Repaint / touch up engines

I'll be curious to hear the answer just out of curiosity. I have a feeling the answer will make your eyes pop and have you running for the rattle can. There's an awful lot of prep involved.

Rattle can. You can't beat the CAT matterhorn white rattle cans. They cover really well and etc. Tape everything, cover everything well, ventilate well. It's a real PITA job. WHY would they need to be painted at that age? A little touch up painting here and there yeah.

You cannot tell the difference with the CAT paint. That is also how CAT paints them. It flows perfectly and is impervious to oil and grease, wipes right off. Looks a hell of a lot better than brushed Awlgrip. I cursed the guy who painted a set of MTU's pearl white. Instead of a few small touch ups, the entire motors had to be repainted.

$4,500 is less than I expected. Not bad. I agree that the rattle can is a quick fix, but it's also $10 instead of $4,500. I don't agree that it shows lack of respect for the engine room. More that the owner wants things nice but respects his budget. Beats pealing paint. I think it's a difference between the show place engine rooms you find on bigger yachts and the all business engine rooms on smaller ones. I definitely prefer spray to brushstrokes except for tight area touchups. Degreasing, masking and covering is the biggest part of the job. There's no way around that. Shortcut there and you'd surely regret it. One thing I really hate is when people fail to mask hoses and wires properly. The overspray looks schlock. Also make sure the paint used is Hi-temp for motors or it just won't last. Does Awlgip even make Hi-temp paint?

It would be funny if they would, at manufacturing level.
Industrial paint booths are not only better, but ultimately also more efficient (hence LESS expensive) than rattle cans.

On the other hand, if they think that rattle cans should "never, ever, ever" be used, why do they sell them?
And why do each and every official dealers I came across use them?
I still have the part # for the yellow engines in my old boat: CAT458-9587.

They have the cans for touch up, and I guess some DIY people paint their entire motors with them but I'd be real surprised to see a professional pull them out to paint 2 entire motors.

The paint is made by Valspar and very similar to what CAT uses to paint them. It holds up perfectly and looks great.

I use Lowe's / Valspar paint in my house, but my walls don't live a life going from 50* to 200*+ nor deal with salt water. I'm not a professional painter like BR but I'd be looking at hi-temp paints, and definitely wouldn't expect a professional to paint 2 whole motors with spray cans or brushes.

I'm speaking about the CAT branded cans of touch up paint. Many times, setting up everything to spray engines in an engine room is a massive process and lots of overspray to deal with, that you just can't avoid getting on something due to the sheer volume of paint in the air. I grew up working in my fathers body shop where we did frame off restorations of early corvettes, among normal body shop repaints and such. So I know my way around a spray gun as well. I can also repaint engines with the CAT spray cans to where it looks exactly factory with virtually no overspray on hoses, harnesses etc. But to each his own. CAT also sells it in the quart cans to use in a spray gun as well, it is very high quality paint. A lot of people use the spray cans to touch up aircraft as well, (it flows perfectly, covers perfectly, and lays down with virtually no orange peel) throughout the airplane industry. Valspar is one of the most highly regarded automotive paints these days.

This is what I use as recommended to me by my MAN dealer. Been very happy with it thus far on touch ups and keeping engines looking fresh.

Don't like painted hoses and wiring. Had my boat detailer detail the er and repaint engines as needed 2 1/2 years ago. He cleaned everything first, mostly areas and bolts marred by tools, then sprayed Cat rattle can paint in small containers and hand painted with throw away brushes. Still looks good and no over spray, saved a lot of time not having to protect all hoses and fittings. Cat 3406's have a lot of small fuel hoses, sensors, and wiring to work around that I did not want painted. It is tedious work, he spent about 4 days total time. Cost was around $2000.

I like Rust-oleum products, but I'm not sure that's the best product for this application. "
Product description
Color:Limited edition

Rust-Oleum Specialty Appliance Epoxy is an ultra-hard, moisture resistance enamel that is specifically formulated for indoor metal surfaces. It provides a smooth, washable surface for refinishing the exterior of appliances such as refrigerators, dishwashers, laundry machines, and other indoor metal applications (cabinets, tables). Do not use on objects exposed to heat (stovetops, oven interiors, etc)