Under hood paint suggestion

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

DoubleDingo

Full Access Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2012
Posts
10,019
Reaction score
14,166
Location
Right where I am
First Name
Bagoomba
Truck Year
1981, 1965
Truck Model
81-C20 Silverado Camper Special-TH400-4.10s; 65-C20 with 4:57 gears and Borg Warner Overdrive
Engine Size
Carb'ed Vortec 350; 1972 L48 350
When I painted underparts with touch-up sprayer not rattlecan, I mixed "Flat and Semigloss" 50/50.
Good "new look" without need of Sunglasses.

Pics, we need to see this 50/50 mixture as applied on them parts...
 

Catbox

Full Access Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2018
Posts
3,968
Reaction score
14,481
Location
Just Outside of Portland Oregon
First Name
Peter
Truck Year
1979
Truck Model
C20 Silverado Camper Special
Engine Size
461
I used a VHT GM Satin Black many moons ago when I did the spray paint rebuild on my VW.
I ran it for many years and then sold the engine.
I still have some of the tin and it still looks pretty good.

You must be registered for see images attach


You must be registered for see images attach
 

Octane

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2019
Posts
1,990
Reaction score
3,549
Location
Atlanta
First Name
Eddie
Truck Year
1977
Truck Model
K10
Engine Size
350
I used a VHT GM Satin Black many moons ago when I did the spray paint rebuild on my VW.
I ran it for many years and then sold the engine.
I still have some of the tin and it still looks pretty good.

You must be registered for see images attach


You must be registered for see images attach
You remember the hp? I had a 1960 with 36 hp
 

sirweesarunch

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2019
Posts
366
Reaction score
843
Location
Oceanside
First Name
John
Truck Year
1980
Truck Model
K30
Engine Size
454
Go to Home Depot and get the tall can called Hard Hat by Rustoleum. For what you want this paint is sufficient. None of the spray can paint has High solvent resist ability nor high UV rating but under the hood and they’re very good at a great price with good ease of touch up ability. I been painting 38 years.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

My78truck

'Ol Holly
Joined
Apr 7, 2019
Posts
296
Reaction score
226
Location
Virginia
First Name
Becky
Truck Year
1978
Truck Model
C10 Silverado
Engine Size
5.7L
Okay, Semi-gloss, it is. Going out this morning to get it. All those engine bays are SOOOOOOO pretty and clean. Anyone want to volunteer and come clean mine so it is eat off the engine clean!!! :laughing1:
 

My78truck

'Ol Holly
Joined
Apr 7, 2019
Posts
296
Reaction score
226
Location
Virginia
First Name
Becky
Truck Year
1978
Truck Model
C10 Silverado
Engine Size
5.7L
Typically you don't want to use high heat black on any parts that don't actually get very hot. Sure the inside of your engine bay isn't exactly cold, but it does not reach the temps that paint is designed for. High temp paint actually needs to get hot to properly cure (like a few hundred degrees kind of hot), the parts you're talking about painting get warm at times sure, but that paint is more for like if you wanted to repaint a barbecue grill or something. Regular paint will hold up just fine for what you want to paint. And I agree with everyone else on here, semi gloss or satin will look so much better than true flat black.

So.........the radiator & stove pipe should get high heat due to their ability, and exposure, to reach higher temps?
 

Catbox

Full Access Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2018
Posts
3,968
Reaction score
14,481
Location
Just Outside of Portland Oregon
First Name
Peter
Truck Year
1979
Truck Model
C20 Silverado Camper Special
Engine Size
461
You remember the hp? I had a 1960 with 36 hp
Mine is a '73 and that is the stock-ish 60hp 1600 that it came with.
It is stock-ish as it is wearing a billet MSD distributor, MSD Blaster 2 coil, and the matching MSD wires.
I sold it to a buddy so that I could pursue larger displacement engines...
 

Octane

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2019
Posts
1,990
Reaction score
3,549
Location
Atlanta
First Name
Eddie
Truck Year
1977
Truck Model
K10
Engine Size
350
Okay, Semi-gloss, it is. Going out this morning to get it. All those engine bays are SOOOOOOO pretty and clean. Anyone want to volunteer and come clean mine so it is eat off the engine clean!!! :laughing1:
On the way right now, with some eggs and bacon!
 

Swearbody

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2018
Posts
701
Reaction score
716
Location
Birmingham AL
First Name
Jeff
Truck Year
84
Truck Model
C1500
Engine Size
355 sbc
Personally I regret having used a gloss/semi gloss. I used a flat primer and I think mine looked better before adding the gloss paint. The flat makes it so you can actually see under the hood. With the gloss mine lost a lot of the "pop" of the new parts under there. The flat looked waaay better imho. Check my build page in pictures to see the difference abd comparision.
 

Catbox

Full Access Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2018
Posts
3,968
Reaction score
14,481
Location
Just Outside of Portland Oregon
First Name
Peter
Truck Year
1979
Truck Model
C20 Silverado Camper Special
Engine Size
461
Personally I regret having used a gloss/semi gloss. I used a flat primer and I think mine looked better before adding the gloss paint. The flat makes it so you can actually see under the hood. With the gloss mine lost a lot of the "pop" of the new parts under there. The flat looked waaay better imho. Check my build page in pictures to see the difference abd comparision.

The satin black I used made the fancy parts and other stuff that was not black pop out in the engine bay.
 

My78truck

'Ol Holly
Joined
Apr 7, 2019
Posts
296
Reaction score
226
Location
Virginia
First Name
Becky
Truck Year
1978
Truck Model
C10 Silverado
Engine Size
5.7L
The satin black I used made the fancy parts and other stuff that was not black pop out in the engine bay.


I don't have any fancy parts.......:(
 

My78truck

'Ol Holly
Joined
Apr 7, 2019
Posts
296
Reaction score
226
Location
Virginia
First Name
Becky
Truck Year
1978
Truck Model
C10 Silverado
Engine Size
5.7L
Go to Home Depot and get the tall can called Hard Hat by Rustoleum. For what you want this paint is sufficient. None of the spray can paint has High solvent resist ability nor high UV rating but under the hood and they’re very good at a great price with good ease of touch up ability. I been painting 38 years.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Went to HD, Lowes & Ace hardware. No one had the Rustoleum Hard Hat. So ended up getting Rust-Oleum Automotive. Only came in a gloss black. So far, doesn't look so bad.

You must be registered for see images attach
 

Doppleganger

Full Access Member
Joined
May 24, 2019
Posts
11,602
Reaction score
53,648
Location
OH-MI: Just like it sounds
First Name
Chris
Truck Year
1985
Truck Model
K20
Engine Size
5.7
I used Dupli-Color Semi-gloss black engine paint # DE1635. I like the way it lays down. Less texture with these crappy spray paints now. These pictures are 3 years after painting. The core support and radiator cover are powder coated. The rest is a can.

You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach

That radiator cover is serious......that a 1 ton thing?
 

AuroraGirl

Full Access Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2019
Posts
9,127
Reaction score
6,040
Location
Northern Wisconsin
First Name
Taylor
Truck Year
1978, 1980
Truck Model
K10, K25
Engine Size
400(?), 350
Just an FYI for everybody correctly advising against "flat" sheen paint:

All paints are, by their nature, glossy. Anything less shiny than gloss has has flatteners added to it (things like talc, although there are better flattening agents now).

One practical consequence of this is when using a clearcoat. If you want a satin or matte finish and are doing multiple coats, do your first coats in gloss, and only spray the final coat with the desired sheen. Otherwise your clearcoat will come out chalky, dirty muddy and dull.

Just some expert advice from years of wood finishing.

BRetty
Thanks for the tip, I am painting a LOT of things black around the property and flat black with a clearcoat is some of the stuff on the list. I have bought some dead flat clear which I presume would not so much dull glossy paint but not gloss a flat paint. I have that rust oleum high performance black and it lays down nice and stuff but maybe I’ll just hit that as a last coat
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
41,859
Posts
903,669
Members
33,372
Latest member
83elcowes
Top