need some help on should i paint my engine bay? also i don't know if i should paint it the original color green or different? any advice? i have the engine pulled too?

Painting the engine bay is your own decision. As for what color, same thing your decision. And why is you have your engine pulled a question? I have a silver exterior and i rattled canned it black in the engine bay looks pretty good

I would paint it camo,dont make the mistake that I did and not take the chance while the motors out.Puts some pics of what you decided on.

my '95 is green too and I also rattle canned the bay flat black. Looks great

I pained mine with the original color, I just repainted it again, (Gray) because I'm going to paint the complete car the same color (Gray).
Is your decision about the color, at the end you are the one who's going to enjoy it.

Which ever color you choose, GOOD LOCK.

Flat or semi-gloss black looks good and is easy to touch up. Since black matches anything it also leaves you with limitless color options for paint and engine bay color schemes. I would have never been able to go with my blue/purple color scheme if the bay was still red. I'd suggest using "Rust Tough" brand paint from Oreilly's. Make sure to scrub down the engine bay with something like Purple Power prior to prepping for paint.

the color is 95 green. like the forest green. i want to paint it the original color but its expensive. and i have to rebuild the engine.

do you have pics of your engine bay? if so can you post some?

i also am needing help with my build and i put a forum up if any one can help me out. thanks

I would paint it the color of the car, cleaner look in my opinion and easier to find any leaks that arise.

i was thinking the same thing if there was a leak

Using flat or semi-gloss lets any leaks stand out really well since they appear shiny. I'm also not one to wrap the engine/trans in bubble wrap, or be gentle with tools when wrenching, just to avoid damaging a $200 engine bay paint job. Here's a couple pics of my just to give you an idea. Top pic was the first build where I left the bay red and tried to go with it (which didn't really work out). The bottom is how she sits now with semi-gloss black and a mild purple/blue scheme. It's of course not nearly finished or perfect enough, but to me it's a night and day difference.





As you can see, the black really helps to drown out all the background "noise". I plan to eventually install some performance parts that are more aesthetically pleasing as well. Metal intake snorkel, colored rad hoses, etc. I also plan to have all bolt-on silver parts powder coated the same metallic purple as the valve cover. The goal is to have nothing but black, blue, and dark metallic purple.

nice i like it did u take the fenders off to paint it black? also does it peal? and what all did you take off before paint?

I was ready to say paint it the same color as the rest of the car, until I saw the pictures from WES . That looks good man, your definetly right about it drowning out the background noise. I like it!

DSM_GSX01 said:

nice i like it did u take the fenders off to paint it black? also does it peal? and what all did you take off before paint?

Click to expand...

I just taped off the fender about midway up the flat edge facing the engine bay. The bolts and everything looked pretty nasty so I wanted to cover them. However, removing those bolts would allow you to pull the fender back a bit, tape it off, and paint underneath it. Just be aware that the fender and engine bay are sealed together with an adhesive.

I admit I was crunched for time and pretty lazy when it came to prepping the engine bay for paint. The engine/trans were out and AC, emissions, crusise control were already deleted. The only parts I pulled out were what I could do in one day. I didn't remove parts such as master cylinder, ABS module, or even the black felt crap on the firewall. I cleaned the bay with a 70/30 mix of Purple Power/Water along with a stiff plastic scrub brush. A final wipe down with grease/wax remover, a coat of primer, and then 3 wet coats of black. I used my digital camera to find any areas I missed and let it dry overnight before installing the engine/trans the next day.

Making sure the bay is clean is the key to the life of the paint. Even with pretty lacking preparation I have never had the paint peel. And I scratch the paint down to bare metal quite often. Low gloss finishes don't need an even surface texture in order to blend, so any damage done can be fixed with some sanding and a quick spray.

nice i think i am going to do the same thing to mine.