Painting engine cover. Advice needed

[theheff]

Ive got a carbon engine cover on its way to me. Came today but im

Sure my postman enjoys carrying stuff away with him as you never hear the bugger knock. But anyways

 

Im looking to paint the old cover andsee how it comes out. I want to do it with a rising sun on it, in red with a black background. It will be offset with the sun in the bottom right quarter. And the red fading as it gets further away.

 

Now my questions are:

 

This looks awesome in my head, how difficult will it be to put pen to paper so to speak and have it look like i want it to? I am a relative novice with this sort of stuff

 

Im not fussed about it being mega smooth so do i still need to sand down the cover first?

 

What sort of paint and laquer will be best to use, does it need to be heat resistant paints?

 

Cheers guys

 

 

 

[theheff]

I want it to look something like this

 

[ATTAK Z]

what about using a decal ?

 

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=rising+sun+flag&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=ocHFUZueKoaz0QXD0oDYAg&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1482&bih=884#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=khbORIAwgo5f7M%3A%3B0OpvFckG2YuucM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fthumbs1.ebaystatic.com%252Fd%252Fl225%252Fm%252FmrfOvh3IVcqbgScC9LyFxBw.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.ebay.co.uk%252Fbhp%252Frising-sun-decal%3B225%3B213

[theheff]

Thought about it but will vinyl not come off with the heat. Alao i wont be able to get the effoect in after with vinyl

[Dannyg]

I can't imagine it would be too hard you would have to scotch brite it fist to scratch the surface so the paint has sumat to hold to, a layer of black if u chose to repaint the cover (maybe clear coat on top) then mask up the design, paint red and clear coat again.. Simples .. But make sure u leave enough time between the black and the red u won't want the masking tape to peel of the paint

 

I imagine you would have to do a lot of light layers to get the fading effect

 

I don't think the cover gets too hot either so normal plastic paint should be ok

Edited June 22, 2013 by Dannyg

[theheff]

Cool. Cheers mate. May give it a go next time im off work. Obviously ill post my results on here. Successful or not. Is clear coat the same as laquer?

[Ebized]

Sure I have seen a pic of a ZED where this has been done before.....

[theheff]

If you find it could you post it as if it looks gash i wont bother. I havent been able to find a picture. A few on rx8s but no zeds

[theheff]

Cancel. I found an old thread on here

 

http://www.350z-uk.com/index.php?showtopic=27776

[glrnet]

I painted my engine cover with cellulose rattle cans, no heat issues

[theheff]

Got loads of black and white cans, just need to get some red and some clear coat stuff. Halfords it is then or am I better sourcing from somewhere else?

[Ebized]

Cancel. I found an old thread on here

 

http://www.350z-uk.c...showtopic=27776

 

That's the one!

[glrnet]

Got loads of black and white cans, just need to get some red and some clear coat stuff. Halfords it is then or am I better sourcing from somewhere else?

Halfords is fine, if you want a really specific colour try paints4u

[Dannyg]

You should do this

[350 Russ]

i tried this a few years back, ended up buying a new engine cover, just couldnt get it right

[theheff]

Like i said. Ive got a carbon one on route to me so the oem one is my spare so ive got notjing to loose.

[rtbiscuit]

To fade from solid to lighter red on the sun beams you'll need to airbrush it won't be achievable with rattle cans.

[theheff]

That might not be an option then. Was thinking i might be able to do it by dusting it with the spray cans and do it lighter the further out it was.

Maybe ill just do it all solid then. I do like the white and red one in the photos in tht thread.

[OsakaBen]

I'd buy the vinyl sticker - stick it on cardboard and create a template,

[rtbiscuit]

That might not be an option then. Was thinking i might be able to do it by dusting it with the spray cans and do it lighter the further out it was.

Maybe ill just do it all solid then. I do like the white and red one in the photos in tht thread.

 

practice it first, just mark out a sun beam shape on a piece of card and see if you can do it. you may get away with it,

[ddcboyle]

I think vinyl should hold. If your looking at putting vinyl on it, lemme know before hand, ill quickly wrap mine and drive for a while and let u know how it copes. Should be fine though, no probs with vinyl next to exhaust

[rtbiscuit]

vinyl will cope with heat, its used for the decals on brake calipers. but the issue maybe on the really stretched edges that might lift. you can get masking film and use it to cut a vinyl spray template to aid with complex designs.

[theheff]

I was going to have a go with masking tape, is masking film the same material or is that vinyl based?

[rtbiscuit]

masking tape will work, but get the frog tape as it gives a better edge.

 

masking film is similiar, it just has the advantage that its big enough and comes on a backing so that you can put it through a vinyl cutter, and produce stickable templates and stencils.

[theheff]

I don't have a vinyl cutter so not a DIY thing. Is that something you are able to knock up rich?