Do you spray primer on your engines?

[ebinmaine 70,738]

We're going to be using Rust-Oleum almond spray paint on at least two engines. Maybe more. I'm curious to know what your thoughts are about using primer below that. Grease and oil are being removed to the best of my ability but I don't have a great means of removing rust. Wire brush. Manual scraping. But there's just going to be some left over and I can't change that right now.

 

As a point of information I'm really only looking to get 2 to 4 years out of this paint job on these engines.

 

Rustoleum 2x claims it is Paint & primer in one can.

We've been using primer on every other part of the tractor but I'm wondering if the heat of the engine should change my mind?

 

Thoughts. Questions. Ideas?

[JPWH 6,251]

I don't know one way or the other but I used this on my 854 and will use it on any engine i paint.

[Skipper 1,789]

Well for the heat. I have no idea if it will affect the color over time. But on the primer, or not, I can only recommend using a primer in the "correct" color. By that I mean, use a primer or base color that your top coat will easily cover, and not give an odd shine thru. That way you do not have to apply many coats before that reddish tint is gone etc. IE, if I paint red, I always use a white or yellowish base or primer, depending on what the end result should come out to be.

Edited July 3, 2018 by Skipper

[SPINJIM 1,981]

I've used Rustoleum Rust Converter as a primer on rusty engine cowling, and it holds up fine.  Just remove the oil and loose rust first.   I don't know how the ivory white covers any color of primer.   Might have to use two coats.

    Jim

[WHNJ701 4,165]

what ever you do use the the same brand primers and spray paint.  I like purple power as a degreaser.  when I paint white, almond etc.. I use red oxide instead of grey

[KC9KAS 4,744]

Use the Almond paint over a grey primer.

[ebinmaine 70,738]

4 hours ago, Skipper said:

using a primer in the "correct" color.

 

2 hours ago, jabelman said:

what ever you do use the the same brand primers and spray paint.  I like purple power as a degreaser.  when I paint white, almond etc.. I use red oxide instead of grey

 

19 minutes ago, KC9KAS said:

Use the Almond paint over a grey primer.

 

 

All of the rest of the tractor in both the red and the Navajo white that we used has a flat white primer base of two or three coats.

I don't have any Rustoleum grey primer here so we'll probably have to go with the white primer on the engine as well.

 

@jabelman, funny you should say about the Degreaser. That's the one that I'm using on this tractor. Great stuff.

 

 

I'm hoping to do a little degreasing on this engine tonight and then another degreasing in the morning and then start with the primer layers in the morning.

 

Full report on level of success to follow!

 

 

[WHNJ701 4,165]

don't use white primer! use the red oxide so you can see what your covering

[ebinmaine 70,738]

56 minutes ago, jabelman said:

don't use white primer! use the red oxide so you can see what your covering

I'll double check the shop in the morning but I don't think I have anything but white in that brand.

Definitely easier to see coverage when a different color but the almond is different enough to see clearly.

 

[WHNJ701 4,165]

I really like that almond color if you look at my other posts, I used that on the 551, 701, 854. 

[squonk 42,534]

I paint all my motors without primer. No issues.

[ebinmaine 70,738]

2 minutes ago, squonk said:

I paint all my motors without primer. No issues.

Is there a particular reason why no primer?

[squonk 42,534]

I want as little material on the metal to cut down on the insulating effect of several coats of paint/primer

 

 

[ebinmaine 70,738]

1 minute ago, squonk said:

cut down on the insulating effect

Understandable.

I've read that elsewhere too....

[squonk 42,534]

I think the key is getting the block grease free right down to it's pores. After using a regular degreaser, I hit it with spray carb cleaner a couple of times, use a blow gun to dri it then hit it with non-flammable brake cleaner. Carb cleaner really get's into the pores. There used to be a problem with Chevy V-8's cracking in the lifter valley in the late 80's. We would spray the area with carb cleaner, walk away and have coffee and come back and the cracks would appear.

 

[ebinmaine 70,738]

Yep.

I remember those engines. I was a parts tech from the early 90's for over a decade at different places.

 

I put the purple degreaser to it twice last night.

The stuff is quite powerful and the second rinse was crystal clear.

 

I'll get after it with whatever spray I can find this morning.

 

[Howie 899]

Since that is a paint and primer I would just spray it on over a clean surface.

[AMC RULES 37,146]

Gonna leave the head bare metal, unpainted aluminum? 

[ebinmaine 70,738]

11 minutes ago, AMC RULES said:

Gonna leave the head bare metal, unpainted aluminum? 

Yep.

Definitely.

Carb too.

[clueless 3,111]

I've used the Rustoleum 2x on a couple of non tractor projects, I like the way it sprays and sets up better the the plain Rustoleum. 

[Sarge 3,464]

The one thing that will remove grease/oil/dirt/ect from cast iron is acetone - but wear gloves as will easily absorb into your skin. For final prep, there is nothing better.

 

Sarge

[ebinmaine 70,738]

19 minutes ago, Sarge said:

The one thing that will remove grease/oil/dirt/ect from cast iron is acetone - but wear gloves as will easily absorb into your skin. For final prep, there is nothing better.

 

Sarge

I agree with that wholeheartedly. In fact, every single square inch of this entire tractor was washed in acetone before it was sprayed.

 

[ebinmaine 70,738]

On 7/4/2018 at 6:47 AM, squonk said:

non-flammable brake cleaner.

 

What I ended up doing was to degrease the engine with the spray purple stuff two times. Followed that with about 1 and 3/4 cans of brake clean sprayed at various places and times.

 

 

On 7/4/2018 at 8:54 AM, Howie said:

Since that is a paint and primer I would just spray it on over a clean surface.

 

That is exactly what I did.

 

On 7/4/2018 at 10:09 AM, clueless said:

I've used the Rustoleum 2x on a couple of non tractor projects, I like the way it sprays and sets up better the the plain Rustoleum. 

 

Trina and I both agree with that. In fact, we don't buy any other brand of paint right now.

 

 

Here is a picture of the final result.

 

 

[The Tuul Crib 7,338]

 Are used a duplicolor red on my k181 .

 When I got the motor it had a gray coloring on it already. It covered quite well