Paint is all about prep...  getting the surface clean...
Use a heat paint,.. I used a rattle can from an auto parts shop "Dull Black engine paint"...
It's been on there for 6 years...
...a few chips,.. because I'm lazy, and didn't clean so great.. ...

PS.. if you go too glossy on the paint, it will be hard to locate oil leaks... too dull and it gets dirty really easy...
I like a dull or satin...

my 06 seems to have a black "rubberized" coating on the cyl.

ToesNose wrote on 02/01/13 at 03:37:36:



There was a post on here a long time ago that measured case temps with different oils in them. I'm far too lazy to search for it myself, but if you were so inclined you could. I think it measured crankcase temp, cylinder temp, ambient temp, along with what oil was used.

Most heat paints I see are 600 degrees or 1000 degrees (header and BBQ paint) which the crank/cylinder will never see. I'd *guess* (emphasis here that i am guessing) the crank never gets above 250 (overestimating) and the cylinder never gets above 300. Again, those are *guesses* of me just thinking aloud, my point being, that in my own opinion, most header or BBQ paint is going to be overqualified from a heat perspective for the engine.

However, like others have mentioned, the preparation behind the paint job is going to be a big (the biggest?) factor in how your paint keeps up over the years. Enamel (or something that hardens the paint) might help it keep up better to rocks and stuff, but nothing will help the paint stick to oil and dirt left on the engine.

My preference is to completely strip the cases of all paint,.. maybe even grit-blast it to make sure the surface is completely free of anything but the metal, and to make the surface uniform.

Then give it a couple of coats of clear gloss engine paint.  I like that look of really clean (but not chrome) metal.   The gloss paint is easy to clean, and touch-up for nicks/dings is easy.  

Cheap, too.

I first saw this technique used on a T-bucket where the builder claimed he had only $5000 in the whole car.  One of the ways he saved money was that every metal part on the car was grit-blasted to a matte finish and then painted with a few coats of clear gloss engine paint.  It looked very intriguing with all the slightly different "colors" of the various metals on brackets, mounts, frame bits, suspenion, etc.