I am ready to paint my fresh 350, what method of painting has anybody out there used and had good luck with. Such as spray paint out of a can or engine enamel from eastwood and having it sprayed. This is something I want to show, so I want it to last. Do you have to prime it before paint?? or just spray on bare metal. Any other prep that I should do ?

What I do and it has worked good for me, use a cast iron engine paint as a primer. These paints cover very well with a minimum of paint,I use one made by pioneer. I then use plasic kote (spelling) and spray thin coats of paint. This paint seems to last forever and always keeps its color. The chevy orange is a light paint and takes a few coats to cover, but it always looks good take your time, I use brass freeze plugs and install them after painting they look really nice, not stock so depending on what your after, paint them when your done painting the engine. I do this to keep from getting runs in them if I am painting the freeze plugs.

I concur with Joe. I used Plasti-Kote Engine Enamel Primer (gray) and then followed up with 3 lights coats of their Chev OrangeEngine Enamel and it came out spectacular. Muscle Car Review recommends Dupli-Color but I am less accurate with the spray nozzle on their cans. To insure that I wouldn't have to do this again, soon, I also had the block hot-tanked before I painted it. I have seen other brands of Chev Orange which did not have the correct hue, so I would recommend sticking to one of these two brands - just my $.02.

I have used Dupli Color and Goodson paints.. Both worked extremely well and had a great gloss. Goodson's paint started fading after 50,000 miles, but did not chip or anything for the life of the engine.. As for Dupli Color, it seems to be good so far as I only have 1,900 miles on my engine. The only problem I've had is that the Dupli Color seems to attract dust which kinda takes the gloss away if I don't clean it off.. Just my .02..
-Dustin

Thanks for the responses.

Jonesy

I'm partial to VHT as I invariably spill fuel all over the intake at some point and the vht doesn't mind that. Most of the others wrinkle up or go softer than Bill when the door opens unexpectedly.

Does Plasti-Kote paint wrinkle up if gas gets on it. How does VHT's color hold up. Does it fade like others have. I was leaning towards the Plasti-Kote and following the directions above. Now I've got the VHT factor. One more question....Should High temp paint be used on brackets??

I did my SS 6 years ago with VHT and it still looks good. It's done *very* well in shows too so must be about right.

It's the only paint I've used that hasn't screwed up with fuel spills, etc.

didn't mean to get you confused, run with what feels comfy. I spray on a bare block, but I'm patient and walk away for hours between coats as it will just puddle up or run if you try to cover it all at once.

I didn't use high temp on my brackets for the last resto. I had a ton of pieces to do so I used Dupont Acrylic Enamel with the right amount of flattener in it and shot them all at once with a spraygun. Gorgeous soft finish to 'em, and tough too.
Some of the high temp black paints dull back just about the right amount for a 'factory' finish, I've had good results.

paint for headers: anybody ever use Rustoleum BB-Q paint? heard it works better than VHT.
I'd like a gloss black finish for my headers.
'80 Z28, GEN VI 454, Super T-10. Can ya use epoxy paint on cyl heads and block? Whats a good roll bar paint? cyber c-ya

Jonesy,
Use the plasti-kote, I have used it on my drag motors as well as street motors.
You want to know how it holds up?, well on my drag motors when I tear down for a freshen up and have the blocks cooked I would say 95% of the paint still remains. Its good stuff. I don't even use a primer under mine.
GO FOR IT!

I happen to have a spray gun and compressor - so I use catalyzed acrylic enamel over a self-etching primer. It's rock solid, nothing except brake fluid (and it has to sit for a while) affects it, and you can get any color or level of gloss. It's not real cheap but it gets better if you paint other stuff because of the catalyst cost - but if you have the engine out it's a great time to touch up the inner fenders, etc.