Painting plastic engine cover

gilly

Leaving Skid Marks
Location
SA
First Name
Simon
Drive
2000 Legnum VR4 Type S
Has anyone here tried this? I took mine off the other day to see how easy it is to remove, and yeh its really easy - just a few bolts.

So Im thinking about giving the engine/spark plug cover a nice bright coat of paint just to give my engine bay a bit of a nicer look about it. I did this to my previous car, but painted the actual rocker cover (so I needed to remove the entire rocker cover and re-seal the gasket). But luckily with the VR4 we can get away with just painting the plastic cover.

What type of paint would be recommended? For my rocker cover, I used VHT engine enamel which did a really good job. Hasnt flaked at all in 2 years. So Im wondering if the same paint could be used on the plastic, or is there another type of paint that needs to be used? Does it need to be heat resistant?

My next decision is what colour to paint it! I may need to paint the ends of the strut brace to match.
 

naughtika

OzVR4 Stalker
Location
Brisbane, QLD
First Name
Christian
Drive
'96 Galant VR4, '17 MB A180, '25 Macan GTS
im thinking of ghetting my rocker cover anodized or powder coated this time .. on my last car i had it polished and it was sh!t.. sincei have to clean it up all the time everytime i touch it..

regarding the paint for the plastic engine cover.. i think a normal engine paint will also do.. since it gets a little hot too.. just make sure you sand down the glossy area so that the paint would stick in properly..
 

snickells

Leaving Skid Marks
Lifetime Member
Location
Australia
First Name
Anon
Drive
Car
Vinyl dye would be your best bet as it's not paint and it will never flake. Engine enamel might be a little hard to keep on there as the plastic might flex with temperature changes.
 
G

Guest

Unregistered
i think steve is on the money. just make sure you clean it and prep the serface real well
 

snickells

Leaving Skid Marks
Lifetime Member
Location
Australia
First Name
Anon
Drive
Car
And what ever you do, don't breath that shit in! Its super toxic and will make fingers grow out of your eye sockets... well, maybe not but you all get the point.
 

SiliconAngel

1 AYC Bar
Location
Perth, WA
First Name
SA, Trevor
Drive
'99 Legnum VR4 Black MT
Steve's suggestion is the best, as long as you're going for darker colours. If you want to go lighter I think you'll need to look at engine paint :)
 

gilly

Leaving Skid Marks
Location
SA
First Name
Simon
Drive
2000 Legnum VR4 Type S
Why is that Trev?

I was thinking of going with a light blue satin for something a bit different. Either that or a really dark red, similar to the rocker cover on evo 9's.

These are my colour choices (screen grab taken from the VHT brochure http://www.speco.com.au/Downloads/VHTBrochure.pdf)

vht-options.jpg
 
G

Guest

Unregistered
I did a similar thing to mine, used just regular car body aerosols.

8mths on and it still looks pretty good.

enginebay2.jpg
 

gilly

Leaving Skid Marks
Location
SA
First Name
Simon
Drive
2000 Legnum VR4 Type S
I was thinking of painting the entire thing, not just the highlights like youve done.

Not sure whether I should paint over the letter and mitsi logo or not yet.
 

SiliconAngel

1 AYC Bar
Location
Perth, WA
First Name
SA, Trevor
Drive
'99 Legnum VR4 Black MT
Why is that Trev?
Because vinyl dye is like any other dye - you can dye something a much darker colour than it started out with, but you'll get some pigment mixing, and you can never dye it a lighter colour. If you want to go lighter or get a clean, bright colour you'll have to go to paint. Vinyl dye is perfect if you want to go to black or if you want to dye something that starts out white or beige.

instead of painting it? how about this?
Personally I think it would look 1000 times better if they'd either painted, embossed or attached the Mitsubishi insignia and engine markings. ;)

Not sure whether I should paint over the letter and mitsi logo or not yet.
IMO you should stencil it and repaint the logos properly, otherwise it will look half-finished :)
 

gilly

Leaving Skid Marks
Location
SA
First Name
Simon
Drive
2000 Legnum VR4 Type S
thats looks pretty nice but im sure is way out of my budget!

I ended up purchasing a can of primer and a can of Cyan Blue (similar to the oil cap colour in the above photo). The salesman at autobarn recommended against using Vinyl Dye, and I figured if it doesnt look good, paint is easier to remove then dye.

I thoroughly cleaned the cover and sprayed a coat of primer, then gave it a light first coat of Cyan - looks quite good! I masked off the red bar section, as well as the Mitsubsihi logo and the text, so hopefully when i do the next next 2 coats tomorrow and remove the masking it will look good.

Fingers crossed!
 
G

Guest

Unregistered
CF gets my vote too!

and since when was CF cheap?
i dont like all the wanky "TWIN TURBO INTERCOOLER" stuff anyway... and shouldn't it be "INTERCOOLED TWIN TURBO" or something to that effect?
 

SiliconAngel

1 AYC Bar
Location
Perth, WA
First Name
SA, Trevor
Drive
'99 Legnum VR4 Black MT
That much carbon fibre is cheap... its off-cut size so you could probably get it free from a ship builder, but even if you buy a little kit it shouldn't be much more than 40 or $50. Unless you buy it pre-fab, then I wouldn't be surprised if it was upwards of $200. Adding carbon fibre highlights all over cars is cheap bling IMO - its not providing any real benefit, people just do it because they think it looks cool. The best carbon fibre you usually can't even see - painted body panels, where the weight vs structural rigidity is a substantial upgrade over steel or even aluminium.

I guess I'm just over it 'cause I see it all the time *shrugs* its become a fashion accessory, like pink mobile phones and high-heel shoes...

I'm not saying it looks BAD - its just not that exciting. I DO agree with the 'twin turbo intercooler' writing, though - that IS a bit gay. Its the "Mitsubishi V6 2500 DOHC 24V" that I was talking about. That is actually useful branding, and doesn't need to be hidden unless you actually replace the engine, in which case fair enough. Getting rid of it almost makes it look like you've got a no-brand engine in there...

Its all just opinion, though - I'm the first to admit my tastes don't usually run the same as most people's :) Besides I was really just saying it to annoy Kris :p :D
 
G

Guest

Unregistered
i'm not a fan of the "Mitsubishi V6 2500 DOHC 24V" either, it's not like i forgot what engine my car had
and if it said something else like "Nissan V6 2500 DOHC 24V" then i'd be worried!
 

gilly

Leaving Skid Marks
Location
SA
First Name
Simon
Drive
2000 Legnum VR4 Type S
Before:

DSCF4789.jpg


After:

DSCF4940.jpg


DSCF4939.jpg


DSCF4947.jpg


Im pretty happy with the color combo, looks quite nice I think. I stuffed up a bit though with the lettering, if you look closely it looks dodgy. Basically I didnt mask out each individual letter (I was patient enough), so I just masked out straight over the top of each word, and then sprayed over the top of the masking, then removed the mask, and used a paintbrush to fill in the small gaps. Good idea in theory but its looks crap. I should have been patient and masked each individual letter, or painted over all the letters, and then used a different colour paint to paint the letters.
 

SiliconAngel

1 AYC Bar
Location
Perth, WA
First Name
SA, Trevor
Drive
'99 Legnum VR4 Black MT
Haha that's the nature of short-cuts though, isn't it? I wouldn't worry too much - it looks freaken fantastic! Love your work Simon!! :D
 
Top Bottom