Need some advice on Engine paint( ing)

[road chicken]

Hey everyone,

Well it's finally warm enough for me to get to the top-end swap on the engine. I'm stripping is down to the short block and putting on Edelbrock RPM performer heads, intake, and alum waterpump.

What sort of primer and paint should I use? I'm trying to avoid having it peel up in few years and looking shabby. I'm painting the whole she-bang back to Chrysler Orange ( not Hemi) because t he aluminum tends to corrode here, even sitting over the winter. That and I'm really more for the "sleeper" sort of look.

And- should I assemble it then paint it- or paint the parts separately ( with the proper areas masked off) and then assemble it?

Also- I'm using the Hipo exhaust manifolds. Any one have experience with the different coatings like Calias ( sp?) or others?

Thanks RC

[dangina]

the chrysler engine paint needs no primer, needs a few coats but lasts a long time, haven't seen one peel yet. Actually a trick is to buy the chevy orange version (I think its grabber orange) paint with that a few coats and put on the chrysler paint ontop. the chevy stuff is half the price and is twice as thick, save some money and still look the part!

[road chicken]

Good deal. I'll paint them up before install. I still have a lot of work to do before they're ready to go. ( lapping valves, swapping springs.