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I'm going to be painting my engine bay soon, and I wanted to know what your opinions were on best quality paint. I know it would be best to bring it to a shop, but I can't tow the car and I want to get the car driveable before I bring it into a shop for full body paint. I still havn't decided on a color yet, but its between blue, black and silver. I LOVE the look of all of them, and I am leaning towards black. I will need to decide before I paint then engine bay, but I want to know about brands first.

Also, what type of primer should I use, and if anyone has any suggestions or tips for me along the way since this is my first, let me know!

best would be base/clear paint job or even single stage would do if youre on budget. You want to clean up engine bay real good, remove any grease/rust, etc. Primer with quality primer sealer and shoot paint.

I don't have a spray gun, so if I were to use base/clear, would buying aerosol cans (the ones you get custom filled) work? Would I need something for higher heat?

onlytrueromeo wrote:I don't have a spray gun, so if I were to use base/clear, would buying aerosol cans (the ones you get custom filled) work? Would I need something for higher heat?

engine bay = extreme heat...so yes,,depending on the color you can also buy Engine Enamel paint in a spray can usualy at your local parts store, but your probably going to need some made up if your looking to match the exterior or anything other than the standard black/red

onlytrueromeo wrote:I don't have a spray gun, so if I were to use base/clear, would buying aerosol cans (the ones you get custom filled) work? Would I need something for higher heat?

all the cars use standard paint bc/cc in engine bays. There is insulation installed to insulate heat and fire to come into passenger compartment. It is not however to protect paint. Normal paint will be just fine for engine bay. You would need a lot of spray cans to spray engine bay, would be better to just borrow a spray gun or have someone do it. You can do it crappy first time and then redo it later on or you can do a nice job the first time.

The reason I wanted to paint it myself is because I removed the engine, tranny, hubs, axles, etc. I am going to be replacing them, but I don't want to install struts until the engine is in. I doubt it would be OK to put the car on a trailer without axles, brakes, or front struts - unless it wouldn't hurt the car.