sandcast engine/cilinder-head paint

[johnboy]

Hi, as in the subject says, i like to now/need some advise: what colour(NR) en type of paint i souled use on my sandcast engine cases (4539/E4689) and on the head and cylinder.
Souled i use a base ore not, witch color  and color number souled/could i use(for base and paint).
Can i use the same paint for the cases and the cylinder/head?
I belief there is a difference in the early and the later NR engine-cases ?
I do want to keep it as original as possible.

Thanks for al answers !

[Sam]

Having restored several early sandcast engines, I can tell you that all those that I have worked on were indeed painted in an "aluminum colored" paint. Yes, the engine cases, cylinders, head, breather cover and cam tensioner housing are all painted in the same aluminum color. Some engines appear to have no paint on the oil pan, while others do. Markb noticed small shade differenced in the aluminum paint on a few parts of his very very early engine (100). Your engine should be painted in aluminum.

I have used two products to get the right color. The first is Duplicolor Engine Enamel Cast Aluminum 1650 in a spray can. You will need to prime the parts with Duplicolor Engine Enamel Primer as well of course. I bake my parts after painting them with Duplicolor Engine Enamel. 20 minutes on the grill outside at around 200F will cure the paint nicely upon cooling. This is a nice finish the is vary accurate and fairly durable.

On the last few engines I have built, I have used a different product: POR15 Engine Enamel in Aluminum. It does not require a primer and is sprayed on with a spray gun (you can brush it on, but I don't think you will like the results). Why did I switch? I find the quality of the paint to be significantly higher. I can control the flow of paint with my spray gun perfectly too. The color is perfect too.

In fact, I did a test...I sprayed two parts and let them dry for a week; one with duplicolor and one with por15. I then tried to scratch them. Both are strong surfaces, but the POR15 paint is much stronger and showed no scratches after several tries. The Duplicolor paint showed scratches quicker.

Hope this helps!

[kp]

That’s good information Sam. Thanks for sharing

[Sam]

Two things worth adding...

1. POR15 says to not bake their paint. It takes several hours to cure to the touch and a week to fully cure. As with all metallics, do not put it on heavy; it is bet to spray on light coats to avoid marbling.

2. It is very important to clean the parts before painting. I can't stress that enough. Clean it well or you will have adhesion problems.

[4pots1969]

Having restored several early sandcast engines, I can tell you that all those that I have worked on were indeed painted in an "aluminum colored" paint. Yes, the engine cases, cylinders, head, breather cover and cam tensioner housing are all painted in the same aluminum color. Some engines appear to have no paint on the oil pan, while others do. Markb noticed small shade differenced in the aluminum paint on a few parts of his very very early engine (100). Your engine should be painted in aluminum.

Ujeni
And so Honda would have changed the paint color of its engines when they switched to Diecast engines...
Here is the color of Vic World's engines paint that is not good if we get to what you say... Because there for me, we see a paint finish of a Diecast engine on the Vic World Sandcast engine....
 
On the other hand I agree that some of the oil pans were painted, and only seen in the spare parts and never seen on a motor output from the factory...And they were painted with a Diecast engine paint...

And for the cam chain tensioners, it's only the Diecast models that were painted, the first cam chain tensioners molded to the sand were not painted...

[johnboy]

Thanks all !
So is the sandcast engine original painted lighter/brighter than the diecast engine ore?.....

[Sam]

I am not aware of color change between the sandcast engines and early diecast engines. I suspect that Honda would not have changed the paint colors in the first year, but who knows!

The duplicolor engine enamel in aluminum 1650 that I sprayed of my diecast engine looks identical to the paint that was on the engine when I began the restoration.

[johnboy]

Thanks again !