Okay, so in my preparation to get the motor back into the engine bay, I have repainted/ touched up subframe, wiper motor, fluid brackets, etc with gloss black rattle pack paint after sanding, cleaning and priming... It was just a gloss black enamel... I then applied a few coats of enamel clear coat too.

So, my question is, why did plain old supercheap degreaser eat through and strip the paint off the brackets that I painted most recently? They were given about 2 and a half days to cure, but were still feeling tacky... Annnnd then they were back to primer... So, now I'm respraying the most recent painted stuff with engine enamel instead in hope that it cures better... The next question is, does the stuff that has just been sprayed with plain gloss black and clear coated and cured properly need to be stripped back and resprayed with egine enamel too, or should it be safe? I can't help but think that the 40 or so degree days that I was painting on could have caused part of the issue...

I'd rather not make more work for myself... But if it has to be done, there's no better time than now.

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I'm no expert but i do use alot of spray cans and alike on my rc stuff. I don't know all that much about your problems with the stripped paint but i do know that in order to get a decent spray from a can it needs to be kept at about mid 20's. Quite difficult at this time of year i know but if you can keep the cans in your house if the air con is on, it should improve somewhat with the effect.

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Why Drink And Drive When You Can Smoke Dope And Fly!?

Enamel is durable, but unless baked (remember baked enamel on cars?) it takes weeks or months to cure hard, unlike acrylic. After 2-1/2 days, it is nowhere near hard....

Supercrap's export degreaser is good stuff, great for cleaning your hands up after painting too.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Enamel out of a pressure pack, like you get from Bunnings, isn't necessarily the same as automotive enamel. Sometimes is just a word they use for solvent based gloss paint. It could well be acrylic.

I've always found that engine enamel is really soft and easy to remove with solvents, even oil will strip it off - until it has been run up to operating temperature for a while and heat cured. For small parts you can do it in an oven (leave the kitchen door open) , but I wouldn't use it on anything that doesn't get hot.

Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

The epoxy enamel that you can get in rattle cans is generally pretty good, but I've found that you can have issues with it too. I used it to paint my radiator and many of the engine brackets. However, I had a coolant leak at the thermostat housing, and the coolant made the paint bubble and peel off.

But I think your issue was the temperature at which you painted. 40 degrees is too hot for most paints.

Its all about prep and quality of product.

Most engine bay bits are usually covered in oile and crap. A goos wipe down with prepsol then a good quality etch primer followed by several coats of colour. Dont allow to dry between coats you just want it to flash off as in thinners evaporates. If it dries too much between coats you need to let it set before recoating.

Rodney

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The best part of fixing your mini is the test drive

Minis..

1976 van daily drive
1975 van
1968 deluxe in the shed
1967 deluxe high strung 1310
1959 austin healey sprite