Thread: Those of you with painted Transmissions

How is the paint holding up? Do you power wash your engine bay?

Im curious as I have yet decided whether I want to powder coat my trans or just paint it and be done with it. If the paint is holding up well, then I dont see the need to put out the money on powder coating. Let me know.

I paint all of mine with basically engine machinists aluminum-cast paint and it holds up very well and doesnt flake off like regular paints do. I really dont see many transmissions that have been painted having trouble with paint coming off though but if you plan to stab a pressure washer wand right at it then its likely doing to start flaking off. If I were you I would not even bother powder coating the case, it is a LOT of prep and expense. A few years back a street rod trans I built- the guy wanted it burnished and powder coated. In the end it looked like we sprayed clear coat on the trans and wasnt worth the hassle. EVERY hole and internal access MUST be blocked off as the case needs blasted before powdercoated and takes a lot of prep time. It is very tough stuff but you arent going to see it much and the time and expense isnt worth the hassel IMHO. Now if it was a limited use show car I would give you a different answer but would probably still paint it as thats what most of the big shops do and it seems to work fine.

Thanks for the replies. Ive been using some high temp aluminum paint on some other parts and that stuff seems to hold up extremely well, but I also do a lot of prep and then use an adhesion promoter as well.

I wanted it to be show car quality, but I dont have any plans on putting it in shows. My main focus for painting or powder coating would be looks and easier cleaning. I guess I'll go get a few cans of the paint and adhesion promoter and start painting the thing. If all goes well I plan on at least having the tranny put back together in the next few weeks. Then it will be time to move on to the engine.

Originally Posted by SyntheticShield

Thanks for the replies. Ive been using some high temp aluminum paint on some other parts and that stuff seems to hold up extremely well, but I also do a lot of prep and then use an adhesion promoter as well.

I wanted it to be show car quality, but I dont have any plans on putting it in shows. My main focus for painting or powder coating would be looks and easier cleaning. I guess I'll go get a few cans of the paint and adhesion promoter and start painting the thing. If all goes well I plan on at least having the tranny put back together in the next few weeks. Then it will be time to move on to the engine.

I degreased mine and sprayed it with the flat black ceramic engine paint. It has held up through rain and has been on for almost a year now. No flaking. I did my crossover pipe too and that has held up very well. If you clean it well enough the paint should stick.