Painting under the hood... few questions

[HungarianHunter]

Hey everyone!

I was looking at my engine bay with my new intake, and it stands out a lot, in the fact that it is nice and shiny and new lookin lol :)

So I want to follow the blue, and paint some other parts under the hood.

The valve cover is obviously safe to paint, as well as plastic parts like the fuse cover.

What I was wondering is the following:

1. Can hoses (like the radiator hose) be painted, or will the paint crack easily, because they are so flexible?

2. Can the headers be painted? They are a rust color, and look terrible.


And any other general info on what can be painted and what shouldn't be.

Thanks!

[Ruslik]

dude valve cover yes and fuse box yes
some hoses can be wrapped and you cant just "paint" headers you need a shop to do it with good heat resistant stuff
besides painting hoses and headers blue = rice

[HungarianHunter]

dude valve cover yes and fuse box yes
some hoses can be wrapped and you cant just "paint" headers you need a shop to do it with good heat resistant stuff
besides painting hoses and headers blue = rice

Oh I absolutely do not want blue headers lol, just NOT rust ones :P

Can I get blue hoses?

[SPD_FRK]

You can order colored hoses from Summit or Jegs, also I am sure there are lots of auctions on Ebay for colored hose as well. I know Summit and Jegs will have colored radiator hoses, and even some "show quality" stuff with polished or annodized ends on them.

The headers you would really want to have just blasted and ceramic coated which is usually pretty cheap to do. Another option to do is to look into Jet Hot coatings which is an extremely great product. I have used regular ceramic coatings on other projects with V8s and V6s and it does make them look much cleaner, but helped to reduce the under hood temps a few degrees. I have also done ceramic coating on my 07 Harley from the header pipes back, but them grabbed some of the black exhaust wrap and went over the pipes again for more thermal barrier which worked great, and it gives a good look to the exhaust when you do that.

[HungarianHunter]

Oh alright good info :)

I thought about the exhaust wrap...

So I could just wrap my headers in this right?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BLACK-2-X20-EXHAUST-HEADER-WRAP-FOR-CYCLE-OR-CAR_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a570Q7c66Q3a2Q 7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1308Q7c301Q3a1Q7c293Q3a 1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem2 20385693416QQitemZ220385693416QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5f TruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ebayphotohosting

Black would look good :)

Haven't been able to find any colored hoses, only hose covers on ebay (like sleeves)

[SPD_FRK]

Oh alright good info :)

I thought about the exhaust wrap...

So I could just wrap my headers in this right?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BLACK-2-X20-EXHAUST-HEADER-WRAP-FOR-CYCLE-OR-CAR_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a570Q7c66Q3a2Q 7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1308Q7c301Q3a1Q7c293Q3a 1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem2 20385693416QQitemZ220385693416QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5f TruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ebayphotohosting

Black would look good :)

Haven't been able to find any colored hoses, only hose covers on ebay (like sleeves)
Yea that wrap will work fine but you may need to get 2-3 rolls of the stuff to do front and rear completely. The key to wrapping this stuff is to soak it in warm water for about 10 minutes and wear gloves when wrapping because the stuff is like a fiberglass. Also when wrapping the overlap should be just over half of the width of the wrap. You should only see maybe 3/8" - 1/2" of the wrap below the next layer.

You will also need the spray coating that actually works as a sealant for the wrapping as well. It is just like a spray paint;
http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/dei-010301_w.jpg
You will only need one can, but having two for additional coating is not a bad idea.
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=DEI%2D010301&N=700+%2D107641+115&autoview=sku

Now to fasten the wrap to the header you will need fasteners, I strongly advise not using the ones included with the kits as they are poor design and tend to break loose which allows the wrap to unravel. I would suggest using an appropriate size hose clamp as it works much better. Just make sure the screw side isn't facing up so it stands out, it makes it much cleaner looking when you just see the band for the clamp.


Hoses will take a great deal of digging on Ebay, but I would suggest looking on Jegs.com or SummitRacing.com as they have a very extensive selection that can be used.