I'd like to do something for my red T/A.

Maybe paint the engine bay charcoal grey.

Will spray cans do the job and spray can clear coat......or will that look terrible?

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ive seen where a few cars have a black engine bay w/most of the other stuff blacked out.

rattle cans have come a long way, but be sure to do the prep work. also, need to get paint that will hold up to the heat.

 

I guess degrease the hell out of it all. Then lightly rough it all up with sand paper. Then paint. Then clear it?

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Tape what you can't remove & make every effort to make the final result look professional. Also no reason you can't do a section at a time if needed.
I've seen on another forum where dupli-color engine enamel is pretty tough, one guy said it hadn't flaked or chipped off his wheels yet.
Again proper prep, nothing looks worse than flaking paint or overspray. Clean & clean again. Another tip, something like new stainless fastners over a painted surface could help to make it look less like an engine in place spray job.

 

degrease the crap out of it. tinfoil is a good help to wrap up things that are close to the painted area. remove/move as much as you can. the end result is always in the prep work. Nason (DuPont) brand has a pretty nice rattle can black that looks great. oh and to prep the surface use wax and grease remover, then red scotch brite it.

 

So just the red scotch brite.......no sand paper. Then spray it? Then clear it?

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Yes, red scotch rite.

 

I would not use red scotch brite. It is way too rough for spraypaint, which has very little body to fill scratches. Use either 800 grit sandpaper or a grey scotch brite that you have wet down and rolled around in your hands for a munite to make less abrasive. It's just an engine compartment at the end of the day however so it won't be subject to the same scrutiny that the exterior of the car will.

 

this is 100% based on the prep you do like everyone else has said. The smoother you want it to look, the more sanding and cleaning you have to do to start. If you are going to change the bay of your car from red to charcoal, there won't be an easy way of doing that without taking a decent amount of time to get prepped. Is the motor out?