Engine Bay Painting

[almostordinary]

Hey gang,

My build has taken a 180' turn in the last couple of days... was going to do an engine conversion on my 87 roller... but found a full drivetrain local to LA out of an 89 that I will be taking on.

I'll also be snagging a lot of body parts to help refresh my exterior.

With the pivot, I am wondering about engine bay prep. Right now it's light / dirty red.

Wondering if I should respray guards red or go black.

Excited to get this 911 back on the road and keeping it 100% Porsche.

[almostordinary]

Just ordered a quickjack from Pelican so I don't have to lay on the floor to remove the front.

[PeteKz]

You probably know that doing a proper repaint is a long difficult process that requires disassembling the car. I thought about it once, when I had my car largely disassembled, interior out, etc., but the more I took off, the more I saw what I had to do, I decided to leave it light ivory.

Since you are "Excited to get this 911 back on the road and keeping it 100% Porsche," I would not change the color. That will end up seriously extending the length of your project. FWIW, the more unusual colors are more valuable if you ever decide to sell it, and a color change makes it less valuable because it's so hard to "do it right."

Get it running first. Drive it around for a year and see if you like the current color. If you want to do a repaint or color change, dropping the engine back out is minor, compared to all the other stuff you will need to do to do a quality repaint or even harder, a color change. I practice what I preach--I don't worry about the nicks and dings my car has because I'm not paranoid about maintaining a brand new finish. So I drive it frequently. And that's a lot more fun.

[almostordinary]

Wise words! Definitely appreciated. I’ll practice a bit of patience and clean what I can so I can just get this on the ground and going. Thanks for the perspective!

[onboost]

Engine is out already.. roller right? Makes sense to do it now get it out of the way.. and its simple.

Cover and hang the wiring, plug the fuel lines and remove the electrical panel on the left side.

Spray the engine compartment down with simple green and pressure wash. Take a red scotch-brite pad and scuff the surface, it again with simple green and rinse, and let it dry a day. Blow it out really good and if needed mist on some primer. You can use a gun or a rattle can.. once dry give it a light scugg with a scothbrite, blow it out and paint it! Again, you can use a gun or a rattle can, I would shoot it body color as that's what it should be. Done!

[almostordinary]

Yea motor is out and I’ve got most of the bay clean and free of all the above. I won’t have the new drivetrain for another month and plan on at least a months worth of work before it goes back in so time is on my side. My quick Jack made it to my house this morning after ordering yesterday afternoon so thanks for that pelican!

Spending the day finishing up my BMW cafe project that will be funding some of this build with its sale.

The misses is falling in love w the guards red so it may stay this way so a red spray of the engine bay will be the route I go. I’ll update this thread in the coming weeks.

Thanks for both sides of the discussion.

[MichaelSJackson]

Not a fan of black. Makes it hard to see when you're in there. I just can't seem to get enough light to make me happy.

Black does hide the dirt and grease?

[PeteKz]

Hah! As the saying goes, "black isn't a color. It's a lifestyle." Which means, it's very hard to keep it looking good, because a black paint job shows dirt, scratches, nicks, bug splats, etc. more than any other color.

Almost ordinary: I'll bet that when you get the engine compartment cleaned up, the red paint will be in very good condition. It's well protected from sun, etc. in there, so it should not need repainting. Resist those Sirens!

[Damon88]

When I removed my engine. I was in the same situation. I went to the local auto body paint supply shop. I had them make me up some paint to match exterior and clear in a spray can. Gave the engine bay a power wash and masked everything off. It was worth the time to do it. It was also a great time to replace the engine bay sound mat. If you're even considering it ... do it. You will thank yourself down the road once the engine is back in. Cheers
Damon

started like this... and ..

[empeg9000]

Originally Posted by Damon88

When I removed my engine. I was in the same situation. I went to the local auto body paint supply shop. I had them make me up some paint to match exterior and clear in a spray can. Gave the engine bay a power wash and masked everything off. It was worth the time to do it. It was also a great time to replace the engine bay sound mat. If you're even considering it ... do it. You will thank yourself down the road once the engine is back in. Cheers
Damon

started like this... and ..

I love that air box. Where did you get that? That’s a CIS system?

[Funracer]

My latest Porsche purchase is a Guards Red 993. I never thought I would be the “Little Red Porsche”
cliche guy. I only bought it because it was in good shape and the price was right.

And now I absolutely love GR. It grew on me fast. Yes its bright but man is it pretty.

Do clean up the engine bay. No reason not to with all the access that will be gone later. Touch up or respray the area if it needs it. You will be glad you did later.

Post pics of your progress. Enjoy!

[Funracer]

Also what onboost said. If you don’t have a pressure washer this is your excuse. Use it judiciously and it will save a ton of elbow grease.

[almostordinary]

Wow. We’ll pressure washer ordered!

I’ve got some GR paint from a previous wheel well refresh.

[jrwilson]

Originally Posted by empeg9000

I love that air box. Where did you get that? That’s a CIS system?

https://achtungkraft.com/products/cis-porsche-air-filter-cover-carbon-fiber