Kyle's 77 Cutlass

Hey guys, I am wanting to paint my block the same color as my car too be. Now does that paint hold up the the engine heat or can you powder coat the same color I am wanting? Thanks

Allan R

Don't powder coat the block. I think that will not allow the heat to dissipate well. High temperature engine enamel will do the trick nicely. No matter what you do though there will be some parts that will discolor from heat.

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

Okay, thanks Allan

69oldsguy

Hey Allan, how is the powder coat different from any other enamel? I'm not a powder coat expert by any means, but my understanding was the main difference was in the application process (electrically charge the item which attracts the paint particles and then bake it to flow out the paint and seal the item)
I'm glad I read this because I was considering powder coating my engine as well.

Killian_Mörder

I use a hot air gun to soften up unwanted decals, prior to removal. I once did this to a powder-coated part too long and the coating melted off. This has never happened to me, while heating up normally painted surfaces. Coating powder is melted onto the object to be colored. One could do this to small parts in one's own oven at home. Most of the block should be no problem. However, any surface near the exhaust manifolds/headers will be at risk

Allan R

First let me start out by saying I'm not a PC expert either. PC is a heat process as you already know, but the thing about PC'ing an engine? Good luck trying to get a shop to do that on an assembled engine. You certainly can PC the individual pieces if you want to go that way. I'm just not convinced that PC will release heat as quickly as standard high temp auto paint, that's all.

There's also a cost factor for PC compared to paint. The math is easy on that though - PC is way more expensive for something that will look just as good as paint.

If you have an engine that's running so hot it's always discoloring paint? You might have a cooling problem, not a paint problem.

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

I was told that powder coated holds the heat in. Maybe not a good idea for the block

69oldsguy

Good information. I will definitely do some deeper research on this. I'm in agreement, no need to hold heat in.
Allan, I haven't had discoloration issues, I was just thinking about the durability of powder coating. I was definitely going to do it with the motor disassembled. We have a lot of items powder coated at work and we have some high grade foil tape that we put on all surfaces that we don't want coated, so I thought it would be nice, but I hadn't considered the heat retention issue.

Killian_Mörder

If plastic had a high coefficient of heat retention, they would use it to replace styrofoam and fiberglass for insulation. The heat retention stuff is a myth. It's indeed somewhat thicker than paint. But, not enough to make a noticable difference. The heat given off by headers to a block is significantly greater. Nevertheless, the coolant handles it

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

Okay, thanks for the info