Painting an engine bilge

[twelveeyedfish]

Hello all,

 

I've trawled through the many years of posts and I haven't quite found an answer to my question. Indeed, you rarely hear much from me because I usually find the answer.

 

However, I'm going to repaint the engine. bilge. There's nothing wrong with it - it has some surface rust in patches and some of the paint has scraped away over the years but it's generally a clean, tidy place. However, I'm changing the batteries (currently a non standard size) to a standard size and it requires above average effort so I thought whilst I have amazing access and no electricity in there I would do this.

 

Everyone seems to favour Danboline as the engine bilge but the documentation doesn't say if it requires a primer or not! Also, I'm looking at what I can use to clean down the metalwork as I'm sure it'll be covered in a layer of diesel and oil. I have never painted a space like the engine before!

 

As I say, it's all in fairly neat condition and i'm just going to give it a quick run over with a wire brush on a drill, wash it down with <something> then paint it.

 

Thanks all!

[BEngo]

Danboline does require a primer, according to the tin.

 

Gunk (or one of the equivalents), followed by a scrub with washing soda followed by a water rinse and a good dry out is fine for degreasing. If you prefer to avoid Gunk 'cos it stinks a strong solution of commercial detergent well scrubbed in will work, as will scrubbing with a very strong, hot solution of washing soda. Sugar soap is also good if you make it hot and much stronger than the recipe on the packet suggests.

 

Treat the surface rust with Fertan or Vactan after degreasing and before priming.

 

N

[twelveeyedfish]

Morning BEngo - thanks; I've not read the tin as I haven't ordered it yet(!) but the web page says nothing apart from the colours it's available in. I presumed it would need a primer but the total absence of mention on the webpage made me ask!

 

I thought Gunk might have been useful. It might be overkill for the bit above the swim where the batteries live but it's not a massive area. However I'm not sure what "washing soda" is... (maybe it's my age!)

[BEngo]

It's crystals of (something like) hydrated sodium carbonate. It's a mild alkali and a good degreaser. About £1 per kilo in bags in the washing powder section of Tesco's. Google it for lots of detail.

 

You want about 500 g in a gallon of hot water. Use rubber gloves or it will attack the oils in your skin.

 

N

[twelveeyedfish]

Ah, that stuff.

 

Okies I'll get some of this stuff on order, thanks. Especially about the primer for the Danboline.

[Wanted]

This is how I did mine and I am really happy with the job, even if I went over the top!

[TheBiscuits]

You want about 500 g in a gallon

 

Hah! Not about a pound to a gallon or 500 g to 5 litres then?

 

I thought I was the only one who reckons in such a mishmash of units, my best being 3.1 metres plus quarter of an inch for the gap plus a bit for luck!

[twelveeyedfish]

Well, you can go over the top for an extra 20 quid or you can do the whole thing again for 50.

[Wanted]

Well, you can go over the top for an extra 20 quid or you can do the whole thing again for 50.

 

Sorry, meant to add link!

 

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=76786&hl=bilge

[twelveeyedfish]

Ah, yeah I saw that thread - didn't answer my specific question about the Danboline needing primer so I started my own. Your bilge was grotty to start with. Mine is (after 20 years) still pretty tidy! and rust free. I think it's worth doing though. You need to keep up to all painting really. Is the second "black" picture with the Fertan?

Haven't found anywhere selling the primer I want yet. Something for tomorrow evening I think. Can't use that till after the Fertan anyway.

[Wanted]

I used Aquaseal, used on oil rigs and works a treat, can be used as primer although I used a zinc primer rather pointlessly before danboline

[twelveeyedfish]

Yeah, I have this issue with danboline and primer! I'm not sure it does anything but maybe it just helps the application be more reliable. I doubt primer gets surface condensation as easily as bare steel which might make the Danboline application more reliable and consistent in some weather conditions.

Like I said, my bilge is in incredibly good condition after 20 years and I'm only doing this as a matter of maintenance and to get some painting skills for the roof which actually does need painting.

[David Schweizer]

I took the opportunity to clean out and re-paint the engine bilge on our boat when the engine was removed for a re-build.

 

I wiped out as much oil etc as I could with dry rags, and then washed down (twice) with rags soaked in white spirit, and brushes with white spirit for the corners. When it was completely dry, I applied two coats of Finnegan's Smoothrite (Now marketed as Hammerite Smooth). seven years on it still wipes down easily and there is no rust or blistering.

[dor]

Another vote for Smoothrite (AKA Hammerite). Done my bilge in white with minimum preparation and it still looks good after a few years. Better than the original Danboline coating.

[Guest]

On the general issue of engine bilge condition. It is definitely worth keeping up on.

 

Ours wasn't touched as regards de rusting or repainting in the whole time we had the boat, being honest I just couldn't face tackling the job.

 

At the point we came to sell a number of people (wrongly as it happens) assumed that the engine bay condition reflected how well the engine itself had been maintained. Given it it is a relatively easy job to service most marrowboat engines and gearboxes I wonder how many other boats are viewed in this way, equally of course a nice clean shiny engine bay does not mean an engine has been well looked after. But in general people do seem to think one indicates the other.

[twelveeyedfish]

MJG, I'm inclined to agree in some ways. In my mind a boat that has a filthy engine bay may or may not have a well serviced engine. However, a well serviced engine bay that is boat maintenance in itself to me.

It's a messy place with some engines - but if it's so putrid with oil and diesel, even if only from oil change spillage so that it's not practical to get into it, then that is a sign of poor maintenance. If it's rusty and in need of some love, that's poor care, too.

 

The condition of your engine bay may have been appropriate to your selling price (and not just the condition of the engine), but my boat has been so well cared for over its life that I am simply maintaining it to the standards to which it has become accustomed. If it were a state, it would be incongruent with the condition of the rest of the boat. I wish to maintain that.

 

The truth is, I have as much enthusiasm to do it as you seemed to! haha.