E36 engine bay painting question [Archive] - Bimmerforums

PAPICHAMPU

09-18-2018, 08:26 AM

Hi, i'm new to the forums so i wasn't too sure on where i should post this but i am planning on doing a semi wire tuck on my car and also painting the bay soon i already have an idea on how i'm going to do the wire tuck but i'm not sure on painting it as i want to avoid pulling the engine as much as possible but any insight on what to take out in order to make room for me to be able to paint it and all and what to mask off would be great. Thanks!

eturdysix

10-13-2018, 12:45 AM

I'll sum this up for you real quick.

Pull the engine.

I just removed all the brackets, filled in all the holes including the AC hookup, re-seam sealed (the factory does a terrible looking job), and if you want to do any sort of GOOD job on it, EVERYTHING has to come out. Engine, fuse box (good luck) cruise control, A/C lines, ABS unit, all brake lines, master cyl/booster, clutch line if you have one, the wiring harness, the cowl and HVAC panel cover under it. Even without removing the brackets and what not it would have come out terrible.

If you're going to re-spray it the factory color, I would think you could get away with leaving the master, abs unit, engine, a/c lines. Remove cruise control, the intake, washer fluid, the battery connection post on the shelf by passenger firewall, and the wiring harness, mask off the rest well, but if you plan on changing colors the best way is to remove absolutely everything.

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?2381996-Another-LS-Swap-1994-325is-4-8-build!

Copy paste the link with the exclamation, the last post I put up is how far down I took it to do it "right". That's just in primer, still waiting on my swap kit to test fit the engine before I lay down actual paint. Also pictures of how far I took down the harness (LS harness, so somewhat different but you get the idea) in order to do an actual "tuck". If you spend the time it'll pay off. I've got about 40 hours into just the bay as it sits not including the harness. Probably another 20 to go before it's done. It's not a difficult task just extremely time consuming.