Hello, everyone... I jus recently bought a rebuilt 351w from my friends dad... He rebuilt the engine but never bothered painting it. Or cleaning it in that case, there is heavy engine sludge in hard to reach places. I have the engine on a stand and I want to tape off all holes and pressure wash it, is this a good idea? Any tips and or help would be appreciated... Thanx

 

pressure wash itself wont do a thing. buy yourself some engine cleaner, id say about 3-4 cans, the stuff goes fast. spray the engine after taping it off with the cleaner and leave it sit for 10 mins. wash it off with a hose, pressure washer is overkill, a simple hose head thing would do fine. repeat process until satisfied. once done buy engine enamel for auto part store, comes in a spray can, tape off everything you dont want painted and go at it.

you could also use paint thinner on a cloth to get tougher areas. carb cleaner also works pretty good.

im currently doing the same thing, its alot harder then it sounds lol. i also used a toothbrush to get some of the tough stuff off..

 

I always use a spray degreaser and a couple of toothbrushes. Carb cleaner works well to cut through sludge and won't harm anything if it worls its way into passages.

Before you begin to paint, hit everything with a rust barrier. This will help the paint last longer (rust will always find a way through eventually) and give you a nice oil free basecoat.

 

i spent 6 hours prepping (cleaning/masking) my engine for paint (and it was fresh from the engine shop).

i used a scrub brush with purple power. then rinsed with hot water (straight from the hot water tank). then immediately dried with towels. as the last steps i put PPG DX330 which is a cleaner in the paint gun and hosed it down (letting it almost run off the engine). i then used fresh rags to wipe it down. i did this three times.

i used tape and a fresh blade for masking. my hands were dead.

i can't say this is the best way, it's just what i did.

 

The toothbrushes I use are nylon, bronze, and stainless steel. Start with engine cleaner, and do the last bits with brake cleaner. I have even done this with the engine installed in one case, because removing it would have been more difficult than usual.

 

If you can bear it, Aircraft Remover (paint stripper) works very, very well for cleaning an engine of old grease (and old paint) in prep for painting. (apply and follow directions for cleaning stripper off)

After the stripper has done it's job move on to brake cleaner etc. then soapy water, rinse, dry with compressed air, then wait for a day or more for it to dry out before painting. The cast iron will "hold" water in it's porous surface for a while, so patience...

 

damn buckeye, thats the cleanest engine ive ever seen!