I need to pull my engine to repair some piston rings, and I was thinking : why not paint it while I'm at it?
So I was wondering if any of you pros have any tips or tricks that could help me to get a long lasting, good looking paint.
Also, I need to wash the engine thoroughly BEFORE taking it out, so how should I do that? Scrub it down with a rag? Let it soak in some stuff then just rinse it off with a hose? There is ALOT of thick greasy gunk everywhere that I need to get rid of.

 

I can help on cleaning it.
I just took my 289 out and took the whole thing apart and scrubbed every piece with a rag, wire brush, and carb cleaner/degreaser. It took me about 5 hours to do but it looks so much better. Another thing you might could do is take a pressure washer to it, that would help get the grease and gunk off faster than how i did it, and then dry it with a rag. You could just check your local auotzone or advanced autoparts for a super duty degreaser.

 

Any recommended brands?

 

I used wiped my stuff down with all purpose cleaner(kind with citrus andstuff in it) then sprayed it down with CD-2 from AutoZone...its like 4.XX a bottle.

 

"Simple Green" is a good cleaner. Or "Engine Degreaser" that has a blue can and is like a dollar. I don't know if there is any paint on the engine right now but "Easy Off" oven cleaner works wonders!! just spray on(it foams) and leave it over night and in the morning(or whenever you get back to it) just water hose it off and the paint should come off with it. Hope that helps ya out.

 

simple green should be enough thats what i use to degrease engines

 

Great, thanks guys. Lastly, has anyone encountered any problems with sensors or such hosing the engine off?

 

Did I miss it, but what color...blue?

 

I'm painting it either blue or red. My body is going with a blue and black theme, but my rear end is all red, and it kind of adds a nice contrast. So either the same type of blue as the car, or milano red.

 

and I wouldn't hose the engine bay down if I were you