah it suicks to sand all that shit off .the picture at the top i took a week before i primered it there was a good couple of days of sanding after that picture.i used Nason etch primer then whent with Nason Epoxy primer.looks good ill have to take more pictures

[john108]

BlueSS454

Sorry for the Amatuer question but:  What do you etch the epoxy primer with ??
And what does wet on wet mean?
John

[hemi-hampton]

I dont want to put words in his mouth but I think he means sand or scuff when he say's Etch ther Primer, I like to use a Red Scotch brite pad if it's sat for a few days but you have up to a week with PPG's DP Epoxy Primer. If you have sand in the Primer that blew in there from the sandblasting aftermath then sand with sandpaper, maybe 400 grit to remove the sand as a scoth brite doesn't remove much dirt or sand but good for scuffing for adhesion. Wet on Wet I assume he means is after sanding/scuffing you'll be sure to go threw to bare metal in some areas most likely, Best to add another coat of Epoxy Primer (used as a sealer) just before you go to paint, No sitting for days this time but more like a half hour give or take a few? LEON.