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Dyna Glide ModelsSuper Glide, Super Glide Sport, Super Glide Custom, Dyna Glide Convertible, Super Glide T-Sport, Dyna Glide Police, Dyna Switchback, Low Rider, Street Bob, Fat Bob and Wide Glide.
I've got a 2009 Superglide which I love a ton. I've really gotten to know the bike and I think I may have her for a while most likely. The only qualm I have with her is that while the meat and potatos of the bike is indeed BLACK, the engine is not, and in my estimation kinna sticks out like a sore thumb. I would love to make the engine black as well. Right now it's kind of a silvery-grey kinna deal, and really looks like hell when it gets dirty. I don't mind dirty, but i am superficial enough that i don't want it to look like total hell.
Now I understand what this entails should I take on such a ordeal, I'd have to dislodge the engine from the bike and find a way to get it to where it needs to go for powdercoating. I guess my question is.... is it even worth it? I don't what the cost would be to begin such an undertaking. It may be that it would just be more effective to sell the bike and get one with a black engine... but again, i'm starting to really love the bike. I do believe I could take the engine off myself using the whole drain-the-fluids-and-lay-the-bike-on-its-side method, but once I have it off, well ****... that thing weighs i'm guessing at LEAST 400 lbs. Now my deadlifting skills are good.. but not THAT good.
I know there's alternatives... I could always do the major parts of it, such as the primary cover, tranny cover, rocker boxes, etc... but **** there's a few hundred to do so as well... might as well maybe put that $$ towards just doing the whole thing in one fell swoop.
Any suggestion or ideas? I'm kinna out of my sphere of knowledge for this one...
Wouldn't it be a no-no to simply paint over original powder coating? Doesn't the original finish have to be sandblasted off and then the new coat re-applied? That seems WAY too easy. haha
Not to mention, the fins of the engine are starting to show signs of minor corrosion... again, wouldn't it be better to sandblast all this off and start from scratch?
Not to mention further, surely there'll be some parts of the engine that I won't be able to get to or reach with a spray can?
I would powder coat the primary cover, cam cover, rocker boxes etc. The main parts such as the engine case, jugs transcase etc I would use the wrinkle black paint as suggested by sn95bullitt. With careful masking this can be done without removing the motor from the frame. to powder coat the whole motor would be rather expensive and it would have to be totally disassembled as powder coating is baked on and you can not just stick the whole motor in the oven. We have a forum sponsor, The Powder Pro. The guys name is Joe and he does excellent work. Contact him and he should be able to guide you and answer your questions.
I'd wait until the engine needs an overhaul or major upgrade.
You'll need to completely disassemble it to do it "right".
If you're not gonna do it "right", you may as well just spray bomb it. Nothing wrong with that. I've done it to lots of stuff. It looks OK if done carefully but doesn't hold up anywhere near as well at PC.
I painted mine with really good results, it was a 2007 FXDC with the silver/grey engine with cromed parts, the contrast really sucked, so i took a pair of high temp paint, tapped everything REALLY well and sprayed the hell out of it.
It holds really good as the engine temp cures the paint somehow, on some zones the paint wears off specially when cleaning the bike with high pressure water but i keep a spare paint can to touch up those parts, been like this for 2 years already.
There's been a few threads on here on painting the motor, looks like several have done it in the bike successfully.
I initially wasn't a fan of the silver motor, but it really grew on me for some reason. I bought a set of 103" cylinders and had them powdercoated black, like the old shovelheads, and to me that made a huge difference.
Wouldn't it be a no-no to simply paint over original powder coating? Doesn't the original finish have to be sandblasted off and then the new coat re-applied? That seems WAY too easy. haha
Not to mention, the fins of the engine are starting to show signs of minor corrosion... again, wouldn't it be better to sandblast all this off and start from scratch?
Not to mention further, surely there'll be some parts of the engine that I won't be able to get to or reach with a spray can?
People come in all time and get the paint. They clam they spray it over the powdercoating. If you want to do it the right way go down to Harley and order the black heads and black crank case and black trans case and swap it all over.
My engine was black and didn't fit my 1959 look. The powder coat on the engine now is the best primer you can get, it is nearly impossible to remove without a lot of work. Just clean it, tape off everything (I spent 2 days doing it) and spray away. I used DupliColor Engine paint to get the color I wanted. I have had no problem in 2 years, even spilling gas on it several times.
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Engine Powdercoating... worth it?
