Question on engine painting

[DrDankNuggs]

So I searched the forum and found some good info on painting tips, but not a answer to my particular question.
I'm wondering about curing the paint, many cure by running engine others cure by baking the engine. I want to remove the engine from the frame and paint, I would prefer to no remove the heads and side cover forcing me to buy a bunch of gaskets. Can I paint the engine (mostly) assembled carefully re-install in frame and then cure by running? Although I've heard of mixed results with VHT, that's what I had ordered.

 

[oldGSfan]

I have painted two GS engines with VHT SP127 and they turned out great. I have tried many spray paints and rank VHT at or near the top, it lays on better than most and holds up. That color is the closest you will find, I think. For curing, I used a Harbor Freight cheapo heat gun, held about 1' away on low. Took a while but results are good, I have not run the engine yet but it is definitely cured (tried fingernail test on a spot near spark plug and it's tough).

There are many thoughts on prep. I found that dollar store 'LA's awesome' degreaser and red Scotchbrite pads with a screwdriver for getting deep between the fins was best. Then I power washed, have to make sure everything is sealed tight as possible and avoid any sealed up areas as best as possible. Best of luck to you, it's a lot of work but very gratifying to get it looking new.

A couple of tips - it's very hard to muscle in the engines w/o scratching the paint on the frame and engine. I lay the bike on its side and hoist it out with a chain hoist, lifting frame off engine. Put a furniture dolly and pads under the case, and you can gently position the engine without ever touching any metal to metal. For bolt heads and bits that are tough to mask I smeared with petroleum jelly as it wipes right off after painting. I stuff plastic grocery bags in the intake, exhaust, and clutch/stator covers (I had off to polish) and then mask with duct tape or plain masking tape.


Here's some pics.

Before

After

Installed

Katana

 

[DrDankNuggs]

Wow that came out looking great!
I'm going for satin black I've kinda gone back and forth on black out EVERYTHING or blacking out just the engine then either polishing up the covers or using a gold on them for contrast. Kinda color blind so I'm always hesitant on picking colors on pretty much anything. I used a satin black on rims & lower fork tubes, and did graphite for the front fender, still have to do the rear of the bike and the engine, oh and calipers want some contrast on cailpers but again idk what would look good as a contrasting color.

 

[Steve]

Look at the pictures in my signature for the three GS bikes. All have been painted with VHT Epoxy Paint in a satin black.

Prep? We don' need no steenkin prep. I hosed down the engine with Simple Green and let it soak for a bit, then went down to the local car wash and used the "high" pressure wash to clean it off. Dried it off on the way home, then looked for any spots that might need some scraping with a screwdriver and scratchy pad. I masked off the exhaust pipes and a few other bits that did not need overspray on them. The larger covers (clutch, stator, etc.) were removed and polished, so it was easy to just paint the crankcase.

Carbs are also painted in Epoxy black, with polished caps and bowls, which provides plenty of contrast.

One thing to note: I started this on my wife's 850L because I happen to like the "black and chrome" look. I found out later that Suzuki started painting engines black in 1983, so it's not a foreign look to have a black engine.

.

 

[chuck hahn]

I too use SP127. Curing is done on my bikes by starting and let it idle till it gets pretty warm then let it fully cool down. Restart and let it run longer than the first time..may even see a wisp of smoke from the head. Soon as that starts shut it down and cool down. Now it can be taken on a good 20 mile ride for the final heat cycle. Object is to heat well but not so it blisters during any of the first two runs.

 

[DrDankNuggs]

This is fairly related & I don't want to start another thread!
If I'm going to take the clutch cover and stator cover off to polish while I'm painting is there anything I should replace other than gaskets while I have access, read about springs & figured I'm going to order the ness gaskets and figured I would just see if there was anything worth replacing/upgrading while I had those covers off. I'm open to all suggestions. I'm hoping to avoid removing these covers for quite a while so figured I would ask about any proactive things to do while I'm in the area!