painting used engine...lipstick on a pontipig
 

Well the used 455 I purchased is due to arrive any day now.

Is there a sticky on methods to paint an engine to get it looking somewhat original?

I have the links for the paint code so I'll go to the paint store tomorrow and get some hi-heat paint but what can I use for a degreaser?

Also, should I sand the surface rust off of the inside (gasket side) of the used parts I intent on using? How to clean those?

Thanks!

I like Easy Off oven cleaner in the yellow can (heavy duty) as a degreaser/cleaner.
I don't know what parts you're talking about but l'm gonna go out on a limb and say that any rust that you can get rid of is a good thing to do.

Oh ok, that's easy enough...thx

Some parts might have some slight surface rust on the inside and more on the outside just from sitting.

Ok, I'll try some tactical sanding.

Skip the sandpaper for lightly rusted gasket surface, get some toothbrush size stainless steel wire brushes and use those instead.

You want to remove rust only, not iron or steel.

Will do B-man...what can I do to clean that surface after the elbow grease but before the paint?

Lacquer thinner or acetone wipe down.

Or even Simple Green diluted on a cloth followed by a damp cloth to remove residue.

I painted the hotter areas, (heads) with high temp Wheel paint, before I painted the pontiac blue.
The paint always burns on the heads at the two center exhaust ports.
In the past i've used high temp engine paint under the pontiac blue for these areas but the last time i used high temp wheel paint and it has held up better.

An angle grinder with a cupped coarse bristle wire wheel will make short work of any caked grease, and rust plus get the surfaces right down to bare metal if you choose to. My go to for cleaning up a old dirty, rusty engine, of course have a good grasp on the grinder when using it on irregular surfaces. It's messy, but most any option, even pressure washing is going to be messy.

https://i.ibb.co/DCXLNjt/Z1px8zmcp-Ex.webp

I just bought a pressure washer last year, but haven't tried it out on any greasy engines yet. It's a commercial 13 HP 4200 PSI unit, so it should be able to dislodge most any caked on gunk off of an engine.

https://i.ibb.co/6RRxhmQ/ALH4240-45-...rogressive.jpg

Oh good idea!

I need one of those pressure washers! I'll try the angle grinder but she looked not too crusty. I want to swap the chrome valve covers for steel and paint to match.

Pressure washer will not necessarily take the grease off. A lot of times it just pushes it around. However with a degreaser applied, let it sit and activate for a few minutes, a pressure washer will work wonders.

At 4200 PSI, it will take grease and paint off of concrete, I believe it will take it of of cast iron too. There is a reason I bought a professional grade pressure washer, over a low powered home owner one.

It also has the option to use a water based detergent with the high pressure water, I'm fairly certain It will clean the exterior of an older engine, although as I said, I have not tried it for that purpose yet. I can tell you that you can hit grease stained concrete with it with just plain water, and it will come out white, like it was new concrete. I've used a few pressure washers before, but this one is quite a step up over the homeowner rigs sold in box stores.

I can see if it were an electric powered pressure washer needing the prewash so it would move grease off, but from what I've used it on since last fall, it kicks butt..........:D

Arrrghh, MORE POWER!!!!

Ok she's all painted, dropped in and running!

Does anyone know the correct SD sticker placement on the Valve cover?

And bonus question; where can I find one of these and what would you call it? Valve cover cap with hose thingy?

https://st.hotrod.com/uploads/sites/...white_08_z.jpg

Thanks so much!

note: stock photo for reference