fbekholden.com

Howdy all,
Tomorrow I'm going to paint my grey motor side plate. I've had it stripped back to bare metal. Do I need to paint the "inside" of the side plate? I figure it will always be coated in oil and shouldn't ever be exposed to the elements. Any advice (as always) appreciated.
Cheers,
Aaron.

From memory they didn't paint them in the factory, same with other tin engine parts ( sump etc ) although I'm happy to be corrected by someone else if this is not the case.

After a few years all the engine contaminants start to build up internally and accumulate on the unpainted bare metal ( and other parts) and can sometimes be a little difficult to remove so I guess that by painting them internally as well as externally it may make cleaning time a little bit quicker if the engine has to be pulled down for repair.

I can't see too much avantage by painting or not other than what I've written above .

Thanks for that FB Mad. I've just had the engine rebuilt - so if it needs to be pulled down any time in the foreseeable future, I'm going to be an unhappy lad!!!
I think I'll paint the outside; and only do the other side if my mechanic gets antsy about it.
Thanks again.
Cheers,
Aaron.