Engine color scheme

[jfmerk]

I'm cleaning my crank case halves and I'm confident the crank case color is what I see under the left and right covers, a light metalic gray. Does anyone know... on the original '78 XS11 E model, are the cylinders and head a lighter silver color? I am trying to match the factory color scheme for the engine and don't really have anything to go off of on the cylinders and head.

Thanks!

[DiverRay]

Yes, they ARE a "silver" paint. You should use a "self etching" primer, and then the silver metallic paint. Should last another 30 years...

[jfmerk]

Great thanks DiverRay! I also meant to ask; are the outer edges of the fins of the cylinder block sanded after they are painted to expose the raw aluminum? Is a clear coat used?

[DiverRay]

No, the fins were NOT sanded on the silver engines. The MNS with the BLACK engine has the fins sanded. The paint on the engine is too keep the oxidation down. Aluminum oxidizes VERY quickly, hence the NEED for the self etching primer.

[Korr]

What is self etching primer? Also since we are talking about paint, have you guys hear of a brand of paint called VHT? It's ceramic and it's rated for 1000-2000f !!! They even have the primer for those temperatures too. I am going to pick some up at Kragens tonight and try to paint if it's not too windy.

[Wildkat]

are the outer edges of the fins of the cylinder block sanded after they are painted to expose the raw aluminum? Is a clear coat used?

John and I have both painted engines and sanded the fins without clearcoating... no problems at all...

What is self etching primer?

I think it's basically what it says... I believe it "etches" itself into the material to give it a stronger bond... I've used it on several projects with great luck...

Also since we are talking about paint, have you guys hear of a brand of paint called VHT? It's ceramic and it's rated for 1000-2000f !!! They even have the primer for those temperatures too. I am going to pick some up at Kragens tonight and try to paint if it's not too windy.

I used the VHT caliper paint on my parts for the FJ... The paint is sure holding up better than the bike is...


Wait...


lol

(Good luck with your projects)

[jfmerk]

One more question...

Does the crankcase paint need to be high temperature paint? I'm thinking the upper case half under the cylinder block must get hotter than what a standard enamel or traditional automotive finish can tolerate, right??? I'm having trouble finding a high temperature paint that matches the factory color for the crankcase. I'm going to try and find the PJ1 Yamaha engine case product and see how that looks.

The cylinders and head are silver and that seems to be easy to find in high temperature product from several suppliers.

Thanks!

[Korr]

Try duplicolor's VHT brand. The Engine Eneamel cans have tons of colors.

here's a sample http://ep.yimg.com/ip/I/yhst-6663025...3_2056_2676262

and here's the list of colors

http://www.vhtpaint.com/engineenamel.html

[79XS11F]

I think you may have some difficulty getting the paint applied between the fins on the head. It will be difficult to do without over spraying and getting runs. I need to paint my restored bikes engine and I was going to apply my own engine paint when I do the job However, I have decided to give it to a power coating shop when the time comes.
Rob

[DiverRay]

However, I have decided to give it to a power coating shop when the time comes.

Rob,
As you need to heat the product to 350 F., you MAY have the liners drop out of the barrels. To keep that from being a problem, I would use the oven to heat the barrels and remove the liners, after marking 1,2,3,4 on the top of each one.
I would ALSO wait to bore them, if you plan on it, until AFTER they have been coated.
Just a thought....

[jfmerk]

I think you may have some difficulty getting the paint applied between the fins on the head. It will be difficult to do without over spraying and getting runs. I need to paint my restored bikes engine and I was going to apply my own engine paint when I do the job However, I have decided to give it to a power coating shop when the time comes.
Rob

I have been doing some testing on a spare cylinder block because I shared your concerns about painting the fins. To your point of over spraying, I found its impossible to not end up with heavier build up on the leading edge. The two products I tested were:

Dupli-Color Engine Enamel, Ceramic, 500 degrees: p/n DE 1615 Aluminum

plasti-kote Engine Enamel, 500 degrees: p/n 207 Aluminum

Both of them really pound out the paint which as I said made it impossible to avoid heavy build up on the leading edge. The plasti-kote was really silver... almost approaching the imitation chrome paints and I really had to put allot on to get it to flow out evenly.

The Dupli-Color was more manageable and sprayed much much nicer, but still ended up with build up on the edges.

I recall others mentioning to be sure to not get the paint too thick or we may have some over heating issues. I've thought about looking into a small spray gun that would allow more fan pattern adjustability and thats just my thought... I'm not a painter. We use a spray gun at work for spraying remanufactured differentials and transmissions and we can adjust the gun to a real wide fan pattern or a very narrow pattern. So something between that and an air brush and I might be all set.

The good news is I believe I found the paint I need for the crank case halves! Have a look at the pic and see if you can tell whats factory paint and whats the Dupli-color?



The area above the gasket surface is original. Below the gasket surface is the Dupli-Color DE 1615 Aluminum. I think it's as close as I'll get unless I can find someone who mixes high temperature paint?

Keep in mind, this is with no surface prep at all, just a quick color test. Opinions?

Thanks!

[jfmerk]

Try duplicolor's VHT brand. The Engine Eneamel cans have tons of colors.

here's a sample http://ep.yimg.com/ip/I/yhst-6663025...3_2056_2676262

and here's the list of colors

http://www.vhtpaint.com/engineenamel.html

I'll have to look into the VHT brand also and see if I can find a match. Thanks for the tip!

[79XS11F]

The problem with painting items like this is that the paint just does not want to settle into the inside corners when sprayed at normal volumes from normal distances. It's the same way smoke from a fire in a room will roll around an inside corner and not stain the inside corner. To get the inside corner you need to be intentional with the paint which is difficult to do while not over spraying the areas that lead up to the corner. Between the fins is even more difficult as the bottom is like 2 inside corners that are very close together. Test this by trying to spray the bottom of a bottle from a normal distance. It is near impossible to get paint onto the bottom without heavy excess buildup on the walls of the bottle. The air exiting the bottle blows the paint out with it. The same thing happens between fins
I really think the fined head should be completed by a shop that does power coating.
Rob

[79XS11F]

I have been doing some testing on a spare cylinder block because I shared your concerns about painting the fins. To your point of over spraying, I found its impossible to not end up with heavier build up on the leading edge. The two products I tested were:

Dupli-Color Engine Enamel, Ceramic, 500 degrees: p/n DE 1615 Aluminum

plasti-kote Engine Enamel, 500 degrees: p/n 207 Aluminum

Both of them really pound out the paint which as I said made it impossible to avoid heavy build up on the leading edge. The plasti-kote was really silver... almost approaching the imitation chrome paints and I really had to put allot on to get it to flow out evenly.

The Dupli-Color was more manageable and sprayed much much nicer, but still ended up with build up on the edges.

I recall others mentioning to be sure to not get the paint too thick or we may have some over heating issues. I've thought about looking into a small spray gun that would allow more fan pattern adjustability and thats just my thought... I'm not a painter. We use a spray gun at work for spraying remanufactured differentials and transmissions and we can adjust the gun to a real wide fan pattern or a very narrow pattern. So something between that and an air brush and I might be all set.

The good news is I believe I found the paint I need for the crank case halves! Have a look at the pic and see if you can tell whats factory paint and whats the Dupli-color?



The area above the gasket surface is original. Below the gasket surface is the Dupli-Color DE 1615 Aluminum. I think it's as close as I'll get unless I can find someone who mixes high temperature paint?

Keep in mind, this is with no surface prep at all, just a quick color test. Opinions?

Thanks!

That's pretty darn close. I have a NOS cam chain tensioner body for color matching.

[jfmerk]

That's pretty darn close. I have a NOS cam chain tensioner body for color matching.

After the test paint on the crankcase has fully dried it actually has kind of a satin finish. I applied a high temp clear coat and it looks really good. So I think I have the solution for the crankcase paint.

I'd love to have something to match against for the cylinders and head. If you'd like to borrow or sell your NOS tensioner body, I'd be very interested... just let me know. Send me a message?

Thanks!