Opinions Wanted

-

nodemon

FABO Gold Member
FABO Gold Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2015
Messages
1,378
Reaction score
808
Location
St.Louis
To paint, or not to paint .??
Engine and suspension out of the Demon, a car I've owned for 3 1/2 years, and never driven.
The roof, quarters and tail panel have been "done"...not a final paint, but painted original body color instead of leaving in primer until the "real" paint job can be done.
So doors, fenders and hood remain original 52 year old paint..as well as the engine bay, which is the reason for my question. Keep in mind that I may never be able to afford the "real" paint job and will likely sell before its done. Would you paint the engine bay with the access that's there now...or leave it for the next owner.. Still shows original factory assembly line marks, plus, with the front of the car still in original paint, would it look odd to have it all fresh and new under the hood...and by the way, if I do paint it, it'll be color matched 2k rattlecan as I don't have access to a suitable compressor and gun.

Thanks.
Screenshot_20240628_102837_Photos~2.jpg
Screenshot_20240628_103413_Photos~2.jpg
20240705_173844.jpg
 
Nice car, I would say paint it because the rear half of the car is already done...
 
if it was me .,leave engine bay as is and drive it.3 1/2 years is long enough, go and enjoy it:thumbsup:
 
I have seven old vehicles, after owning most of them for several years, only one will get painted. I'd rather drive a Scruffy car, than not drive them because they need paint. My favorite car is probably the worst one of the bunch. I'm about to put engine number five in it, and I could care less about the paint. I can sit on the car, put a drink on it, and not have to worry. Same goes for most of the other ones. The nicest one I have, I don't do that, but I still don't get all worked up over keeping it buffed and polished. Granted, if I only had one old ride, it would probably get paint.

Drive the car and enjoy it some, then get it painted.
 
Last edited:
If you were selling, and I was buying, the underhood paint and detail being done would be a huge plus.
I can get Earl Scheib to paint the outside, he won't do under the hood.....and neither will i, lol.
 
Don't paint underhood. Ot looks good as it is. To paint it EVERYTHING needs to removed to be done right.

I run the other way when the underhood has paint overspray or painted over parts.
 
3.5 years man?

i say tidy the up as best as possible, stab the motor back in and ship it. get thee back to motoring and make that a project when you put in another motor. in the winter. years from now.

however, if you do plan on selling it in the nearer term, i'd 100% paint and detail it out. while that doesn't necessarily go a long way toward resale it also doesn't give a buyer something to ding you on.
 
I'm helping a friend on his 70 Barracuda, At first it was figure out why the 340 runs rough... Found the problem, but rather than just fix it he decides to swap in a 3G Hemi... Okay... We've done a good bit of the prep, the new Hemi is sitting in the crate.. But he decides "It's this far apart I want to paint it" I tried to warn him but he wasn't hearing that... So now it's stripped to bare metal & he's having second thoughts about whether he wants do do it himself & instead decide to look into a body man... I suggested a guy I know & trust, his quote was higher than the owner is comfortable with... So he's had a few other guys stop by... Two were cheaper, one was in the same neighborhood as my guy & one wants four times as much...

Cheaper sounds nice but who knows whether the quality is the same... And the difference isn't enough to roll the dice IMO... But it's not my call....

If you are confident you can do it yourself I would paint it for sure.... If you are outsourcing it, good luck.....
 
Would you paint the engine bay with the access that's there now...or leave it for the next owner.

I would first give it a good wash with soap and water and see what you have. Protect your wiring. Your "dirty" picture doesn't look that bad to me. I'd like to see it cleaned up. You can judge from there.
 
To paint, or not to paint .??
Engine and suspension out of the Demon, a car I've owned for 3 1/2 years, and never driven.
The roof, quarters and tail panel have been "done"...not a final paint, but painted original body color instead of leaving in primer until the "real" paint job can be done.
So doors, fenders and hood remain original 52 year old paint..as well as the engine bay, which is the reason for my question. Keep in mind that I may never be able to afford the "real" paint job and will likely sell before its done. Would you paint the engine bay with the access that's there now...or leave it for the next owner.. Still shows original factory assembly line marks, plus, with the front of the car still in original paint, would it look odd to have it all fresh and new under the hood...and by the way, if I do paint it, it'll be color matched 2k rattlecan as I don't have access to a suitable compressor and gun.

Thanks. View attachment 1716272662View attachment 1716272663View attachment 1716272661
Rattle can ?

Skid it. Better to run the snot out of it rather than worrying about BS.
 
When we yank the /6out of my 66 B-Cuda, I'm going to paint the engine compartment , while it's in the driveway.
There's nothing worse than opening the hood on a nice car, and finding arats nest.
Altho the OPs looks pretty decent.
Dave
 
good to know we won't be fussin' and fightin' over the bits when we order a bucket of chicken.

wait... what were we talkin' about?
 
if I do paint it, it'll be color matched 2k rattlecan as I don't have access to a suitable compressor and gun.

how good of a finish will that give you? if not damn good then leave as is...

i didn't paint under hood of our dart because the entire car is original paint and it would look out of place. hell i was temptet to make the new engine look used and abused but just couldn't bring myself to do it..

if that demon was mine and the engine was out i'd definatley paint the engine bay. it would have to be done right though and look about perfect when done.. now if the roof and quarters weren't done i woudln't bother..
 
Last edited:
I had this same decision to make but like abodyjoe said, it should be done right. Having that part of the equation in my wheelhouse, I decided I would really regret not painting it especially since the rest of the car will be painted and the engine should look good too, if I ever get my camshaft.
 
Maybe you should just paint it flat black, that should piss the rest of the people here at least...
 
If you are going to sell it, get it running and driving. Such is 500 times easier to sell than a roller.
If you sell it, the buyer might well want to change the color.
If you spray the engine compartment, like said, do it right. Make it nice.
 
I'd paint it. You'll be glad you did when it's all back together. The afternoon it'll take you to remove what you need to, clean up and mask everything else will be well worth it in my opinion. You don't have to go crazy. A clean, scuff, and re-spray will go a long way.
 
Well, I decided to go ahead and paint the bay.. The drivers side was fairly "ugly"... especially around and under the battery..as well as the area around the master cylinder. Some areas were beyond a scuff and paint, in my opinion... A lot of surface rust. I'm not a body guy, but figured it'd be best to remove it.
This will just be a novice job no matter what with rattlecan paint...but it should get me by until the whole car is painted...If I own it long enough to afford it. I might even try my hand at using a compressor and gun for the first time...hmmm...
20240710_192551.jpg
20240710_184536.jpg
20240710_195243.jpg
 
Question is, how did the back half of the car get painted?
 
-
Back
Top