Protecting Bare Aluminium

[Paul Coleman]

I spent ages yesterday cleaning the crud from my engine block and stripping the red (yes red!) paint that it was covered in. Then last night I lightly blasted the aluminium to bring it back to life but now I need to spray something on it to protect it. Does anybody have any recommendations for stuf that's available in the UK? Ideally I just want a clear coat to protect it rather than painting it silver.

Thanks, Paul.

[bigsi]

got frosts website im sure they will have something there, otherwise to be honest i would get some metal ready on there to etch it and use frosts aluminium or silver engine paint, my engine looks mint even noe and you cant tell its painted.

[andydclements]

I've sprayed bike engines with clear high temperature lacquer (that was using a min spray gun but for a 900 series I'd say full size spray gun or brush it).

Generally it's available from car DIY shops.

Andy

[f1karting]

Paint coatings, unless done properly can be a problem later, especially on AL, then your faced with intensive restoration of the finish.

I use a mild solution of phosphoric acid to maintain bare aluminum. I clean up with water and may even use a mild basic solution to neutralize if needed.

If I get lazy, I spray with a light mist of WD40 and periodically soap it off and reapply, or otherwise I just keep on top of maintaining and detailing my engine bay.

For detailing non painted areas of the engine, such as the carbs, I use a soft paint brush wetted with lacquer thinner (gun wash) dabbed into the cracks and crevices to remove dust and oil, and use paper towels to absorb excess solvent and dirt. J

[Paul Coleman]

I bought some engine lacquer today but without reading the label fully in the shop (always a bad mistake!!). When I got home and went to use it I then read the label which said to use an etch primer on aluminium first. Can you get clear etch primer? If not I think it will look rather odd

Cheers, Paul.

[fenton]

I think the metal ready from frost is a clear etch for ally. give bigsi a pm , he's the expert on frost.

[Paul Coleman]

I've used metal ready in the past on steel and it dries a blackish colour. Not too sure what it would do to aluminium but I did ring the company that make the lacquer I bought and the said that if it's clean & grease free it should be okay to slap it straight on as long as the surface has been abraided with 2000 wet and dry. As I've sand blasted the castings I should qualify on that score so I'm going to give it a go

Cheers, Paul.

[catty s2]

There's a product which i use in my work in the Aerospace industry called Alocrome. This stuff is top notch and should never allow surface corrosion to take hold. It can be applied by brush or better still put into a spray can. It will stain your ally yellow but it's perfectly ok to paint over it. It's better than any other off the shelf products ive used in the past. Remember to use gloves and a mask when applying and make sure all the surfaces are free from grease.

[GordonMasson]

Years back i had a full engine rebuild and the block was painted. It was done professionally ... cant say how it was done or what the preparation was but the guy who did it was Pat Thomas who has been working with Lotus cars for ever.

It looked great for a good few years but then started to flake off.

In hind sight I think i would be inclined to leave the block bare rather than have something that looks great for a while then starts to look tatty.

Having said that we are talking about 20 years ago so paints will have improved.