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Hycote

Hycote Engine Enamel review

Hycote's engine enamel aerosol, rated 3/5: self-priming, cheap and everywhere, with a gloss black its own data sheet rates at 140°C while retail listings print 300°C. What the sheet says.

By James · Published 15 October 2026

On this page
  1. The facts
  2. Verdict
  3. Buy it
  4. How we rate
  5. What it is
  6. The figures, and what they mean
  7. Putting it on
  8. The cure
  9. Where it sits against the others
  10. Who it suits
  11. Appears in
  12. Sources

The facts

Heat rating140°C for gloss black; 300°C for aluminium and matt black, after a heat cure
PrimerNone: self-priming, and the sheet says no primer is to be used
CureFull solvent resistance for the 300°C colours after 220°C for 90 minutes; the gloss black has no heat cure on the sheet
Between coatsTwo coats or more, 20 to 30 minutes apart, sprayed sparingly; overcoat with itself after 24 hours
CoverageNot stated
ColoursGloss black and red on Amazon UK; the sheet also lists aluminium and matt black
Format400 ml aerosol; a 500 ml option in gloss black
On Amazon UK asGloss black, 400 ml aerosol

Verdict

The can on every motor factor's shelf, and the one to read the sheet for before trusting the shelf talker. Hycote's data sheet rates its engine enamels at 300°C for aluminium and matt black and 140°C for gloss black; retail listings print 300°C against the black can. It is self-priming and the sheet says to use no primer, which keeps a cover to one can, and its application window is written down. For a bracket, a cover or a block on a standard road engine it is a sound, cheap enamel. The figure says not to ask more of it, and so does this review.

Pros

  • Self-priming; the sheet says no primer is to be used
  • A full data sheet: working window, distance, coats, recoat, heat cure
  • Sold by motor factors as well as Amazon, in 400 ml cans
  • One can and no primer for a black cover

Cons

  • Gloss black is rated 140°C by Hycote's own sheet, whatever the listing says
  • The 300°C figure belongs to aluminium and matt black, which are not the engine enamel listings on Amazon UK today
  • Two colours on Amazon UK today, black and red
  • 15 to 25°C working window rules out an unheated garage in winter

Buy it

Product prices and availability are accurate as of 19 October 2026, 06:04 and are subject to change.

How we rate

Nothing here was tested on a bench. Each product is rated on five things the maker's sheet, the listing or our colour reference can answer. Where a maker gives no figure, the facts table says so.

  1. Heat rating against the job. The maker's figure, read with its qualifier: intermittent, continuous, or by colour.
  2. What the can covers. Coverage where the maker states it; can or tin size where not.
  3. Colours offered. How far the range goes, and whether it includes the colours the colour reference names.
  4. What the cure demands. Whether the part can be cured at home, on the car, or needs an oven.
  5. Price per 100 ml. Today's, from the live figure, so it is read on the day.
  • A British aerosol engine enamel from the maker on every motor factor's shelf, self-priming, with a proper data sheet.
  • The sheet rates gloss black at 140°C. Retail listings often say 300°C. The sheet is the authority.
  • The 300°C figures belong to the aluminium and matt black, and only after a heat cure at 220°C for 90 minutes.
  • Use no primer, by instruction. Spray between 15 and 25°C, 20 to 25 cm away, two coats or more.
  • Fine for a cover, a bracket or a standard block. The figure says what not to use it for.

What it is

Hycote is the aerosol brand of James Briggs, made in Greater Manchester and owned by Tetrosyl since 2019, and its engine enamels are the ones a motor factor hands over when you ask for engine paint. The sheet describes them as modified silicone and alkyd resins with temperature-stable pigments, primarily for engine blocks and cylinder heads, and claims petrol, oil and grease resistance in writing. The brand page covers the company, and the separate Extreme Heat range it sells for exhausts.

Two engine enamel colours are on Amazon UK today, gloss black and red. The gloss black 400 ml can is reviewed here.

The figures, and what they mean

One sheet, three service temperatures: aluminium 300°C, matt black 300°C, gloss black 140°C. Same range, same shelf, and the gloss manages less than half the heat. The two higher figures carry an asterisk: full solvent resistance only after a heat cure at 220°C for 90 minutes, which a block on the car will never see.

Retail listings often print 300°C against the black can. Hycote's own data sheet is the authority and it says 140°C, and that figure is the reason this can scores three: it is enough for a rocker cover, a bracket or a block on a standard road engine, and it is the lowest figure of any enamel reviewed here. The engine enamel page sets the makers' figures side by side and explains the units.

Putting it on

Hycote asks for a detergent or solvent clean, a rinse and dry, a wire brush or wet-and-dry on rust and loose material, and a final wipe with brake cleaner, white spirit or thinners. The preparation guide has the method.

Then no primer. The sheet is blunt: the enamels are one-step and self-priming, and no primer is to be used. That is the opposite of VHT's instruction for its own enamel, and the primers page explains why the tin in your hand decides.

Work between 15 and 25°C with good ventilation, which in an unheated British garage rules out most of November to March. Shake for at least two minutes, repeated as you go. Spray lightly from 20 to 25 cm, two coats or more with 20 to 30 minutes between them. Afterwards, turn the can over and spray until the nozzle runs clear; the sheet says so and it keeps the can usable. Applying engine enamel draws the recoat window beside the other makers'.

The cure

Overcoat with the same paint after 24 hours. For the 300°C colours, full solvent resistance comes only after 220°C for 90 minutes; a domestic oven reaches that, so a rocker cover or a bracket can have the full cure, and a block cannot. For the gloss black reviewed here the sheet gives the 140°C service figure without the asterisk, and the practical advice is the same as for any one-pack: keep brake cleaner off it, and let the engine's heat finish it.

Hycote also lists surfaces needing overcoating with a different coating among the places not to use its enamel, so do not plan to lacquer it. Clear coats says why.

Where it sits against the others

Against VHT Engine Enamel: VHT's black is rated 288°C to Hycote's 140°C, VHT wants a primer and Hycote forbids one. Against Frost's P800 tins: Frost has 170°C and the British colours in a tin; Hycote has the aerosol and the sheet. For the hot parts, Hycote's own answer is its Extreme Heat range, which the brand page describes.

Best engine paints 2026 ranks it fifth, as the most widely stocked.

Who it suits

A rocker cover, a set of brackets, a timing cover, or a block on a standard road engine that will never see 140°C, painted on a mild day with the car back together by evening. Anyone who wants one can and no primer.

Not an alloy head, an engine that is worked hard, or anything the listing's 300°C tempted you to paint. Read the sheet; this review did.

Appears in

Sources