Who here has a white engine compartment and how hard is it to keep clean? Im giving some thought to spraying my firewall and inner wheelwells gloss white on my 58 ford. The engine will be body color (most likely a medium blue metallic, or black) with very little chrome or polished aluminum. Going for simple but clean. Post up any pics u have, i need ideas. Thanks!
I don't know from experience with white, but if you keep in gloss and aren't leaking oil everywhere I bet you would be okay. ...of course it would require more attention to keep it nice, but from what you described it would be worth it. I love the blue car, white bay, blue motor with some polished aluminum idea. That would look amazing!
As long as its gloss it will be fine. I had a satin white on my inner fenders and it was a pain and a half to keep clean, so over time they just turned to a solid grey color Now they're shiny black and maintainence free, but I definately think you should go with the gloss white, white engine compartments just look so good
I'm actually wondering the same thing! Was going to paint my engine compartment and inner fenders gloss white on my 53 Chevy. Please post some pics of white engine compartments!
Ok, gotta hyjack my own thread a bit...Tedley, how did you mount the FE Style valve covers on a smallblock? Ive seen it done, but havent figured out how! -LUKEY-
I took the easy way out, i bought the adaptors here's info http://home.comcast.net/~superhart/vcadapter.htm
Regular wash and wax under the hood. Keep it clean and it shouldn't get too overwhelming. Build it so its easy and not problematic to regularly hose it down. Road dust is going to be your biggest enemy here. The fan will blow all of the dirt it sees on everything behind it. I knew a guy who painted his whole underside white, it was beautiful. Great wax and some extra creeper time kept it nice.
Must be a Winnipeg thing to do --- 47 Chev with 454. Just took regular cleaning. Wouln't want to go that way if your engine leaked a bit. Canuck
i always use antique white on the firewalls of my cars ... keeps it clean and is easy to tale oil off of and touchups are a breeze
What I have noticed is that most white turns brown where it gets near the exhaust. But keeping it gloss does help with normal cleanup. You cannot touch it up as a rule because it does discolor. I think it is an exceptional color for a custom as long as there is something with the car to match it. It wants to be a reflexion if something else on the car like for instance the interior or the dash. Also I think that you would want to mimic the car with the engine color. It keeps things from getting out of hand or busy. Just my thoughts on the subject.
Had the problem of the engine turning brown around the exhaust ports on my 47, of course after everything was together and on the road. In frustration touched it up with Krylon lac and it stayed good for years. Canuck
Here's mine. I agree with the gloss paint thought also. It works for me. Keeping oil leaks to a minimum is a big plus too.
Stock white color with clear coat, I've got about 9k miles on it so far. Makes the motor look better.
My engine block is snow white, you cant really tell from pic in my avatar, but it still looks awesome after 6 years. Just use high quality Paint. and clean up every now and then!
I use white a lot in engine compartments, it seems to highlight the engine instead of swallowing it up like black does. On this 39 I'm building I even painted the floor white, I have spent a little more time in the detail on this build and want to show it off more when someone does get down and look under. FWIW the interior is going to be white so it kinda all goes together. Like other say the key to keeping it look good is good quality gloss paint and keep up with the cleaning, a quick spritz with windex and wipe with a rag usally does it.
We built up a '39 ford hardtop for racing three years ago and due to rising paint cost and prep time I elected to send it out to Maas Powdercoating in Livermore. I had Kraig blast the entire car as the frame, cage, and body are one piece. Then primer, then epoxy white 100% gloss. We have raced the car for two years at all the local tracks and the best part is we just use the presure washer to remove clay and grease and it looks like brand new again. White sure makes it easier to spot problems when we have mishaps like hitting walls and other cars. PS....were running a flatty.
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