engine cleanup progress
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 26
Likes: 0
From: State College Pennsylvania
engine cleanup progress
I wanted to share some pictures of my progress so far with cleaning and painting my engine. I wanted to fix up the engine bay before painting the car so the whole thing looks good. I know some would say "why spend time cleaning up that engine when you can just drop in something bigger and stronger". I dont really have the funds for that, plus this has been a good learning experience and it really didnt take too long. I dont have any before pictures on my computer, but here are some newer ones.
It was in pretty bad shape to start with, as most 25 year old engines are, so i think its a nice improvement.
It was in pretty bad shape to start with, as most 25 year old engines are, so i think its a nice improvement.
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W looks good 
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,532
Likes: 4
From: Fairview Heights Illinois, near Saint Louis MO, STL C3 Shark
Originally Posted by Kim72
What type of paint did you use?? Details please.
I'm looking to do the same to mine but want an in-destructable paint that won't peel/discolor after running a number of years.
I'm looking to do the same to mine but want an in-destructable paint that won't peel/discolor after running a number of years.
Distan27, What are those exhaust manifolds/headers?
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 26
Likes: 0
From: State College Pennsylvania
Well the engine bay has not been completed yet, im planning on finishing that over the next two weeks. Im thinking i will make most items black, maybe highlight a few pieces with chrome or red. I found it was a good time to remove the headlight assemblies, take them apart, and repaint all the internal components. Yes, those are the stock exhaust manifolds, i cut off the gas recirculation pipes and welded them shut... my plan was to open up the engine bay to expose the motor more, so i removed a lot of emmissions valves/hoses, removed the air intake snorkels(even though others say not to because they do work fairly well), removed the air pump, and took out all of the A/C components. I'm gonna slap a tri-flo air cleaner assembly on top and i think it will look much more presentable.
As for the paint, im using standard engine enamel (actually chrysler red because the gm was a little too orange for me). All aluminum pieces are just sand blasted then clear coated, and the steel pieces are primed with an oxidizer and painted black. My only debate is whether i like the red fan blades or not, although they wont even show if i put the shroud back in... any advice, do i need the shroud or no?
As for the paint, im using standard engine enamel (actually chrysler red because the gm was a little too orange for me). All aluminum pieces are just sand blasted then clear coated, and the steel pieces are primed with an oxidizer and painted black. My only debate is whether i like the red fan blades or not, although they wont even show if i put the shroud back in... any advice, do i need the shroud or no?
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 24,160
Likes: 78
Originally Posted by Distan27
My only debate is whether i like the red fan blades or not, although they wont even show if i put the shroud back in... any advice, do i need the shroud or no?
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,634
Likes: 4
From: Northern NJ
St. Jude Donor '04 & '05
Originally Posted by wcsinx
.......Personally I'd go electric now that you have everything torn down. Just a little more $$ for better cooling, tad more power, and a cleaner bay.
I just went thru this same thing last month and adding electric fans sure does cleanup the front end of the engine. I used POR 15 engine enamal on the engine and regular POR 15 for most of the engine bay. Due to time restraints and needing to get it finished before last months NJ leg of the Tuning for Beer tour, I wasn't able to pull the engine to do the cleanup I really wanted to do, Just had to do a partial teardown in place, and some valve seals while I was at it. Still, it came out pretty well overall.
Here's a few pics, before and after:
BTW, your engine looks great and I'm sure you will be very proud of the results when your finished, whichever direction you end up going in.
Good Luck!
Last edited by ACECO; Oct 3, 2005 at 05:42 PM.
