I've been prepping my '72 Skylark 350-4 motor for painting (motor still in engine bay) and so far I've used simple green and Gunk foaming degreaser. The motor is look much better put i still have more work to do. I'm wondering what's the best way to get the last bits of grease off, and what do I need to do for final prep before painting? I plan to use engine spay paint. I'm thinking just more hard work and a final wipe down with some paint thinner to remove any residue then mask and spay? I'm going to install new valve cover gaskets so I'm thinking to do the final valve cover clean up off the motor then reinstall and paint them when I paint the rest of the engine. Does that sound right?
Scrape the leftover stuff off with a small flat blade, the oven cleaner is much cheaper and works awesome, better than most degreasers imo, but some dupli-color self etch primer will make the job much easier and you will use less paint, cold galvanizing compound on the exhaust ports will help keep the paint from flaking, I don't use engine enamel, just Krylon Rust Tough in cherry red, very close to Buick red
Thanks Hugger, that oven cleaner sounds like the way to go for the final clean up and thanks for the tip about the cold galvanizing compound...
Use aluminum foil instead of paper to mask stuff off it forms easy and stays there. In those hard to reach area's
Be sure to use the CAUSTIC old fashioned oven cleaner (with sodium hydroxide AKA Lye), not the new-school environmental friendly good for the environment stuff. BE SURE TO USE PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT!!! Good rubber gloves, eye protection, industrial apron... You WILL know if you get that stuff on your skin!!! But it will get even the old baked in baked on oil dried crap out of the cracks and crannies, given enough time and possible repeat application. I used it to clean an engine that had sat for over 20 years after leaking away all its live of poor maintenance .... over 1/2 inch thick crud in the lifter valley. NO it was NOT a BUICK... It was a Pontiac; I had a friend that had his parts 'disappear' from a shop that had his car and closed up the business.
Did the oven cleaner last evening, with the old fashion stuff, yes it made me gag but stuff works good! I just got a couple of tough places to hit and I'll be good to go. the aluminum foil mask sound good, I'll snag some from my wife. I had to buy some wire harness tape from Amazon since when I went to wipe the grease off the harness some of is just fell apart. the tape will get to me in a couple of days. Man, This engine painting follows it's own path don't it... One thing, I had to but a new thermostat hosing only right on the side of it says in big letters MADE IN CHINA! If I filled the with bondo and painted it would the bondo hold up to the heat? Thanks guys, I'll post some photos when I done
Thanks guys, the JB weld is a great idea! I check out the dupli-color 1653 ceramic engine paint, I'm getting close to painting. I'm go to paint the fire wall since I have the valve covers off for prepping and to install now gaskets. I'm hoping to be done in a couple of weeks.
Just wanted to add that I did the oven cleaner trick tonight thanks to this thread. Long story short it cleaned the crap out of everything, wish I would have read about it sooner.
Oven cleaner followed with degreaser works great, just be careful to not leave it too long on aluminum parts like fuel pumps etc. It will discolor them. I like using ammonia for a degreaser. You can get a gallon jug at Family Dollar cheap, and it works great. Also get the oven cleaner there too. They carry name brand and Family Dollar store brand, both work great!
I just picked some Dupli-color 1653 last night, I'm hoping to paint it this Saturday. They had two cans, I wanted one more just in case. I'm hoping to find an extra can this evening some place.
Some self etch primer makes it cover 3x faster and promotes adhesion The Dupli Color army green colored stuff works very well
Will regular temp primer stay on? I mean we use a temp paint for the engine, should we not need a high heat primer?
The paint requires no primer but I believe that dupli-color makes an engine primer if u want a primer.
Here's a couple of photo's showing the motor. I used the Dupli-color 1653 without primer. I feel confident the the paint will stay. I still have more assembly to do but I'm happy with how it's turning out. I wish I had the money to have pulled the motor and rebuild it to add some more HP, make it a real muscle car! It does sound mean with the dual exsust Flowmasters my brother put on the car before I got. But it's runs great and i'm looking forward to get back on the road. Thanks for All the help!