Do you like gloss black or satin black paint for the engine bay?

[CGT80]

I am prepping my engine bay for new paint, while the engine and trans are out. I did it gloss black last time, but the paint came out rough (por 15 - some of it was brushed) and some of it turned flat. I hated the flat paint. Gloss washed easily but it showed every little imperfection and it looked almost a bit cheap. My engine bay has a lot of crap in it (two batteries, battery isolator, msd box, California smog pump and lines, AC, etc.). The engine is Chevy orange with satin aluminum intake, heads, water pump, polished aluminum valve covers and alternator, and the headers are silver coated but have some stains and slight rust.

I am sanding the firewall, ac box, inner fenders, core support, etc. so that it is all smooth. The hood hinges are gloss black right now as well. I will shoot a fill primer to smooth things out a bit more, but it will not be a show quality paint job. I just want something that looks really nice but will hold up long term (10+ years).

Right now I am considering black base coat and a clear Satin Urethane top coat. This route will cost $40 more than a single stage satin, but I hope it will hold up better.

Does anyone have photos of a square body with gloss or satin black paint?

Thanks for your input. I have a thread in the body section, but that are doesn't seem to get as much traffic. That thread is more for the technical aspect of painting and this one is to see which route looks better to most people.

 

[TheBeast_88K5]

Bedliner.

Use a finer grit, than industrial.
Like this:

 

[evolve991]

Bedliner.

Use a finer grit, than industrial.
Like this:

niiiiiice

 

[ktmoutfront]

You do not have "same color as the truck" in the poll. So I did not vote.

 

[CGT80]

You do not have "same color as the truck" in the poll. So I did not vote.

Yep. That is a popular choice, but the exterior is white with a blue stripe down the sides. The core support was black and the inner fenders white with the firewall also white but mostly covered by insulating spray. The last two times I had the engine out, I resprayed the engine bay black. I thought about a color, but I just don't think white would look good and it would always look dirty. If the truck was a darker color, I would consider doing it the body color.

I figure satin black will look nice and not show dirt and imperfections as bad as white or gloss black.

 

[Greg Ducato]

NAPA sells a nice paint they call "Chassis Black" that covers great, goes on smooth and retains color well, it is quality stuff.

 

[TheBeast_88K5]

NAPA sells a nice paint they call "Chassis Black" that covers great, goes on smooth and retains color well, it is quality stuff.

X2...

That's a good product.

 

[Keitha]

SEM brand "Trim Black" works great also. You can find it in Auto Paint supply stores.