4cyl engine painting (in car)

B_man_Al

B_man_Al

Senior Member
Anybody got any suggestions about preparing the block before painting with the ford green rattle can. It was painted about 8 yrs ago, but now the rust is showing through. I would like to detail it a little and clean it up, but not pull the engine to do it, just prep , mask and spray.
 
watch out for overspray getting all over the car with a rattle can.. your best bet is a can and a brush
its sold both ways
 
I did mine in the frame, with the body off. Rattle can. Tape, Paper, rags, forethought. The rattle can dries very fast, but a small amount of over-spray wiped right off with a little lacquer thinner on a rag. The spray pattern is not too big. Practice a little first to see how wide the pattern is so you know how close you can get to things.
 
Wash to degrease,soak down with OSPHO,rinse. next day mask with aluminum foil. most of the masking won't need tape if you wrap the foil tight. much less bleedthrough than paper and clings great.
 
Hi Al,

Did my engine, transmission & adjacent cast iron close to 20 years ago, (but out of the car), so this information may not directly apply to your situation -- absolutely no rust anywhere.

Just hope this helps someone interested in doing this "once" in their lifetime.

FWIW:

Appears about 90% of the time consuming work for painting engines, transmissions, clutch housings, etc., etc. involves surface preparation & maybe 10% of the time involves applying coatings.

1. Removed old paint with paint remover -- several coats.

2. Scraped off old hardened grease & cleaned porous cast iron about 3 times with water based POR 15 Marine Clean.

3. Rinsed off with clear water per POR directions & treated surfaces with POR 15 Prep & Ready.

4. Rinsed off with clear water per directions & provided 2 coats of Silver POR 15 to seal cast iron pores. **

5. Roughened previous POR 15 surfaces per POR 15 directions with a "Brillo" pad & provided 2 coats of POR 15 Ford Green Engine Enamel.

** NOTE: POR 15 recommends that their engine enamel can be provided directly on cast iron, but in "not" following their advice, I provided 2 coats of their POR 15 product first -- buying engine enamel once in 20 years & probably in many more years does not help POR 15's engine enamel sales.
 
Remove grease and oils with laquer thinner or mineral spirits. Then wet sand with grey scotch brite with a spray bottle of water mixed with a little bit of dish washing soap. The soap will help clean any excess oils. Then rinse the the block with strait water to remove any left over soap. Maybe wipe down once more with degreaser, and then spray it. As far as taping up or masking off the car, that's up to you how to decide how to do that. If there is any bare metal showin I would spray a little engine primer on it, and if there is rust I would use a wire brush or 80 grit paper to clean the rust off.
 
Thanks for the inputs all ... I never considered using a brush ... Spent my whole life painting with a brush, till I bought a spray gun! Maybe got to reconsider ... certainly less chance for screwups.... probably more durable as well.
Al
 
Match the spray can color with rustoleum and brush on. 2 parts hunter green, 1 part royal blue, 1 part gloss black. I've been using this for years.
 
Here's how I did it and it turned out pretty well:
Use paint remover and Scotch Brite. Scrub, scrub, scrub! Takes 2 or 3 applications of paint remover to get all the old paint off. Once the old finish is removed, use a deruster to clean up the bare metal. Wash down well with water and dry.
I used Hirsch's Ford engine green. No primer required. Use a sponge brush. The paint goes on beautifully with no streaks. Let sit for at least a week to cure. Good luck,
Smurph
 
With all this paint remover and paint thinner advice be very careful about getting it on anything you don't want damaged.
 
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