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I got the Harley wrinkle paint for the engine and painted it. I guess I must have screwed something up as it looks like elephant hide or something awful. I have not really gotten the engine hot yet but it does look a tad better around the plug area from the quick fire up I did. I took a heat gun and hit a couple of places and the finish seemed to get better. I really do not want to strip the side cover and polish, but jeeze it looks like crap. On the good side it runs and drives really well.
I believe the engine is usually covered in the "texture" paint rather than wrinkle. But they both should hold fine and be good but the texture is a little smoother than the wrinkle paint.
I will hit it with a heat gun and see what happens and put it in the sun. If that does not work then I will strip it and polish the side covers. Wishi had just used high heat paint now.
As Zanejjnelson1 says above - Harley makes two kinds of (that I'm aware of) engine paint, Wrinkle Black and Texture Black. Wrinkle Black is, well, wrinkley. It's also glossy. Texture Black is a smoother flat black finish with something approximating sand mixed in with the paint to give it texture. When I was painting my engine I made the mistake of buying the Wrinkle Black the first time, not knowing Harley made two very different kinds of black engine paint. I had the same experience as you did - sprayed it on and went "wtf?" It looked like crap.
The Texture Black engine paint goes on easy, looks great and wears like iron.
As Zanejjnelson1 says above - Harley makes two kinds of (that I'm aware of) engine paint, Wrinkle Black and Texture Black. Wrinkle Black is, well, wrinkley. It's also glossy. Texture Black is a smoother flat black finish with something approximating sand mixed in with the paint to give it texture. When I was painting my engine I made the mistake of buying the Wrinkle Black the first time, not knowing Harley made two very different kinds of black engine paint. I had the same experience as you did - sprayed it on and went "wtf?" It looked like crap.
The Texture Black engine paint goes on easy, looks great and wears like iron.
I hear you. I did not know they made texture black. That is what is in my road glide then. Well heck. I guess I will get some texture black for the side cases and leave the jugs with the wrinkle paint. Did you strip yours down before repainting?
My engine painting project was...well, a bit of a challenge. I had oxidation under some of the paint on the cases and had to strip it down to bare metal before painting. The primary cover and cam cover I ended up powder coating gloss black. The jugs, for the most part were ok and I just cleaned them up and painted right over the original paint. I had the engine out of the frame when I did it. Tapped off everything I didn't want painted and sprayed it with the texture black. You can find a detailed explanation and lots of pics in the thread Nightster Winter Makeover.
I made the wrinkle black/textured black mistake last week. My confusion came from the Harley web store calling all of their dress-up stuff (covers) wrinkle black. They aren't. :/ The wrinkle paint peeled off easily with acetone. Good luck.
Perhaps Harley Davidson keeps the distinction between the two types of paint intentionally ambiguous. I don't know. When I went back to the parts dept to buy my second can of paint (another $23) I told the guy I wanted the texture black and not the wrinkle black. He looked at me and said "There's only one kind." When I explained that in fact Harley makes two kinds of paint he didn't believe me. He disappeared in the back for five minutes before returning with a can of texture black paint. Even some employees don't know the difference.
To RedTailChop - I assume you can find a texture black engine paint in another brand but I don't know. All I can tell you is the Harley paint is very good stuff. Very durable once it's fully cured.
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