Painting the MGB 18V engine Part 2

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I’m writing this post on the same day as Painting the MGB 18V engine but in reality about a week has passed since I first painted my MGB GT’s engine. Guess what, I hate the colour and it’s been keeping me up at night! This isn’t good because I’ve already painted two front engine plates, two rear engine plates and a few other miscellaneous pieces with the Tremclad Wild Cranberry colour. It also hasn’t hardened nearly as much as I would like at this stage although I’m well aware that to harden completely can easily take a month or so. Whether this is a colour specific issue or just a bad batch of paint I don’t know. All of the other Tremclad paints I’ve been using I’ve been very happy with. Can I live with it?

The answer of course is…… no! After all the effort going intorestoring my fathers MGB GT I can’t imagine looking into the engine compartment and not liking the colour of the engine. Does anyone else care? Probably not.

I started exploring other paints and while looking for recommendations came up with Dupli-Color Dark Canyon Red which many consider one of the best matches for the original early MGB engine colour. Dupli-Color paint is not cheap when you pay with Canadian Pesos but I sure don’t want to paint this engine again.

Stripping the fresh paint and cleaning the block went quickly this time as most of the original prep work had been done. This time I used POR15 metal prep on the block as I had some open.

Stripped and cleaned MGB GT engine
Stripped and cleaned MGB GT engine

I used Dupli-Color primer having heard issues about mixing brands of paint. It’s best to play it safe!

MGB block primed with Dupli-Color primer
MGB block primed with Dupli-Color primer

I sprayed the MGB engine with 3 coats of dark canyon red and then 3 coats of gloss clear coat. This is more the colour that I was hoping for and the paint has hardened quickly.

MGB engine in Dupli-Color Dark Canyon Red
MGB engine in Dupli-Color Dark Canyon Red

In the photo below you can really see the difference in colour between the Tremclad Wild Cranberry and the Dupli-Color Dark Canyon Red. I think it was well worth repainting the engine as it has a lot more life to it. Next comes the cylinder head.

Tremclad Wild Cranberry and Dupli-Color Dark Canyon Red
Tremclad Wild Cranberry and Dupli-Color Dark Canyon Red

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