I want to smooth out all the casting on the engine block and heads on my engine that I am building. I am looking for a suitable product that can stand some heat. I have found that RM Epoxy primer stands up good and so does Urethane paint, but I need a filler for the really rough parts. Any recommendations for a filler?
If you do a good job grinding and sanding the castings, you won't need much filler at all. Just a tiny bit to fill in small scratches/pits in the castings. I've used regular bodyfiller, and polyester glaze on engines, in tiny amount,s and it's held up OK. If you are really concerned or need to do a larger area for some reason, LabMetal is great at hi-temps, used under powdercoating, IIRC.
J-B Weld. I've read farmers used JB-Weld in emergencies to fix cracked blocks on their tractors. J-B may be kinda hard to feather edge.
If you spend enough time with Roloc discs you can get it as smooth as a babies butt. But if you need a heat resistant filler that is sandable," Tiger Drylac EPO Strong" is what we have used for up to 400 degree powdercoating work. Don
Didn't know you could powdercoat over filler. That's good to know. Labmetal, and Tiger Drylac. I'll see if I can find some. Thanks. I'll sand it down as smooth as I can. I've done it to another motor and the paint has held up great since 1994, except a small amount around the exhaust, but I guess that has to be expected. This block has some circle indents and such that are too deep to sand out.
http://jbweld.net/products/jbweld.php 500 degrees should work. I've actually never used JB weld. Might actually have a use for it now. I should get some of the other Labmetal and use it on the oil pan and valve covers and get them powdercoated. Might stand up to gas better than paint.
If you want to use the JB Weld (Quick-Steel will work too) in order to get it to smooth out just moisten your fingertips with water and start working it out like you would putty (as it starts to set up)...I helped do a quickie cylinder repair on a POS 2-stroke motorcycle many years ago...help up great till the rest of the bike fell apart
No filler in this, lots of grinding and sanding, some 2pak primer and 2pak top coat. I'm running a good sized radiator and an engine oil cooler as I know it will run a little hotter.
If you spend 14-16 hours grinding and polishing the block as I do, two coats of high build primer is all you need to prep it for paint. If you do this I hope that you like the taste of cast iron because that's all you'll taste for a couple days even with a mask on. Never had a motor run hot after doing this and been doing it 30 years.
.....because those rough points are essentially acting as cooling fins. never thought about that but now it seems pretty obvious.
I haven't had any problems with the sbc I smoothed out in 1994, It's still a dream to keep clean as well. I spent a lot of time grinding that one. I like the colour Mgtstumpy, we had several gallons of that from a mis- batch years ago. We are painting the Essex engine and suspension the same. I even made sure to put some on my 60 chevy, just for nostalgia's sake
If "Tiger Drylac EPO Strong" is conductive, as the maufacturer states, then would it be suitable to electroplate over? Anybody tried it?
I gonna try and find this as well. I have some wheels that I want to powder coat and they have some small rust marks that need to be filled before getting coated.
Is there an "Engine Candy" thread on the go? Don't want to start another, but a search for Beautiful engines isn't turning any thread up. I have spotted some georgous motors, that members are running. But no thread just on motors..... like this caddy motor.... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=504828
I have always had pretty good luck using a dp primer and follow-up with base coat/clear coat. That cast iron taste sure DOES hang around. lol Fourdy
Guys, Pulling this one back up. Last Post was 2011. A lot has changed since then. I plan to cerakote my engine, and use labmetal for filler. Any new recommendations?