BB block / head paint

Apologies in advance if this is obvious, but I've seen conflicting answers to this (seemingly) simple question.

Is the Boxer engine painted or not?

It seems that it was painted with some kind of green primer (zinc?), and then a bright silver. I've also read that it wasn't painted, and the bright silver color is just painstaking elbow grease, (various) chemicals, and a high amount of silicone in the alloy. Considering how bright and uniform it gets, I find this somewhat dubious – but what do I know.

Would someone mind putting this to rest for me? If the block/heads were in-fact painted, I'd like to see if there's a Cerakote color that would match.

Just to keep things focused, I'm not referring to the valve covers, timing belt covers, or BBi intake runners. I'm referring to the block and heads (and attached accessories like bell housing, AC compressor, distributor).

Thanks in advance.

 

This is in pretty high res so it should be able to be blown up quite large. It is a BBi from a friends collection. It has less than 200 miles on it and is untouched in every way. 1. It shows what a terrible job they made of the wrinkle silver on the manifolds but 2. it also shows the bright silver paint on the block. That silver dulled with use.

TRs were bare alloy with painted bell housings. BBs were painted.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Thanks Brian, that's really helpful (as always). Any idea if there's a currently available paint that matches the silver used on the block / heads?

Also, that engine is unbelievably immaculate! There's no sign of oxidation or discoloration, even on temp sensor and AC connections. Really impressive.

 

I've been through this painting process a few years ago. See link below.

512 BBi, #51257 ended up in my garage | Page 4 | FerrariChat

I chemically stripped the old paint from the block and the heads and applied new paint in three steps. Firstly a layer of Mipa aluminum etch primer follow by a silver base coat and then a layer of matt 2K clear coat. The base coat I used was FER 101C, same color I'm using on the rims on my 246, 308 and 512.

Best, Peter
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Hmmm, that's a revelation for me, thanks Brian.

And how has it held up over the years?
Any US brands for the TR?

 

It’s holds up very nicely. I had my 246 engine out after 4 years for some head work. Just gave it wash and it looked like new again. I would argue that the treatment is much more solid than the original paint job. And by the way, the gearbox on the bbi is also painted.

Best, Peter

 

Thanks for all the detail, Peter. Was using FER 101C just a best guess? If you were to do it again, would you use that color?

 

It was what looked most like the original paint and I had it readily available from painting my Dino wheels. Some of the shiny appearance disappears quite quickly and makes it look very much like the original paint I think. I will use it again next time.

Best, Peter

Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

This is a picture of the engine in 2020 after roughly 4 years of service on the road:

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Thanks Peter. They look great. I'll grab some FER 101C to experiment with. Seems like it has held up really well, so maybe a Cerakote equivalent isn't necessary.

 

I had some time to play with this, and while I'm not yet 100% sure, it's looking like there is a Cerakote option that is very similar to 101C. It's called "Glacier Silver", and it's in their high-temp line, so it's often used on manifolds and exhausts.

I picked up a rattle can of 101C, as well as some Glacier Silver. In my initial tests, they look very very close to each other. In pictures, 101C is more metallic, but in person, they're very similar.

Attached are some examples of Glacier Silver. Need to do some more tests, but it'd be nice to know there's an ultra durable option if this pans out.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Image Unavailable, Please Login