Engine Detailing Experts, Step In!
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
Likes: 3,118
From: Crossville TN
Pretty good tips on doing the job the 'right ' way. If you want the 'quick and not-so-dirty' way, try this:
Go to the nearest quarter car wash and remove the air cleaner. Put a Ziplock bags over the carb and distributor cap. Spray the entire engine and compartment surfaces down with GUNK engine degreaser before you enter the wash rack and let it soak for 10-15 minutes; then spray it all down again. Drive it into the wash rack and use the hi-pressure soap setting to shoot everything down and get most of the oil/grease off the surfaces. Note: When done, use the same setting to wash any oil/grease/cleaner off the car's paint, too. Now, rinse it with clean water and also with "spot-free" rinse, if there is one. Remove bag and reinstall air cleaner and drive home to get engine dry.
Now you can remove air cleaner again and decide what you want to paint. Engine can be any color you want: stock engine color for '77 was blue, but you can make it Chevy Engine Orange if you want. The "poor man's" way of masking engine parts with engine still complete is to use aluminum foil to wrap stuff you don't want painted that color.
Use lacquer thinner to wipe down hoses and wiring and remove grease/old paint/oxidation. Paint engine components and accessories that are black semi-gloss black; paint engine compartment surfaces semi-flat (or satin) black. For touching up small areas or scratches/nicks, spray color into the can's cap and use a small artist's brush to get liquid paint and do the coloring. Lacquer thinner to clean brush, etc.
When done painting, use Nu-Vinyl or Meguiar's polymer protectant for plastics to coat rubber/synthetic hoses and wiring insulation to make them look new.
You can get as exotic as you want with many colors of metal colored spray paint for coating appropriate bare metal parts. This is especially important on bare fasteners, if you don't want them to rust again.
Exhaust manifolds should be shot blasted and painted with 2 coats of Seymour "Cast Blast" cast iron colored ceramic paint. When reinstalled and the engine is run, the coating will cure to hard ceramic coating and never rust again! If you don't want to remove the manifolds, buy some Calyx manifold dressing and spruce them up on the engine.
Go to the nearest quarter car wash and remove the air cleaner. Put a Ziplock bags over the carb and distributor cap. Spray the entire engine and compartment surfaces down with GUNK engine degreaser before you enter the wash rack and let it soak for 10-15 minutes; then spray it all down again. Drive it into the wash rack and use the hi-pressure soap setting to shoot everything down and get most of the oil/grease off the surfaces. Note: When done, use the same setting to wash any oil/grease/cleaner off the car's paint, too. Now, rinse it with clean water and also with "spot-free" rinse, if there is one. Remove bag and reinstall air cleaner and drive home to get engine dry.
Now you can remove air cleaner again and decide what you want to paint. Engine can be any color you want: stock engine color for '77 was blue, but you can make it Chevy Engine Orange if you want. The "poor man's" way of masking engine parts with engine still complete is to use aluminum foil to wrap stuff you don't want painted that color.
Use lacquer thinner to wipe down hoses and wiring and remove grease/old paint/oxidation. Paint engine components and accessories that are black semi-gloss black; paint engine compartment surfaces semi-flat (or satin) black. For touching up small areas or scratches/nicks, spray color into the can's cap and use a small artist's brush to get liquid paint and do the coloring. Lacquer thinner to clean brush, etc.
When done painting, use Nu-Vinyl or Meguiar's polymer protectant for plastics to coat rubber/synthetic hoses and wiring insulation to make them look new.
You can get as exotic as you want with many colors of metal colored spray paint for coating appropriate bare metal parts. This is especially important on bare fasteners, if you don't want them to rust again.
Exhaust manifolds should be shot blasted and painted with 2 coats of Seymour "Cast Blast" cast iron colored ceramic paint. When reinstalled and the engine is run, the coating will cure to hard ceramic coating and never rust again! If you don't want to remove the manifolds, buy some Calyx manifold dressing and spruce them up on the engine.
