Transmission Paint

[Holdfast]

Looking for some advice on painting my transmissions on Ford Lehman 160’s. The risers were leaking with the PO so I just had them replaced and am now trying to clean up the corrosion on the transmissions and repaint them. What have you guys had luck with for cleaning these up and painting them to withstand the heat? Thanks in advance for any tips.

 

[kchace]

The transmissions should never get that hot. I think about 190 is the max and they should normally run in the 130-150 range. I painted mine with rustoleum same as the engines and no problem after 5 years.

Ken

 

[Russell Clifton]

What Ken said.

 

[Holdfast]

Perfect thank you. My plan was just clean it with some diesel, wire brush it and then rustoleum. I appreciate the help.

 

[Comodave]

I think that the red on the engines is Rustoleum Regal Red. At least that is what Bob Smith said.

 

[Russell Clifton]

You probably should clean up that diesel before you paint it. Something that does not leave a film behind.(brake cleaner works good, no film, dries fast)

 

[Pete Meisinger]

Drape and tape well. Nothing looks shabbier than overspray.

In fact, I can't understand this. Every F.L. I have ever seen has the big F.L. sticker and logo on the top of the valve cover and it is half covered with overspray.

pete

 

[Nomad Willy]

When I had my trans rebuilt I talked Mike at Harbor Marine to use Por-15 instead of cheap store paint. I’d forgotten about that. Still just as black as it was in 07.

 

[SoWhat]

I had mine out for a rebuild, so I sandblasted, primed, and Regal Red final coat. Looks 100X better. But shaft creates a fine mist when running due to packing drip and the thin film of red doesn't provide the rust protection I anticipated.

If I did it again I would use an epoxy paint close in color. Regal Red is an exact color match but I would choose longevity over color.

And yes, drape and tape and wear respirator. Spray fogs up the whole ER.

 

[Ski in NC]

Please don't paint over the gearbox mfr tag. Or paint hoses, wires, or nearby boat structure.

One painter told a trick that he covered up hoses with aluminum foil to mask, and only used blue tape to make crisp ends. I saw his work after painting a pair of engines and it looked factory!! But most re-painted engines look like a$$. Can see it first glance into the ER. Yuk.

 

[Comodave]

I use aluminum foil to mask when painting all the time. It is simple to put on. Lay it in place and crimp it onto whatever you need to mask. Also easy to take off after you are done.

 

[Brooksie]

Painted my engine & transmission w/ Rustoleum years ago and it has stood up very well. You still need to wash with spray contact or brake cleaner and prime rusty areas with their "Rusty Metal Primer"

 

[Duvie]

Use a quart of Rustolium and a brush

When I paint engines I always brush the paint on. The brush never leaves any overspray on anything and I think you get a lot more paint on.

 

[Holdfast]

I haven’t done foil before but I think I’ll try it out this time. I have a bunch of visqueen from work that I’ll be using to tape off the engine room and the areas directly around the transmission. Thanks for the heads up on the mfg’s ID plate. Appreciate all of the feedback. I’ll try to take some before and after pictures. One of the transmissions is in rough shape cosmetically so I have some decent prep work ahead of me to get it ready to paint.

 

[Lou_tribal]

One thing useful to mask for paint is the food plastic film. It adheres to pretty much anything and can be fold around the way you want. A bit awkward to use when it is flying away but I find it useful anyway.

L

 

[Pete Meisinger]

When I had my F.L. rebuilt the builder told me to pick any color I wanted,purple, pink, etc.

I went with Royal red.

pete

 

[Comodave]

You might use POR15 as a base coat and then overcoat it with the Regal Red. I used POR15 on my motor mounts this winter and it seemed to work well. There is a 3 step process, cleaner, primer and then the POR15 which is black and needs to be covered if it is exposed to sunlight to block the UV.

 

[Nomad Willy]

Dave, I think there’s a top coating (Chassis Coat) by the Por15 people that solves that problem.

 

[Comodave]

Yes, I used their top coat paint on them.