Thread: Want to paint my block

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machine work is done, now I'd like to paint my block, has anyone used por15?
will be chevy orange, the block has sat in my basement on an engine stand (machine done) for 20years, rapped in plastic with ,aaaaammm --wd40-- sprayed on it, YA YA YATA YATA YATA, YES , I read some of the things you guys said about wd40, well you learn somthing new every day, any tips on clean and prepwill help.

You will want to degrease it thoroughly as the preservative (wd40) is in all the nooks and crannies as well as the pores of the cast iron. I would use lacquer thinner and some rags and maybe a brush to start, scrubbing the block. Then I would probably move to a dewaxer like you would use to prep a car body for paint. I think doing this a few times should remove it.

I paint mine just like you would paint a car body. Epoxy primer first, then whatever color paint you like. I've used Urethane and most recently Imron as I like the way it flows and shoots. Never used POR15 though.

I would also address some of the work that was done 20 years ago, like if you had gaskets, seals, rings, etc installed. Those are probably brittle by now, but it sounds like you just stored a machined bare block from your post.

Don

its just a bare block, hot tanked, maged, bored 30 over, new cam bearings, freez plugs,005 off the deck,but it sat for 20yrs after that, with no paint on it. Its not rusted at all,
but has the WD40 all over it

I've got a couple of machined blocks sitting in my shop and every once in a while I take the plastic bags off of them and soak them with WD40 too. Here in Florida bare steel rusts before lunch, so you have to do everything you can to keep them preserved.

When I am ready to put one together I just do the lacquer thinner, degreaser routine I mentioned earlier. So far no paint has come off.

Don