Paint or spray

Probably a couple of daft questions. Best to brush paint or spray an engine ? Seen some awful "sprayed everything" ones but some engines must be sprayed given the superb finish or am I just using crap brushes? I'd spray the engine when it's in bits anyway then reassemble (and probably scratch most of it) to avoid the "dipped" look .
Inside the hopper. Paint or leave bare ? Have seen some painted red inside. Have heard said the paint comes off and adds to the sludge that collects at the bottom of the water jacket (regular draining). Some say run a few tablespoons of oil in with the water or even teabags (surely a flask is more practical) in the water. I have always drained the water while the engine still has some heat in it so any remaining water will evaporate. Just seems a shame after spending time and effort to restore an engine the hopper is left rusty inside. Anal I know but things like this keep me awake during the day

Dave

if you look at pictures of my wd2 that was painted red inside the hopper ... was red oxide undercoat and then a red ENAMEL paint ... will dulen in the finish but paint still stays on . The hopper was shot blasted beforehand inside and out .

my opinion is that it is a bit of a faff tobe honest ... the bamford is just left rusty on the inside and the A well the whole engine is rusty lol

Dave I'm just finishing off spray painting my Wolseley and I don't know if I'll spray the next one. You just seem to get the gun spraying right when your finished, then it takes longer to clean the gun out then it did to spray .

Lot of talk about the inside of hoppers myself I leave them and add a couple of tea bags in a net bag, but I'am thinking about painting one only if I can sort out sand blasting the inside frist.

Stu

I do a little of both, I sprained my scott SE, which came out ok.



Inside of hoppers I dont bother, not going to rust out in my life time! Our Sattley used to get a shot of oil before draining the water before covering up for the winter.

Cheers Steve

I have done both and personally i think you get a more original look painting by hand (brush).

On my "Lister A" I just finished I used enamel and thinned it down, really looks great.

As for the inside, I just give them a bit of a clean out and them leave it as natural cast.

Hope this helps

regards

Mart.

Cheers guys. Often wondered about the paint as presumably they were hand painted originally. Will brush paint the Wolseley and see how it turns out. Have seen a small capacity spray gun in machine mart, as you said Stu it takes longer to clean out the gun than spray the engine. Last thing I sprayed was a 20' container which took a bit longer. I may try spraying one of the Listers later on but I'll go with the brush to start with.
Good point about the hoppers not rusting out in our lifetime. I did sand blast the inside of the Wd8 hopper, must admit it's not a job I'd like to repeat on a regular basis. My D I just sprayed with wd40 before it stood over winter and it seems no worse than it was. Was intrigued about the teabag story but it's obviously true as verified by Stu.
Thanks again guys I'm off down the shed

dave

Dave5404 wrote:Cheers guys. Often wondered about the paint as presumably they were hand painted originally.
dave

Alot of engine supplied off Military use during the 2nd World War had a liberal spraying of Olive Drab,

Cheers Steve

Dave I can't say the teabag works or not, it was something that was told to me so I tried it (nothing to loose) I can't give the full reason but it's something to do with the chemicals in the tea are an acid so helps stop the rust, don't know how many years you'd have to try it to see if it works as I can't see any difference.

Stu.

its to do with the Tannin in tea, Tannin or tannic acid is found in tea, it is also a big part of rust inhibiting chemicals.

Hence left over tea bags will help a little, just makes a mess if they spit.

Cheers Steve

Thanks Steve I couldn't remember the name of the chemical that's released. I keep my teabags in an old mesh bag that you get from the washing machine soap tablets.

Stu.