Another engine/fuse box/air box paint project

[Bumble_Bee]

After looking at a bunch of pictures on this site of other people’s handy work I decided to paint some items under the hood. Fortunately my Dad has done this type of thing to his corvette and many other corvettes so I had more than a little help.

I picked up my paint supplies at a small family owned paint shop in Denver (located at 60th and Washington if anyone in the area is looking for a great paint store).

We started around 9am Saturday morning by washing all the parts to be painted (fuse box cover, engine cover and air box lid) with Dawn dish soap. I spent a lot of time on this step really scrubbing each part down with a sponge to ensure I got any residues that may have been on there off.

Next we took some acetone on a rag and removed the factory silver paint from the Chevrolet letters on the engine cover. I wanted the letters to come out as black when I was done without having to try and free hand them in the end.



After that we took a ‘greenie’ and ‘sanded’ down each area that was to be painted. On the fuse box cover and air box cover I did this lightly since the plastic on those was already pretty rough. On the engine cover however I spent a lot of time scuffing it up to ensure a good bond since it was so smooth.


Next was the tedious job of taping. We spent probably a good two hours on this step, which of course pays its self back tenfold when the project is over.



After this came a lunch and beer break… then on to primer. I used a yellow tinted primer, applying 3 coats onto each piece. My dad has a pretty nice air gun we used to spray everything with. After the final primer I lightly sanded with a greenie to get any dust particles out.




Once our primer was set it was on to color. I was a little nervous as the color started going on because it was pretty flat. My dad ensured me not to worry that the clear coat would bring the shine out. We ended up putting on four coats of color. Again, after the final coat of color I lightly sanded with a greenie to get any dust particles out.



Once the color wasn't tacky (probably 15-20 minutes) it was time to take the yellow off the letters to uncover the black plastic we exposed earlier. We did this by tightly wrapping a rag around a finger and putting some acetone on it. Then, very carefully, we wiped the raised Chevrolet letters and the yellow came off easily. Since the letters are raised we ended up with very sharp, crisp edges.
The last step was clear coat. We put on three coats and…. Wow. It looks amazing!






We finished up the day around 4pm and sunburned.

Today I’m going to wet stand everything down with some 1800 grit paper, then buff with some polishing compound. I’m also going to install the cool hex head screws like I saw another guy on here do where the fake rivets go. I’ll put a couple more photos up when that is done.



UPDATE: After countless hours of wet sanding/polishing I'm finally done with this project. The finish on the parts is just like glass. I added some button head bolts to the top as well...

[Eric Baker]

Looks really good.

[sdot]

nice!!!!!

[Noturday]

nice job, the paint matches perfectly and it sets off the engine bay to really make the engine pop, great work. i like how you just did the recessed parts on the air box, gives it color without being overpowering

[firengnred]

Bitchin' job

[ron10]

you did a very nice job.

[Bumble_Bee]

Thanks for all the compliments guys, really appreciate it.

[JEFF2010SSMANUAL]

Love it. I am in the process of that right now. I am about to tape them off.

Great job

[Bumble_Bee]

Originally Posted by JEFF2010SSMANUAL

Love it. I am in the process of that right now. I am about to tape them off.

Great job

Sweet! Perhaps your an expert at this, but if not, take your time!! I have a little overspray where I failed to tape well. I'll be able to get it off, but wish I would have been a tad more careful.

[Kinetic Kev HWSE 2013]

Looks really good, nice freakin job.

[JEFF2010SSMANUAL]

Originally Posted by Bumble_Bee

Sweet! Perhaps your an expert at this, but if not, take your time!! I have a little overspray where I failed to tape well. I'll be able to get it off, but wish I would have been a tad more careful.

Thanks.

No expert here, but I have taped and painted many many parts for cars. I don't mind if its not perfect.

I really like how you painted the instruction icons on the fuse box. You gave me another idea.

[Taz_FL]

Originally Posted by JEFF2010SSMANUAL

I really like how you painted the instruction icons on the fuse box. You gave me another idea.

A little tip for painting small difficult stuff like the "instruction icons", something i did on my truck that I had...get one of the "flat tip" black sharpie markers and carefully run it along the raised icons. It makes it very easy and lasts really well.

[JEFF2010SSMANUAL]

Thanks again.

I really like how yellow engine compartments and parts contrast the black.

[2010 SSRS]

very nice