Painting and clearcoating aluminum parts

[Kern Dog]

I love the reduced weight of aluminum engine parts but the porous finish seems to always end up discolored after real world street use of the car.
For my water pump housing, I sprayed it with header paint then clearcoated it with some matte clear. To me, it looks fantastic and will be far more resistant to stains than a bare aluminum part. I plan to do the same with the Edelbrock intake.
What about the heads?
The Edelbrock aluminum heads have that milled edge that is sort of semi-polished but the rest is a rough finish that gets discolored easily.

I am considering the idea of painting the heads and clearcoating them too. I'd like for them to stay nice looking.
I'm curious if the heads would get too hot in normal operation for the paint to hold up.
Anyone here have experience with this?

 

[1STMP]

Hello, KD...
VHT makes a clear coat high heat paint
in a rattle can. Haven't used it on anything
but I did use their header paint. Holding up
pretty well so far.
I've read where the use of the satin VHT
won't yellow like the gloss does.

 

[Mackman]

Hey, Kern. I painted my 440 stealth heads 3000 miles ago and they look like the day I painted them engine color. I used a self-etching primer and Bill Hersh engine paint. There are some clear coated aluminum parts on my motorcycle engine that have held up for 27 years.

 

[493 Mike]

I coated my entire aluminum Indy engine with a product named Everbrite . There are several brands of metal protectants on the market. Very easy to apply. I am using it on all my raw metal parts to maintain that new appearance.
Mike
Restore Metal & Keep Metal Looking Its Best | Everbrite Coatings

 

[toolmanmike]

I love the reduced weight of aluminum engine parts but the porous finish seems to always end up discolored after real world street use of the car.
For my water pump housing, I sprayed it with header paint then clearcoated it with some matte clear. To me, it looks fantastic and will be far more resistant to stains than a bare aluminum part. I plan to do the same with the Edelbrock intake.
What about the heads?
The Edelbrock aluminum heads have that milled edge that is sort of semi-polished but the rest is a rough finish that gets discolored easily.

View attachment 1327452

I am considering the idea of painting the heads and clearcoating them too. I'd like for them to stay nice looking.
I'm curious if the heads would get too hot in normal operation for the paint to hold up.
Anyone here have experience with this?

That chain looks a bit sloppy

 

[dvw]

I paint all my aluminum engine pieces. Though they have all been primed with epoxy primer first. Then sprayed with urethane. Lasts forever. These heads were smoothed and the Indy logo filled with bondo.
Doug

 

[green440duster]

I love the reduced weight of aluminum engine parts but the porous finish seems to always end up discolored after real world street use of the car.
For my water pump housing, I sprayed it with header paint then clearcoated it with some matte clear. To me, it looks fantastic and will be far more resistant to stains than a bare aluminum part. I plan to do the same with the Edelbrock intake.
What about the heads?
The Edelbrock aluminum heads have that milled edge that is sort of semi-polished but the rest is a rough finish that gets discolored easily.

View attachment 1327452

I am considering the idea of painting the heads and clearcoating them too. I'd like for them to stay nice looking.
I'm curious if the heads would get too hot in normal operation for the paint to hold up.
Anyone here have experience with this?

I just painted it all engine color to hide the Aluminum

 

[toolmanmike]

I paint all my aluminum engine pieces. Though they have all been primed with epoxy primer first. Then sprayed with urethane. Lasts forever. These heads were smoothed and the Indy logo filled with bondo.
Doug

View attachment 1327504

Wow, those look liquid!

 

[zyzzyx]

Aluminum starts to oxidize in a few hours, so they need to be scuffed with ScotchBrite and Simple Green
to clean and remove the oxidation. Then rinsed with water and dried. Next, Epoxy Primer needs to go on
to seal the aluminum and give the paint something to stick to. Next, a polyurethane or urethane paint and
then a urethane clear about 12 hours later. Many regular self etching primers don't reccamend putting topcoat
directly on top of them!