Does anyone know the external temperature of an engine block? I am building with a alfa engine that has taken me 3 solid days to clean up... I would like to paint it and have seen some BBQ paint that might do the job nicely.... it's rated as being safe upto 600 degrees C. would this be suitable?

The stuff to use is POR-15 engine enamel for engine blocks. All the V8 tuners use it, and I can say it really looks great.

Try www.frost.co.uk for the POR-15 range. It's free P&P for over 4 items, so I just added some convoluted tubing to make it up to 4 items, so the tubing is effectively free.

Aluminium melts at 660 degrees C so I'd say you would be ok with BBQ paint if you so wished.