Painting engine bay...

[MetalupYoAss]

i want to spray my engine bay before i drop my new motor in (ill paint the rest of the body later) I plan to sand the bay back to bare metal (with an orbital sander, and wire wheel the corners). Ill be getting a pro painter from work to do the actual spraying. Heres the process ive been told to do..
1. Spray a mist coat of etch primer
2. Spray primer/filler and sand(if required.. i probly wont because its only an engine bay)
3. Spray base coat
4. Spray clearcoat

does it sound about right? any tips or things people have learned the hard way they can tell me?

and also will i need hardcore heat lamps to cure the paint? how long shall I wait between coats? ill be spraying it in a garage, its probably not the best time cause of the dampness of winter etc but id like to get my engine in soon so i can go drifting
thanks. Sam

[mister two]

dont know what i did here, see blelow

[mister two]

sounds about right to me, except ya MIGHT need more than one coat of base colour before ya spray the clear.

what kind of paint are ya gonna use? 2pack or spraying enamel?
you wont NEED heat lamps, but it could help, just remember that airflow makes paint dry as well as heat.

most paints have recoat times on the side of the can.

what kind of spray gun are ya gonna use?

i learnt that ya should never let ya dad 'just touch up that little bit over there'..
that is guaranteed to be the only part of the job where there will be a run!!
also don't thin the paint down too much or too little.
the pro painter that you are using should know what he is doing anyway.

i used 2pack to paint my mr2, was a mission and a major learning experiance. used a HVLP (high volume - low pressure) gun which was good. it needed to be professionally cut and polished, because it was kinda orange peelish, but it was fine after a real good cut and polish.
for the inside of my ke26 i used spray enamel, which gave me a better finish off the gun, but doesnt give as good a finish in the long term.

in future i am just gonna stick to spraying enamel, but using a clear coat, if i do it myself again. cheaper and easier.

have fun

[Malcolm]

I just scuffed back my original paintwork with extra fine sanding pads (just enough to take the shine off), then just washed the whole thing down with wax + grease remover, then used a product from our paint suppliers Ameron called Caprithane, it's basically a 2K, good gloss straight off the gun, good opacity, flows out nicely so it doesn't give much orange peel, and doesn't require clear. It's also sweet to 130degrees C +. It really was quite easy. Sanding back to bare metal is a bit extreme for an engine bay, but if you must then I'd just use paint stripper rather than sand it back, it's a lot quicker.