Touching up engine bay
 

While engine is out, I was thinking about touching up the area. Tap everything off and rattle can? Any tips on this? Is there a rattle can that would match the guards red?

Todd

I would think the main concern will be making sure that there is no oil or grease on any of the surfaces you want to paint. A degreaser and pressure wash might do it, but get it clean.

Regarding matching paint with rattle can, check your area for an automotive paint supply shop. The one in my area was able to match my color and put some in rattle cans, I think I had to buy two for about $20 or so. Might be a better match, especially if there has been any fading over the years. You should be able to bring a painted part to them for matching (like a flag mirror).
Good luck and show us the results!

Forget the rattle cans....
 

Forget the rattle cans- too messy!

I have painted the engine compartments of 3 or 4 911s- very easy to do with the engine out:

1. Every thing must obviously be very clean, and dry, or the paint won't stick. If you have
a lot of greasy /oil laden surfaces with dirt, the quickest way to cut that is with a can
of Gunk degreaser. Once everything is wet, you must blow dry everything before you
can use Gunk again, as water cuts the Gunk if you missed something. A cheaper way,
that might take several cleanings, is to use my favorite- Zep Citrus Cleaner-the Orange
stuff (H.Depot) or Simple Green out of spray bottles. DO NOT- DO NOT-DO
NOT use Deep Purple or similar products- they are extreme heavy duty degreasers
that will remove paint and discolor anodizing, etc..... Buy several 1 inch disposable
paint brushes to scrub with- also grab some old toothbrushes.....

2. Mask off/seal all fuel, oil, and air breather lines. remove and let hang charcoal
canisters, electric panel (3 x10mm bolts) , wires out of their metal tabs, etc. The
more stuff you can get out of the way- the easier to clean and paint.

3. Spray everything with the cleaners, scrub, rinse. repeat as necessary. Air dry every
thing with compressed air after the engine compartment is as clean as you can get
it- then let it sit for a few hours in the sun to make sure everything is dry.....

4. If you need a new rubber u-shaped air seal around the entire engine compartment,
or a new sound deadening pad- now is the time to change those.....

5. mask off your rubber air seal with 2-3 inch wide blue masking tape. mask off anything
else you are afraid of getting paint on- use plastic bags, etc.....

6. get a really good quality 1 inch paint brush. I use a 1inch angled Purdy 'All Paints'
brush- won't leave bristle hairs in the paint that you will have to dig out. By this
time you have figured out that the cheap 1 inch throw-aways leave hair all over
the place.......

7. Go to your local auto paint store- have them mix your Guards Red, etc- a pint will
usually do..... if you have a two-stage paint- a base coat/clear coat, or a metallic
paint- almost always a base coat/clear coat, have them mix a can of single stage
paint to match..... the base coat is usually pretty dull/flat, and the clear makes it
shine. If you have a two stage paint job (don't know what year Porsche went from
single stage paints to two-stage) and you have some base coat/clear coat paint
around, you can use that too- you'll just have to paint everything again with clear
to get the gloss....

8. BTW, you have been inside the engine compartment all this time doing this stuff;)

9. Buy a quart of the associated reducer, plus hardener, for your finish paint. Buy a
quart/gallon of lacquer thinner to clean up with- great stuff to have around anyway

10. Brush on- yep, brush on your paint. You have thinned it with the enamel reducer
and the engine compartment is rough with body schutz anyway..... the paint will
flow and you will see few, if any, brush marks after it sets. we're talking about the
engine compartment here anyway- most of it you can't see..... painting is all
about control of the paint- if your brush gets paint much higher than about 2/3
up the bristles, stop and clean it. if you load it up too much, it might/always
will drip exactly where you don't want it- it's a rule....

11. If need be- pull stuff out of the way on one side of the engine compartment- paint
and let dry, then do the other side. If you have EFI and Coil Paxs for ignition,
you will almost have to do it this way- too many things hanging, etc.

You will be very pleased with the results. it's more work to do it this way, but it's the
only way that really works IMHO. Rattle cans put paint everywhere, and you really have to mask everything, and you can't get it in the real tight spots like you can with a brush- or you spent 30 extra minutes trying to mask off with tape and paper to spray
that tight spot....

It works, and it looks great.

thats my 4 cents worthSmileWavy

Tim

In my 40th -gasp! choke! -year of 911s - 1973-2013
'68 911, '77 S Targa, '79SC, '88Cab, '77 930

Skrufy, great advice! I have had some pretty good results with a "spray bomb". It is a small jar and an aerosol sprayer that screws on to the jar. The jar is reusable and so is the air source can if you do not expend it all on the first project. They are available any place that would mix paint as you suggested. Just another option for Toddu.

I use scrufy's method as well. Using a Preval to make a spray bottle can also work, but in the engine bay who cares and you really want to avoid overspray. I would go with a single-stage just because it's easier. You could just go with base coat and have it be less glossy- some may prefer that "patina'd" look anyway since the engine bay is traditionally less shiny- but the base in a 2-part system isn't as tough without the clear on top and won't last as long.