i have been wanting to paint my motor since i got my bike. i finally got the balls to do it. i went back and forth on weather i wanted a gloss black or a flat black. well i decided on a flat black since it dries more even than the gloss and i just like the flat better. using good old bbq paint as it has always worked great for me in the past on other projects and can take 1200 degrees. soon as it is done i will post some pictures. thing that really save alot of time in the tape process was buying the rubber nipple things that go on the end of bolts and using them on the bolts instead of tape.

I was thinking of doing the same thing but I'm not sure how it will hold up. Has anyone here done this in the past and if so, how long did it hold up? Did it chip off?

I would like to see pics of your motor jduffy...Was it a PITA to do?

still doing it, giving it some time to dry between coats. took a couple of hours to get all the tape work perfect. tedious not hard work.

cool....When you're done, let us know how long it took and how many coats. Then, you can come to Hawaii and do mine...:D

you buy the ticket, i can be there tomorrow :)

LOL, I bet you would.....

It's nice and sunny here...Good riding weather. :D

as usual, bad pics, but you get the idea. bike is fithy and needs a bath.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/jduffy01/black3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/jduffy01/black2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/jduffy01/black1.jpg

next i have to get a diff seat.

Looks real good....How good is that paint. Will it hold up for a while or what? I would like to do that also...

Looks real nice man...

Looks Good!!!!:clap :clap :clap

Keep us posted on how well it holds up!!!:D

A friend used BBQ paint on his ironhead 5 years ago and it still looks good.There are hi-heat engine paints [1200`, 1600`] that would also work.

Do not use anything called "engine paint" that does not explicitely say at least 1200`. It is for liquid cooled engines only.

powdercoat it. Should be cheap...< $100 bucks and the finsh should look great and last.

i have to say it looks better in person than on camera, the flash makes all the gloss stuff and chrome shine while the flat stays flat. probably somewere down the line the whole bike will get a flat paint job, but thats a few years away.

jduffy.......NICE floor in your GARAGE :D :D :D :D :D

What all did you take off to paint that baby?

i dont have a garage, yet, but i have a pretty nice basement. actually i didnt take anything off, i just taped it all. i lied, i took the airclaener and timing cover off, the rest was taped.

I painted my BT motor 3 years ago with DupliColor High Temp Low Gloss Black. I have 1 small chip that needs touch-up (wrench ding) otherwise its' holding up great.. Excuse the pic, it's not a sporty,but the motor is black..

Damn, looks real good. I would be nervous not taking the motor out. But you did it, way to go :clap Maybe I'll have to give it a try one of these days. I'll probably wait till next winter, hope to add some more power :smoke and will have it partially dissassssembledd (beer)

It took about 6 hours on a Sunday afternoon. I removed any of the parts that didn't require a new gasket to reinstall, masked off everything else. Sprayed all the surfaces that I could. For the areas that were not covered by spraying I shot paint into a cup and used a narrow foam brush to apply it.

i used bbq paint and a foam brush on mine too. its been 2-3 months already, and no problems.

hey........... you guys that painted ya engine......... did anyone do any type of prep before spraying? I mean besides taping off and removing stuff out of the way.

I guess what I'm asking is: Did any of you prep the engine with a primer or sanded before spraying?

This could be very well the next thing I'm going to want to do to my ride.

other than making sure my engine was clean, i didnt do anything. the textured powdercoat will allow the paint to stick good

hey jduff!!......... what brand of paint and type did ya use?

I degreased and hot water pressure washed it. Let if dry over night, just before I painted I shot the motor and trans with ether (starting fluid, do outdoors, explosive) to remove any residual contaminates. No sanding, scuffing, etc.

Looks real good....How good is that paint. Will it hold up for a while or what? I would like to do that also...

Looks real nice man...
I have some pictures floating around here too...I think they are in the custom finishing section...painted my wife's bike's engine last spring with VHT per Stevo's recommendations and it worked very well...I'll post a link to the thread if I can find it

I degreased and hot water pressure washed it. Let if dry over night, just before I painted I shot the motor and trans with ether (starting fluid, do outdoors, explosive) to remove any residual contaminates. No sanding, scuffing, etc.

hey Bobbo........... what type of paint did you use?

here are some pictures of the project that I did with VHT

http://xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/showthread.php?t=11233

VHT........ brush on or spray?

BTW raysheen nice bike!

Ironic- I was just talking about this with the guy who's redoing my FLSTC's evo... he highly recommends VHT wrinkle black, available in a spray can from Custom Chrome, etc. Says better than HD's paint. I've got my engine compeltely apart (cases split, going to have balanced), so best time to paint it up!

DupliColor High Temp Low Gloss Black

i used rustoleum bbq black spray paint

Real nice paint job Raysheen...Thanks for the tips...I think I will get started on mine here real soon...

I'm right there you with you Newberry........ While I have my sheetmetal off for a fresh coat of black cherry metallic paint, I can't think of a better thing to do. Thanks for the tips guys.

You too Newberry, thanks again for helping me with da Frisco tank mounts!!

Oh crap..did you pm me about those?

Oh crap..did you pm me about those?

yeah man no worries.... you emailed pics and everything!!!!:clap I used your advice and I'm good to go. As soon as I get my sheetmetal back I'll post pics.

You're in Hawaii right? Mahalo brah!!!

yeah man no worries.... you emailed pics and everything!!!!:clap I used your advice and I'm good to go. As soon as I get my sheetmetal back I'll post pics.

You're in Hawaii right? Mahalo brah!!!

Good deal, had me worried...

Aloha.

what is the best way to prep the fins and covers? sand paper or a scotch brite, or a wire brush on a drill??? and since imma buy all new bolts i'm just going to spray away!! oh ya!!! how many coats are suggested?

just seen this came up again. i didnt have to do any prep, my bike was pretty much brand new. i did however do the same thing to my fxr which was dirty as hell. i used engine degreaser about 3 times. i also hit it with some steel wool and wire brushes and orange gojo. i put about 5 coats of paint on.

Here's a link (if it works), to a UK mag by the name of American-V, this shows you how they did an engine paint job in situ.

http://www.american-v.co.uk/technical/finish/black/index.html

Click on the photos for a larger look see.

Looks good!

I did the cases on my last bike (B.T.) but I used PJ1 winkle finish. I cleaned the cases real well with carb cleaner and followed the instructions on the can as far as coats go. They came out real nice, looked factory and was very durable.
I'm thinkin' I might do my motor or just the jugs while I have the bike apart.

I used good ol BBQ spray paint..it went 1 season with no ill effects on my heads..a half season on the back pulley and recently did the rest of the non polshed cases..plus since it's flat black, any nicks were very easy to touch up.

I'm tempted to paint the non polished areas of the mags.

I'm tempted to paint the non polished areas of the mags.

I reckon that would look great.
I was thinking of getting my mags powdercoated satin black and then polish off the powdercoat where the polished bits are.
I am interested to see it if you decide to do it.

I reckon that would look great.
I was thinking of getting my mags powdercoated satin black and then polish off the powdercoat where the polished bits are.
I am interested to see it if you decide to do it.


Usually you polish first, and the powdercoater will mask off the polished area prior to powdercoat.:D

I used Duplicolor high heat engine paint in a nice red to be different. After drying I also hit it with high heat clear to help protect the paint from chipping. Going into my third season with the paint and it still looks good. Like most of you, I painted it in the frame by masking stuff off. I just degreased, and let it dry for a day. After applying the paint and clear, I put a portable heater on it for a couple hours to help cure it.

http://xlforum.net/photopost/data/500/medium/100_3460.jpg

http://xlforum.net/photopost/data/500/medium/100_3420.jpg

i have also been thinking about blacking out my motor. I really am not sure if I wanna do it yet or not though. If I would do it, I am going to wait till next winter when I redo the motor.

I`ve tore my motor apart and are spraying everything flat black with BBQ paint. Only problem is that it changes color from semi gloss to flat when it hardens and that doesn`t happen until 280 degrees (celsius)! So, this is what my kitchen looks like these days:D
http://vagner.jeje.je/bilder/albums/album355/DSC00326.sized.jpg
http://vagner.jeje.je/bilder/albums/album355/DSC00327.sized.jpg
http://vagner.jeje.je/bilder/albums/album355/DSC00324.sized.jpg

The case I`m gonna do whit regular flat black and see how that sticks to it. I don`t want different shades of flat black (no, flat black aint just flat black;) )so i have found one thats the same as the hightemp one.
I`m also doing other parts of the bike with the same paint, last night I cooked my lower legs for example:D

Harley sells rattle cans of the "wrinkle black" that looks pretty good. But you've done a good job from what I can see. But Jeez, those pics are huge.

Looks great man!Just bought two cans of black satin to do my sporty!06883c vivid black pics coming soon sportgoat

he he....

he said "nipple"...

he he...