So after installing my aftermarket trans pan drain bolt, I can't get the damn thing to seal up. It was the HELP! bolt from Murray's. Plus about 3 months ago I started dozing at the wheel, went off the road a bit and ran down a sign that put a slight dent into the pan.

Anyways, I am heading down to the trans shop tomorrow to get a new pan. I already called them and they have a 2.5" used pan for $12 or a 3.0" used pan for $30. Which one do you guys think I should go with? I am thinking the 3 inch pan so that it stays cooler, but I don't know if there would be any issues with my filter picking up fluid.

So, on top of that, I am considering doing a little dress up to some things. I am thinking of painting the new pan and painting my filthy valve covers when I do my plenum fix/head check.

Do you guys think I should go with flat black or glossy black?

What steps should I take? 1. Primer 2.Flat/Glossy paint 3.Clear Coat?

I've painted other stuff before but not too experienced in engine parts. Also I definently plan on using hi temp paint. Any suggestions would be great (colors, steps, etc). I am also considering painting them to match my body color (Dodge Intense Blue).

Thanks in advance!

-Jerry

 

painting them to match would be pretty cool.. i would think you would be ook with just using hi temp paint and clear coat.. maybe something similar to grill paint becuase grills get really hot obviously.. or even exhaust paiint.. if you go with black you can go to a harley shop and pick up a can of the hi temp exhaust black paint.. stuffs awesome

 

Plum Crazy Purple......Wait, thats me!

 

unfornately i cant give ya a hand with which pan to go with..

 

prep is everything. if you are going to paint onto bare aluminum, remember to start with a clean surface and use an etching primer before you paint or you will end up with flake city. also remember to follow the instructions if you are using a high-temp paint, most of them need to be baked on before they can be used, i found this out the hard way on a set of headers.

 

when i did my engine parts i used duplicolor engine paint.....i got some wax and grease remover and put that in a spray bottle for ease of use and cleaned everything real good.....i didnt sand anything but i used a wirewheel on a drill then primered painted and cleared....its been about 2 months and its holding up pretty good.......on my exhaust manifolds i primed and painted silver but it burned off pretty fast but they look gray now, which is better than rusty brown.....if you paint yours i would go with silver too, dont know what any other colors would look like once burnt off


heres some pics of mine
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...-my-truck.html

another thing that i think is cool is how we have lines on our valve covers that you can tape off and stripe

 

Maybe when I get around to doing my valve covers I'll stripe them black and silver or black and blue (Truck Color). I don't know, right now i'm focusing on the trans pan and I will end up doing the oil pan later (Probably when my oil pump eventually gives out)

 

I like what you've done with your engine, but personally I think it is a little too flashy for my truck. I have always liked that my truck accessories have always been black (Soft Tonneau, ventshades, bug deflector, tail light covers, etc). I think I am going to paint my keg back to the silver/gray that it should be andthen possibly figure out a way to lightly pin stripe it with blue or something. Thanks for the tips though.

For now im off to cardomain to try and get some more ideas.

 

Yep, prep is everything.
Personally, I'd stay away from gloss black cause it's hard to tell at a glance if there's a leak.

 

Good point about the leak, but i'm just not sure if I would be happy with the flat black. Maybe i'll go between and get semi-gloss or something.