Thread: Steps in painting an engine?

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So I plan on pulling my engine and tearing it down and giving it a good cleaning and repaint. What steps should I go through when prepping it for paint. i.e. degreaser, sanding, etc. What products work best or if anyone has a homemade concoction for prepping an engine, I'm open to that as well.

And finally, what is the best engine paint made without spending a lot of money (something in a can.) I'm thinking of using an OEM paint used on Mopars for Mopars in a can.

While I'm here, what color should I paint it? I'm thinking of going with the typical orange; thought about black.

Let me know. Thank guy's!

well the color suggestions are helpful but I still need cleaning, degreasing and prepping advice.

Scrape all the grease off with the help of degreaser, engine brite works well, supertech degreaser ( wally world brand ) comes out as a foam and works well also. prepping is usally just wash it off. the cans also have prepping instructions so you could check them.

Thanks Matt, I was thinking of using EngineBrite cleaner. As far as the paint goes, I don't have a sandblaster to remove paint so I may just use a power drill and wire brush wheel to get the old paint off.

Still open for suggestions guys.

Originally posted by racerxjj67
Thanks Matt, I was thinking of using EngineBrite cleaner. As far as the paint goes, I don't have a sandblaster to remove paint so I may just use a power drill and wire brush wheel to get the old paint off.

Still open for suggestions guys.

power drill wire brush should work great.

also.......don't forget to thourly clean block..use oil hole wire brushes....come in various sizes for engine,,,,,to make sure all grit out of engine...also, I have used red rustoleum in the head valleys to seal and make it look cleaner and help oil flow

The good ole easy off oven cleaner works very good on grease, even removes paint to some extent. Just don't put it on aluminum it will eat it up since the easy off has sodium hydroxide it.
Just spray it on and let it sit for a while.

Auto Zone....

....engine-brite degreaser, and Dupli-color engine paint.


Daver.

Here's the paint to look for....

....it sprays really well, dries fast, and is cheap to buy. They
make a clear coat for the enamel as well. You can preserve the looks of just about anything with the clear....

....starters, alternators, ect.

Daver.

The paint only comes in about a dozen colors. They may
have a Mopar color. This is what the engine looked like
before I got after it !

Daver.

Daver - that engine looks awesome! Is the distributor, carb and intake manifold painted? What did you use for degreaser, and what other steps did you take? Wirebrush it?

Thanks

Dave

I just use kerosene and a rag to clean, with the help of various size screwdrivers to get into the nooks and crannies. Knock all the loose paint off. After that, I wipe the engine down with paint thinner. I mask with duct tape and do the fine detailing with a razor blade.

As for paint, I opt for Plasticoat (sp?) because you can do touch up any time and not have to wait a week between coats.

If the engine is real dirty, turn on the radio...you're going to be there a while.

Daver, that stuff you used is nice. I was thinking about redoing my engine and painting it Ford Blue again because I can see where my leaks are but not sure yet. Anyways, you don't live in San Bernardino California do ya? I know we used to call that place san berdoo. I used to live out there about 5 years ago. If so then where exactly in San Bernardino do ya live I know that place really well.

Oh forgot... Get this stuff called ZEP. It works great! Also before you polish parts you can spray it on the metal and it will turn the metal all white, etc and will pull ALL that black outta it and then after it's done with it's job you wash it off, dry it and polish it up real nice. I use it on my engine all the time and it works good. It won't get the 10 year old baked on greese oil or grime off but everything fresh and all the mud, dirt, etc. I got a huge bottle of this stuff and then a spray bottle of it too. Great on rims before you polish them to pull that black out. I did this to the metal around my tail lights and when all the black stuff was out of the metal I could see that the metal was actually galvanized aluminum or whatever because you can see the little patterns in the metal, after that I polished that badboy up and it was like a mirror.

FMX - is it safe on polished aluminum valve cover gaskets? I have the Edelbrock polished aluminum with the groves on the top side. They have black paint down in between the groves.

Once you spray this stuff, do you just hose it off? What do you do with what washes off? Trying to be enviromentally conscious.

Thanks

Dave