I am pulling my engine this weekend to do a complete clean up of the engine. I plan to paint the block Corporate Blue, adding a Edelbrock performer intake and 600 Edelbrock carb, adding new crome valve covers and oil pan. I will be putting on new wiring harnesses. I will be replacing most of the externals on the engine, such as the water pump, fuel pump, etc. I am not going to be in a rush to do this so the engine my be out for weeks. However, my concern is what I will do to improve the look of the firewall. It is coated with what looks like an undercoating. Is that what it is? One area that I messed with seems to chip off OK but not sure if the rest of the firewall will do the same. I wanted to clean all of it off and paint the engine bay a simi gloss black. What would you recommend to use that will make this task easier? Or am I opening a can of gunk worms?
Gary
1966 Mustang Fastback

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Pressure watch and elbow grease. I'm sure there's something you could use but I don't know what it would be.

 

Use a chisel to get the bulk off, then use a wire brush on your drill to get most of the rest off. Finish it off with a paint stripper. It will be nasty work, so make sure you have the car in a spot that you don't mind mucking up the ground.

 

the gunk that u were refering to actually was drip over from where the cowl meets the firewall. Ford put this filler were the two seams meet to cover up the welds because they were so very much expossed to the elements. The workers were not into perfection in this department mainly because so many of the cars rolled down the assembly line each day. The filler is based that of undercoating, just in a smoother form. i find if you take a hairdryer to it and let it sit for on the area for awhile, it will scrape off easier. If you are going for concourse, it is nessassary to leave it on, because trust me, it is judged!!! hope this info helps

 

If it was put on so shoddily at the factory, how are MCA concours judges going to know if it original or not? By your description, no two cars would be the same.

 

Wow, I could just see it now, " well you would have won the car show, but there was no filler covering the cowl so im sorry" (judge)
Concours is really fanatical.

 

GTA289,

Thanks for the info. Concour is not the route I plan on taking. AT first I thought I would go that direction, but after careful consideration I decided I am the one who is going to enjoy this car and do not want to meet the restrictions of concours. I do not plan to do anything that will permantly change it, only bolt on. I will try the hair dryer and see if it will help. All I know is after pulling the engine this weekend, the firewall in a mess, as well as the rest of that area. Got my work cut out for me.

Gary[sm=gears.gif]

 

first off i wasnt trying to say that there was filler in the cowl, i stated that where the COWL AND THE FIREWALL ARE JOINED TOGETHER there is welds in that space, (welds hold metal together you know?) and since that certain part of the car is prone the elements, Ford put and undercoat like filler to cover the welds, thats why after 40 years, its usually dried and cracked up. And yes you are right, not every mustang came with drip off, but keep in mind, he was asking a question of what it was, so i answered the best i know. and as for concourse judging, there were no mustangs that left the factory (or at least any ive seen) that didnt have some sort of weird drip offs somewhere! if you ever need to look into the mca judging book, go to their website and take a look.

 

When I painted my engine compartment, I pulled the motor, then towed the car to a car wash to wash all the crap out. Mine was pretty bad, so it took a lot of quarters and a few cans of that Simple Green stuff. It ended up working pretty good.