Engine paint

[Hawkins]

Hi guys, considering painting the cylinders and head on my 80 Sg. The only options I have found so far are high heat stove paint (flat) and Duplicolor rattle can (low gloss black). The Duplicolor label says to cure the paint by baking at 300 deg., but I've found people on the net who say that waiting a week, or running the engine will produce equivalent results. Baking the assembled, still in frame engine is not an option.

Any advice and comments would be appreciated. Thanks. hawk

[Wildkat]

Some of us have had pretty good results using VHT caliper paint on the engine...

I was able to bake mine, but like you mentioned... many times, it will cure when the enging heats up...

[trbig]

If you look around, Duplicolor does offer a high gloss option. I don't know if VHT's caliper paint is the same, but I painted some headers with VHT and the fumes were horrendous! Duplicolor didn't do that.

For the head and engine, 500 degree paint should work fine.. but hotter tolerance wouldn't hurt.


Tod

[Mississippi]

Paint

Hawk, PJ1 Coatings makes Yamaha Metalic Silver Case Paint. Good for 500 degrees F. I have had great results using PJ1 paint in the past. Availiable at many of the bike shops or through Dennis Kirk.

[ManitoulinLad]

Hey Hawkins - I have painted with just "flat black" BBQ paint from "home hardware" on an xs650 - lasted about 3 yrs then peeled of the fins. Great for doing touch occasionally - about 6 bucks/can. I am doing my xs1100 in a little while & will use - had to order from home hardware their 'beauty tone high heat paint in gloss black" good to at least 600 F. This is only good for the motor - for headers you need the VHT stuff - they sell it by the spray can at you local auto parts dealer. A friend of mine owns a body shop & told me that paint peeled off the jugs because you have to use "acetone" - jugs at local home hardware to clean off the metal before you paint or if will peel off after awhile. like mine did. He also said that only 2 coats is needed or your wasting your money as the paint will "cake" on & not cure right & fleck or peel off too. So the skinny is you can use the spray bomb high heat paint at home hardware etc ($6.00/ can ) for the motor & jugs only 2 coats & clean with acetone - even a finger print will wreak the paint (oil from skin) & it will peel. for the headers etc same thing just use the vht stuff. Hope this helps you out - I found out the hard way 1st - then asked a professional - Dan

[crazy steve]

Gloss or semi-gloss oil-based black enamel.... in a can! No rattle-can, just brush it on. This sounds crude, but believe me, I've done this on several bikes and it works great. No pesky masking, and you can get paint into those hard-to-spray areas and the brush will help remove any 'stuff' that's back in the nooks and crannies and give you good adhesion. I wouldn't do this on smooth surfaces, but on reasonably clean rough cast it sticks great.

You get a thicker, stronger paint film that won't flake off, and touch-up is a snap. To cure, just warm the motor a few times and let it cool before putting the bike into everyday use. It may smell of paint for a few days, but that will disappear quickly.

'78E original owner

[kirmit77]

what kind

what kind of paint should you use when brushing it on?

[b.walker5]

If you want a satin finish go to a heating store and get some "Stove Bright" high temp paint for cast iron stoves. We have it at work in rattle cans for painting free standing log fires etc. Comes in 4 or 5 colours and withstands up to 650 deg C. I've used it on my exhaust and found it really good. It's around $25 NZ a can but it's imported from the US so should be a lot cheaper for you guys.

Manufacturers link here..http://forrestpaint.com/index.php?page=hi-temp-paints

[crazy steve]

what kind of paint should you use when brushing it on?

Like I said, an oil-based black paint. The best stuff I ever used was a partial can of official service-station 'Chevron semi-flat' black that I got when I worked for Standard Oil (now Chevron). I switched to 'True Value XOrust' after that ran out. Try to find the 'blackest' paint you can (Rustoleum tends to be slightly grey I found), but any quality oil-based paint will work, and thick is good. Get a brush with long enough bristles to get into all the hard spots. Colors will discolor from the heat and latex will fall right off, so don't go there.

I did this on a XS650 I had in the early 70s, and all I ever did was touch it up once or twice a year until I sold it to get the 11. Touchup was a snap; wash it, run it to get it dry, then start brushing until it looked new again. Never took more than an hour. For initial painting, I used some degreaser on it, went to the .25 car wash to clean that off, let it dry, then painted it. I spent all day the first time, painting around everything. It would chip from bugs/rocks/etc, but none of it ever fell off. And for anybody out there with an oldie that has iron jugs and/or heads, this is the only way I ever found to keep the rust away (in my case, it was a '64 Jawa 160...).

'78E original owner