MGB: Show me your motor!!

Im not sure what to paint my motor.. or under the hood and the chassis.. I haven't done this before so I would like to see some pics of what you have done.. or ideas would be great..

Generally engine compartments were painted the same as the body color and the engines were either Austin green or later black. If you don't want to remain original then you can paint them any color you chose, something that highlights the engine against the compartment is usually the case, say a red engine in a black car for example. As for painting the engine compartment different from the body, that's another story. If you do elect to do that, then I'd advise a black or grey that would hide a lot of the road grime better than say a white. Take a look through these photos Gryf Ketcherside took at last year's Spridget 50 for a number of different combinations. http://www.flickr.com/photos/safety_fast/sets/72157605873860590/
I painted my car red and then used a little different shade of red similar to the MG engine color used on MGAs and MGBs for the engine along with black for some of the components.

Here is a color borrowed from the big healey...

Oh..you wanted engine compartment also...

Nice!! i see everyone leaves the engine compartment the same color as the body.. I was going to paint that black.. since the block is off getting rebuilt....Peter i see you even painted the fan as well..Beer hmmm!!!!

oh and thanks bill for the pic and the insight..
Keep em coming...

Black car, red interior, red engine... All color keyed, ya know.

[size=large]BLACK[/size]

[size=large][color=#DC143C]Red [size=medium][color=#191970]from Rivergate web site[/color][/size][/color][/size]

Here is mine

Another

some kinda orange...

Nice looking project Jay. What's the engine?

Courtney,

the engine is the 20 valve Toyota 4AGE that was only available in japan, 160 hp. Bolts directly to an american market T50 out of the RWD Corollas. BTW, huge PITA and if I did it all over again i would have built a wild datsun A15 punched out to 1600cc cause it would have mated up to the rivergate 5 speed kit i had in car before I got conversion fever.

another

And here is a real pretty engine and engine bay:

Jay, Do you want to sell your R'gate kit, I already have the tranny.

Courtney, See you Saturday at Wickham?

Phil

My 1500 engine.

What color is that?

Here's our 79 1500 engine

Mine isn't as far along as others... but I went with the Healey green enamel on the valve cover and left the engine just the color of the metal.

Old Ford blue because the rattle can was on the shelf. Bay is black due to body color change (PO did that, it's okay by me)
I looked for a green engine paint, nothing in green that seemed rated for heat though, thought for sure I'd come up with John Deere tractor paint at least but nope, wasn't willing to order from Moss AGAIN and wait, so blue it was. Next time out, it'll be the proper green though.

Rik I see you have headers in your car instead of the original exhaust manifold.. So it happens my manifold is broken and i wanted to put headers on it...1 because they are cheaper and 2 because i cant find them... My question is are they loud and are you happy with them????

@Jeff i think i might take the same route.. not sure yet...

Chevy Orange (laying around). The engine compartment will be black.

heres the engine.

My engine color is grey. Rattle can engine paint.
I bought the header off ebay sometime back when the whole car was in pieces, so I don't remember who made it. The collector pipe at the end is 2 inches, so I went and had a muffler shop make me a stock looking exhaust except all the pipes are 2 inches. Pretty quiet actually. The header was ceramic coated and holding up real well after 8,000 miles.
Rik

Jay, Awesome.

Phil, Holy crap that's this weekend isn't it?! I'm going to try to make it. Gotta get out of a work thing though.

Here is my new 1275

Here's mine, but I didn't build it, so I can't claim any of the good, or be blamed for any of the bad

Big Healey green for mine, love that color, and FWIW, body color is the right way to go for the engine bay IMHO, though hard to accomplish on a car that has "issues" if a total stripping of the engine room isn't in the cards.
So long as you are happy with the results, it matters little what others think.:spinning:

Some nicely done examples shown in this string it has to be said:thumbsup:

This is the BEFORE picture. Needless to say I've got some work to do. Previous owners painted everything under the hood flat black, then gold, then flat black again. It's amazing what you find when you dig into things! I'm having a ball, though. These cars are quite fun to work on, even more fun to drive.

Ed,

Did you buy your car on ebay?
The reason I ask, is several months ago a guy was selling a really nice looking green (67 think) Midget, but for some reason the entire engine (including carbs, hoses, ect) were sprayed gold.

Is this that car?

Bryan

yup, some work required there I fear, but you're right about the FUN factor:beer:

I found it on ebay, but bought it locally when he pulled it off ebay. It was black when I first saw it, but I suspected that he painted it. The body is very solid and the mechanicals seem fine, although every time I dig into something I find that some previous mechanic cobbled it up. Example, left front wheel bearings...the cotter pin on the axle nut was a nail and the bearings were a mismatched set, the outer was a tapered bearing, but the inner was a sealed bearing, not even a thrust bearing. Other bits look completely original and untouched. The body has a great 10 foot paint job, but will have to eventually be stripped and repainted. My goal is to get the thing running properly by spring...

Great project! I kinda envy you. I just completed the project and it took two years. I'm starting to JONES now that it is done. Maybe a Spitfire or an MGB will follow me home!