The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop What is the easiest way to prep engine for paint?

I previously painted my intake and valve covers when they were off with some shake can engine paint. Seems to be holding up pretty good.

I would like to now paint the new water pump and front of engine and lower sides but the front and sides are covered in dust, grease and oil. You can see some orange through it but it is dirty.

I have it in my garage so I can not easily use spay on engine degreaser and wash it off as I can not hose it off.

So I am looking for a way to use brushes and some degreaser and paper towels or cloth towels to clean it up and be clean enough to paint over and have soemthing to bite into.

I have some Eastwood PRE which is a paint thiner / cleaner which I may try on it.

Sand blasting is not an option for me as the truck is inside the garage and apart not movable and I have other things stored in there so it has to stay somewhat clean.

Can not use sandpaper on it, not yet as it needs to be cleaned first but it does not just come off. It is pretty stuck on. I need some solvent or something.

What have you guys used with any success?

Rubber gloves, lot's of rags, parts brush, scrub pads (green ones), carb cleaner and a few scraping tools (screw drivers, awls etc) make sure you wear goggles, you will be in some precarious positions.

I am going through the same process on my truck right now. I didn't want to hose it off either because I didn't want to deal with the run-off. What I did was buy a couple of underbed storage boxes at Walmart, sprayed GUNK on the engine and then rinsed the engine off with those storage boxes underneath to catch the dirty water. That helped to minimize the mess in the garage.

I haven't scraped yet- that will be next, I guess.

Steve

I would pressure wash the engine with hot water, scrub the engine with hot soapy (Dawn) water, and then pressure wash again with hot water. Then rinse it with metal etch, hot water rinse and dry with compressed air and run a fan on it until completely dry. Then paint right away.

If water is too messy-use a big cardboard box(for under engine) & several cans of good brake cleaner, agitated by parts cleaning brush & scotchbrites, followed by a quick spray or wipe w/lacquer thinner.

Thanks for all the ideas. I am going to have to go with a non-water flush type as I can not have water running all over the place in my garage and the truck is not together to move it yet.

if you add up all the work (and less than optimum results) of trying to do this with the engine in the truck - you may just want to consider removing the engine and taking it out of your garage to clean, prep, and paint.

it sounds like a big task, but much of that is mental... its really not a huge deal in an old truck with few connections to the motor and lots of room to work. just another perspective.

Removing the engine is a good idea. But I have very little room in the garage to house it and the driveway is really steap so that is not likely an option for me. Plus I would need to rent or buy a hoist/lift and a stand. But I have always wanted one. I see Harbor Freight has some cheap ones. Wonder if they are any good for occasional use?

Wiring connections are not an issue with this truck. There is very little and same for the rest of stuff and then just the two front motor mounts and 2 or 3 around the transmition/bellhousing. The worst part would be getting the exhaust pipes disconnected from the manifold! Well and I hate havign to drain the water and possibly remove the radiator (original V8 has the radiator pretty close to the engine).

I could see that it might be worth it to take the engine out. Easier in many ways when compared to working on your back under a truck trying to clean it and have grease oil solvents and cleaners running down your arms and dripping onto your face and all. And then trying to paint it in those positions too!

Maye I will get to that option some day. Would have to clear out the other side of the garage and find another place for a ton of stuff and my harley and other tools and stuff. Wish I had a 4 or 5 car garage or shop area or something bigger than a 1.5 to 2 car garage.

I took mine out and with 4X4s set it on a flat cart bought at auction. It is much easier to clean. I used lots of wire brushing and scraping one section at a time. I used lacquer thinner a lot cheaper just be careful and use gloves and open air. Use only a hand wire brush if using it. I used card board, drip pans and masking painters paper to catch any stray material.

I used a citrus type of jell paint remover, let it sit. I got old carpet and layered under the engine compartment. got a hand pump sprayer filled it with hot water and pressurized it. Sprayed off the jell....got my air compressor and blew off the motor to semi-dry it. Then I got my angle air die grinder with a wire brush attachment and went to town. then repeated the process. I did use brake cleaner,carb cleaner..anything to cut the old paint. When I was done I turned up the heater in the shop and dried the motor real good,primed with motor primer and then used GM engine blue. I believe it turned out good. It was not a weekend job, took my time.
See before and after pics
http://s1091.photobucket.com/albums/i381/snipewarrior/Bare%20Motor/
http://s1091.photobucket.com/albums/i381/snipewarrior/Painted%20Motor/
Enjoy

I have had my 235 hanging on a Harbor Freight stand for over a year now. Fully rebuilt complete with manifolds, carb, breather, water pump, and alternator. Havent added the AC compressor yet but otherwise ready to reinstall. Not the best stand in the world and I do keep a 2x4 wedged in between the base of the stand and the front of the block to prevent sagging but it is holding it well. If I did this for a living I would spend more on a stand but for a hobby it works great for the cost.

like others have said removing the engine would make for the best job. additionally anything else that needs or should be addressed can be done at this time along with inspecting things that you dont see while the engine is in place. the hoist i got from HF has the fold up legs requiring less space to store it without dismantling it. cleaning the engine can be done on the hoist with whatever cleaning agent you use. i bought a tub from dollar general that i put under the engine and tranny to catch all the crap im removing. with a engine tilter which you can buy at HF the same time you buy the hoist can work to your advantage by tilting the engine enough to get the run off to end up in the tub plus it makes removing the engine simpler. i have limited space in my shop and i roll the truck back and forth accordingly to give me the room for the task at hand. the problem with removing the engine opens up this thinking " well since im here i might as well do this too". its hard at least for me as to where to draw the line becasue next thing you know your removing the rear bumper to do things on a job that started with painting the engine (ive done this more than once). painting the engine/tranny on the hoist allows for a much better job due to the accessability of the little tight areas that you normally dont get with the engine in. painted componets seperately tells others what you have worked on or replaced. nothing impresses me more than that of a well painted and attention to detailed engine. i think a clean engine is a happy engine. if you address all the things that are hard to remove will only make it easier the next time you decide to remove something.

Amen!

I just removed and painted my engine. I sprayed it carb cleaner and used rags with some brushing. Used brake cleaner to complete the clean/drying. I painted with POR-15 engine paint. I purchased from Summit Racing. They have many enigine colors. You brush on the paint and can apply many coats if you want. A paint covered my block twice with some still left over for touch up. It looks awesome!!

lots of good ideas. And some pictures too. Thanks DADZ59.

Also I liked the idea of the under the bed storage tub. We had one laying under a bed not in use so I grabed that and some Brake cleaner and brushes and it is starting to clean up. I just need some sunny days so I can open the garage and not get rained on! Got to vent those fumes.

Aston you said "" well since im here i might as well do this too". "

Boy I can relate. My truck is been out of commission for 15 months or so. It all Started with a simple exchange my steering column for the correct shorted one to match the new proper steering wheel since it needed rebuilding anyways. Then oops got to add the correct turn signal switch. Oh wait got to rewire as this 50 year old wiring is brittle so a new wiring harness, wait not going to do that without striping and painting under the dash, wait if I am running a new wire harness then I need to strip the firewall too, wait got to paint all this stuff might as well do the whole interior, almost done oh wait need to re-upolster the seat, and side panels, and fix those visors, and that Cab dome light, and the radio, and the deluxe heater controls, clean up that dash and repaint the whole interior, oh and the main cab mounts need to be replaced, and the main light switch and all the gromets and the wiring back to the tail lights, of and the distributer got tweaked so a new rebuild on that, and some pulleys and brackets, hey wait this engine needs painting! Oh and the front gasket blew out under the V in the front of the intake manifold. Going to have to get a bigger PCV hole to releave pressure and clean that breather cap, and a new gasket set. Wait I just did that 2 years ago. Dang doing work over again.

Oh thats were I am now and believe me I got to stop. Not pulling this motor out or another year will go by!

;-)

But its all fun. But I need some weekends back once in a while so it has been slow going. When this gets running again it will be on to the fenders, bed and other "minor" body repair and then a final exterior paint job.