Burnt engne paint. Potential problem??

T

Tugmaster

Member
Here are some pics of the burnt paint on the engine my Model A. A little back ground first. The entire chassis and drivetrain were rebuilt about 8 years ago. The owner put the body on the chassis and was getting ready to take it to the bodyshop and he passed away. The car sat in his widows basemet till about a year ago. The guy I bought it from brought it home. put a battery in an it fired ight up and idled fine. This still has breakin oil in it.
My question/concern is why did the paint burn off? Was the motor "tight" after the rebuilt and get to hot. Carb to lean?Or maybe just lousy paint!
The water pump is working and I asume the oil pump too
Any thoughts or steps I should take to make sure there are no issures or potential problems down the road?
Thanks,
Todd
 

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Todd,

That damage to the paint doesn't appear to be from burning per-se. I see that condition behind the water outlet - a place that should be much cooler than the head alongside the manifold. I'd say what you're dealing with is poor prep prior to finish painting more than anything. The fact that the head studs/nuts are painted seems to indicate that paint was probably slapped on without much thought. Strip off what you can (down to bare iron) with a wire brush/stripping wheel/solvent - thoroughly degrease, and paint it with a quality paint. I've used cheapo implement enamel on engines and never had an issue - provided I prepped it well.
 
I agree. The paint is peeling off due to poor adhesision and NOT burning off. It appears that there was very little cleaning or prep before brushing on the engine green paint.
 
Below is some pictures of an engine damaged by excess heat. Yours ain't nothing similar from what I am seeing!! ;)

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Humble Opinion:

It went like this:

"Give your old engine & we will swap it out for a re-built one with a "fresh coat of paint".

Every Model A engine I cleaned that was rebuilt several times years ago went like this:

1. Apply paint remover & remove paint.
2. Then find a unique mix of grease & dirt which had to be cleaned.
3. Next repeat steps 1. & 2. several times going through different layers with several coats of paint.
4. Finally one discovers flakes of rust & sometimes slightly pitted metal

Your vintage found engine looks so normal to me, it is like looking at a morning cup of coffee.

The guys with the paint brushes could have been hoboes & drifters before the welfare programs -- this was so normal throughout the 1940's -- most State Sign Shops hired hoboes to paint traffic signs on plywood until the silk screen process got popular along with Civil Service & Government employees.

Paint over grease was cheap & quick & looked good until the grease got warm at engine running temperature.

I remember hoboes sharing & eating a cans of dog food.
 
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T.S.P. (tri sodium phosphate) is a great cleaner & it etches existing paint slightly for better paint adhesion! It removes grease, wax, oily residue, etc. Mixed thick like pancake batter, it will strip paint, not fast, but very safe! I mix it in warm water to soak carbs & I've used it to clean greasy/oily residue from cooling systems & it DOESN'T foam. Available everywhere. Bill W. (NO! it doesn't help for the toilet, only the PUMICE stone works!)
 

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It sure looks like an engine fire starting at the carb. The manifold area protected the paint directly above the carb from blistering but it creeped around both ends. Looks like some gas pooled on top of the cam cover.
 
Hi Brent,

Good point!

FWIW:

We use the term "retarded" quite often "only" in refering to our Model A distributor timing.

I think after seeing us working on our Model A's until late at night, some of our modern day neighbors think about us & the meaning of "retarded" in a more general sense. LOL
 
H. L. Chauvin said:
Hi Brent,

Good point!

FWIW:

We use the term "retarded" quite often "only" in refering to our Model A distributor timing.

I think after seeing us working on our Model A's until late at night, some of our modern day neighbors think about us & the meaning of "retarded" in a more general sense. LOL
Click to expand...


I guess I was being vague above as to slightly protect the guilty.

FWIW, the term "retarded" is used in the Model A Instruction Book (owners manual) to describe the spark lever position, so I am sure that is why many folks still use that term today.

I do not know for a fact (...and likely never will!! ;) ) that the spark lever was retarded when all that happened however the driver complained the vehicle was really underpowered and felt like it was really laboring. Instead of pulling over to ask questions, they proceeded until it blew all the water out. It even split the lower tank on the Brassworks radiator. They sent me a video of it ...and the steam blowing out the bottom would have made an old steam Train Engineer proud!! :D I offered to fix it under warranty for the customer since it only had a couple hundred miles but in retrospect, I think "guilt" got the best of him as he chose to use another vendor to rebuild the engine. It had less power afterwards since that vendor advised him to go with a 5.5 head instead of a 6:1. :rolleyes: THAT seemed 'retarded' to me!! :D



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