Painting a engine.
 

I have seen were people has said we should not paint a engine. It will over heat. Is this true? I see a lot of engine out there that are painted. I am working on a homie 33 and this one will be on a plane that will not have a cowl. I would love to have it look really nice.

Help me out.

Paul

RE: Painting a engine.
 

Thick coats of paint can indeed make an engine run hotter. However, a thin coat of flat black paint will actually enhance cooling.

Having said all that, I would say that in most cases these converted engines running in a model airplane have more than enough cooling area, and a light coat of paint shouldn't hurt anything. What looks really nice is after lightly painting the engine, buff the paint off of the cooling fin edges.

AV8TOR

RE: Painting a engine.
 

Here is a painted Homelite 25cc. Runs reliable as ever and looks better than having a dull lump at the front. Just my opinion.

RE: Painting a engine.
 

I would like to anodize my engines....GOLD...that may look good too! Capt,n

RE: Painting a engine.
 

Anodizing is actually quite easy to do, some battery acid and water mix and a 12V battery charger ( not an automatic one ) is all you need, for color i used RITE-DRY fabric dye, it takes some practice to get the colors right but it is quite easy to do.

RE: Painting a engine.
 

OK, you really got my attention now! Can you give us some details on "how to anodize with battery acid" ? I've gotta try this, thanks

RE: Painting a engine.
 

ME TOO!!!! Capt,n:D

RE: Painting a engine.
 

can you start by telling me what Anodizing is? lol

RE: Painting a engine.
 

KI8FR, Did you ever see a Blue Head .60 Suprtiger? The Head was Anodized! Capt,n

RE: Painting a engine.
 

Ok I know what your talking about now.

I will be starting a post soon on my Homie 33 saw engine Conversions. I got the engine all torn down and cleen. I did not take one pic so I will be starting it from were I am at now. Just to show some people how ezy it is to cnvert a 33. should be fun. Thin I think I will do one with a 25 from start to end.

The only thing I have to perches is a prop hub. I make all the rest.

Paul

RE: Painting a engine.
 

Here's a thought.....


POWDERCOATING!





And dont worry about heat. Most of these engines come out of machines where the engine is almost totally enclosed with little ventation and they dont have any problems with heat. Wouldnt think a layer of paint would be any worse then that!

RE: Painting a engine.
 

Powdercoating would be nice, and alot more durable than paint if applied properly.

RE: Painting a engine.
 

and a lot more $$$$$$ lol

RE: Painting a engine.
 

Basicly for anodising you put the aluminum part into a 15-20% sulphiric acid bath with aluminum wire connected to it, and a lead terminal with aluminum wire next to it.

the aluminum part to be anodised shouldnt touch anything in the bath, except for the wire its attached to.

the aluminum you want to anodize should be connected to the positive terminal of the battery and
the lead terminal is connected to negative terminal of the battery.

once everything is setup, you turn on the current - as much of it as possible.
make sure your cables are able to carry over 8-10 amps.

after 15-20 minutes, pull out the part, dip it in the dye and voila... all those microscopic pores are filled and flushed with the dye.

you can seal the anodised aluminum part by putting it in boiling water for a while.. and thats it.

DIY at home anodising.

RE: Painting a engine.
 

http://www.bryanpryor.com/anodizing.php

RE: Painting a engine.
 

BEware anodizing will destrow Nicksil or Chrome liners.

RE: Painting a engine.
 

I have a brand new in box powder coating system i bought a while back.Ill have to try it out maybe and see how it looks and if its worth doing.Maybe illl start a thread or survey to see.