R1200 engine paint revisited

[Dave P]

2007 R1200RT, Ive decided to see what I can do about the lousy peeling black paint and corrosion on the front engine timing cover. I took the plastic cover off, removed the moisture collection sponge pad. Bodywork off, air intake snorkle off. Front wheel is off for a new tire. 

 

The proper way to probably do this is to remove the whole timing cover and powder coat it. But that's way more involved than I want to get. I'm going to prep and paint in place. Plan to remove 2 bolts, prep aluminum and bolts, paint bolts and recess, reinstall and torque. Final top coat after all painted bolts are reinstalled and torqued. Not going to remove all bolts at once. 

 

Ive heard etching primer is important after exhaustive wire brush work is finished. In the easy retail world I found Rustoleum Etching Primer and also High Temperature primer (not etching). Don't know which product to use. I'm mechanically etching with the wire brush, but the primer adds a chemical etch, but will it withstand the engine temperatures?

 

Also I see high temperature paint (in flat black) or engine paint in gloss. Don't really love either of those choices. Maybe ZEM paints (at auto parts stores) would be better choices anyway. Thoughts? Thanks in advance. Dave

[lkraus]

FWIW, I've found that valve covers are just fine with normal paint, no need for hi-temp versions.  I doubt that the timing belt cover gets very hot.

[dirtrider]

Quote

 

2007 R1200RT, Ive decided to see what I can do about the lousy peeling black paint and corrosion on the front engine timing cover. I took the plastic cover off, removed the moisture collection sponge pad. Bodywork off, air intake snorkle off. Front wheel is off for a new tire. 

 

The proper way to probably do this is to remove the whole timing cover and powder coat it. But that's way more involved than I want to get. I'm going to prep and paint in place. Plan to remove 2 bolts, prep aluminum and bolts, paint bolts and recess, reinstall and torque. Final top coat after all painted bolts are reinstalled and torqued. Not going to remove all bolts at once. 

 

Ive heard etching primer is important after exhaustive wire brush work is finished. In the easy retail world I found Rustoleum Etching Primer and also High Temperature primer (not etching). Don't know which product to use. I'm mechanically etching with the wire brush, but the primer adds a chemical etch, but will it withstand the engine temperatures?

 

Afternoon Dave

 

You definitely want to use the self-etching primer. As for black paint, if that cover gets anywhere close to 600° then you have problems. Personally I don't like either of your choices but if staying with Rustoleum I would probably use a semi-gloss high heat paint.

 

The high gloss black will eventually (takes a long time) lose a lot of it's gloss as the Rustoleum doesn't have UV protection.  

[Dave P]

DR- so even though the self etching primer is not officially labeled as "High Heat" you think that would probably be ok? 
 

Yeah I don't really like flat or gloss (the artist/designer in me) black, might look elsewhere for a satin or semi gloss, higher heat rated topcoat. I've use Duplicolor wheel paint for 1100 valve covers before with good success 
 

I did find some cool little drill mounted wire brushes in the Menards plumbing department. Work well in the nooks and crannies! D

[dirtrider]

1 hour ago, Dave P said:

DR- so even though the self etching primer is not officially labeled as "High Heat" you think that would probably be ok? 
 

Yeah I don't really like flat or gloss (the artist/designer in me) black, might look elsewhere for a satin or semi gloss, higher heat rated topcoat. I've use Duplicolor wheel paint for 1100 valve covers before with good success 
 

I did find some cool little drill mounted wire brushes in the Menards plumbing department. Work well in the nooks and crannies! D

Afternoon Dave

 

I am certainly not a high heat paint expert but I have done a LOT of primer etching priming then painting with a top coat on alloy parts, then baking them in an oven at  350°+. Never had any issues except that the heat dulls the paint to a dull semi-shine. I just spray the etching primer on in a thin even coat so it doesn't build up thick (just enough to etch & give the top coat something to grab onto. 

 

Try a piece of junk aluminum, give it a thin coat of etching primer, then a top coating, then after drying put in the oven at 400° for an hour (hopefully you have access to a 2nd oven as it stinks pretty bad when first bringing up to to temperature). Or possibly put it on your grill with a thermometer on top of it.  

 

I can tell you one thing, etching primer + high heat paint  + baking at 350-400°f (I keep it to about 350° or slightly less on alloy parts) is a SOB to even sand blast off as it really sticks to the alloy.

 

If you are using Rustoleum then maybe call their tec line & ask if their etching primer will work for that engine cover. 

 

 

[Dave P]

Yes, I think I'll try calling the Rustoleum tech line, good tip. How hot would that timing cover even get? 
 

We just moved out of our house temporarily into an apartment complex, so I don't have a grill to do that test, but I do have an electric heat gun, could probably heat up the paint to bake it. 
 

This failing paint and rusty fasteners seem out of place on an expected "higher end" machine. I'm sure many have complained before me. D

[dirtrider]

22 minutes ago, Dave P said:

Yes, I think I'll try calling the Rustoleum tech line, good tip. How hot would that timing cover even get? 
 

We just moved out of our house temporarily into an apartment complex, so I don't have a grill to do that test, but I do have an electric heat gun, could probably heat up the paint to bake it. 
 

This failing paint and rusty fasteners seem out of place on an expected "higher end" machine. I'm sure many have complained before me. D

Evening Dave

 

That was one of the issues with the early BMW 1200 bikes, that foam insert really caused corrosion issues in some environments. That was about the first thing we did was to remove that foam piece.  BMW eliminated it sometime in the 2008 up. 

 

[pwillikers]

Satin silver?  Here's what I did on the cam covers.

[dirtrider]

2 hours ago, pwillikers said:

Satin silver?  Here's what I did on the cam covers.

Afternoon pwillkers

 

Problem is, the front engine cover on Dave's 2007 R1200RT is black not silver. 

[pwillikers]

Right, I was encouraging the OP to consider a color change.   :-)

[dirtrider]

5 hours ago, pwillikers said:

Right, I was encouraging the OP to consider a color change.   :-)

Afternoon pwillkers

 

That might look a bit odd with a black engine case & a black front belt cover with a little patch of Satin silver in between them.

[Dave P]

I'm using the self etching primer and satin black engine paint. I think I'm going to clean up, treat and paint the Torx bolts silver. Or maybe black if the silver bolts look strange. I think it's going to look pretty nice!

[Dave P]

It took a while but she's painted and looks nice. I removed 2 opposite bolts, naval jelly, por 15, then silver paint to the bolts. Wire brush prepped 2 recesses, then with a little paintbrush, 2 coats of etching primer and 3 coats of satin engine paint only to the recess. Replaced those 2 bolts and removed two other bolts, repeated the sequence. Didn't want to allow the cover to loosen. After all the bolts and were painted and reinstalled in the painted recesses,  I masked off the heads and surrounding (engine etc) areas and sprayed the main cover, etching primer and satin black paint. New alternator belt too. Glad I had a little can of that POR15. Polished up the exhaust with Wenol while down there.