The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk engine prep before paint

i'm paintin the engine trans and t-case out of my suburban before i put my 64 chevy pickup body back on and the trans and t-case was simple engine degreaser, pressure wash, then sand blast, so now i'm wonder how to do the engine i'm tempted to do the same as the trans and t-case but for those of you who have sand blasted you know it gets everywhere so.... what to do? (whats a good engine degreaser? the stuff i used was alright.. maybe i didn't leave it soak enough but by the smell it seemed like i was just spraying diesel fuel on it)
thanks
Nate

I wouldn't sand blast any mechanical assembly
unless it was being totally disassembled and cleaned afterword. Because like you said...the sand gets everywhere.
Sounds like you'll need to do some scraping and scrub brushing in addition to just spraying degreaser and hosing it off. Years of caked on crud takes some elbow grease to get off...

Easy Off oven cleaner works pretty good. Don't get it near any paint you want to keep.

penetrating type degressers and many other degreasers are at NAPA and local auto parts stores. try getting some of the biodegradable, environmentally-friendly grease and gunk cutters, so you can do this in the yard, driveway, ect. and just hose it off the ground afterwards.

I expended a LOT of elbow grease, a few bottles of degreaser, a half bottle of Simple Green, and a wire brush attachment on my drill. Pretending it's your ex's face makes the work easier .....

I used a series of wire brush attachments for my Dremel tool to get every bit of crud off. I also use oven cleaner as a degreaser/paint stripper,
Scott

I do all my engines with Por15. (the normal Por not the Por Engine Enamel).

The paint is excellent but surface have to be absolutley grease free or you can peel of the Por15 like duct tape.

The only thing that works for me is break claner.

Frank

Bilge cleaner
Get it at your Boat Parts Dealers
Dissolves oil, grease, gasoline, diesel fuel sludge. And it is Biodegradable environmentally friendly formula. or the old stand by carburator cleaner

thanks a bunch i was thinkin i wasn't doing it all quite right but it guess it really is a pain in the arse but anyway could i still pressure wash? because i'm almost positive water will leak in through the valve covers and i know that tin foil is a good thing to use on the dizzy and carb but anything else that i'd need to take care of before i pressure wash? also anything after?
thanks again
Nate

You shouldn't have any problem using a pressure wash if you have the valve cover down snug. Just plug any holes you might have in the valve cover and use a towel, can, or rag around the carb. If you still have some old paint left on the block, don't worry about it. The new paint will cover it fine and won't pull away as long as the gloss has been taken off and its super clean. I covered some old paint on my engine and have never had a problem with it. Cecil.........

I would pressure wash it real good and when it is dry, wash it with metal etch keeping it wet for 10-15 minutes. Then wash it again with your pressure washer before the metal etch drys. Wipe off with clean towels and blow with compressed air until it is dry. I like to run a fan on it for a while to make sure I have it real dry. The bare metal will have a green tint to it when dry. Ready for paint.