Hey All, I recently retired and am thinking about re-detailing my LT-1 engine. The car was a frame-off restoration, yet I would like to freshen up the engine. I will put forward a two part question;
1. Best way to repaint the engine block (pull the engine with manual trans or leave trans and pull engine only)
2. How to restore original luster of aluminum intake and valve covers

I am trying to put together a game plan for doing all of this come Fall. I have a 4 post Bendpak lift with two bridge jacks. If anyone has done so, can you please give advice on pulling engine with car on lift? This will be my FIRST engine pull.

I would like to clean up my exhaust manifolds, paint the block and restore luster to the aluminum intake and valve covers. While these may be three separate topics which can be explored in other threads, I would appreciate feedback on how best to approach this project. I always research extensively, put together a game plan....THEN start a project. I do not jump blindly into anything. Any and all advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers!

Steelycan

 

I did all 4 of my Vettes over a 2-year period few years ago. 2 78s (both now sold) and 2 79s.
Did not remove the motor from the car.
Removed EVERYTHING from the motor, all brackets, starter, alt, oil pan, front damper and cover, intake manifold, exhaust manifolds, distributer, and on and on. Sandblasted every painted item removed and the exhaust manifolds. I did leave the fuel pump on and masked it off.
Cleaned up motor, including jacking it up and removing motor mounts to get behind.
Masked everything off with newspapers, alum foil, and rags.
Painted block, oil pan, front cover. Put motor mounts back on and dropped motor back down. Replaced oil pan and front cover and touched up gasket/bolt areas. Used a high temp cast grey on the exhaust manifolds.
Turned out GREAT, 4 times!
The first one I did started out with just redoing the top end and removing headers to go back to stock but it was going so good I kept going!
Yours having been restored probably will come apart without too much trouble.

 

i wes thinking the same. everything off the front of engine. exhausts and intake removed. you can get to virtually all of the block and heads, and anything you can't get to an NCRS or bloomington judge will have a hard time finding. and they will fail you for being too clean for stock...

 

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, I know I can paint the engine in the bay, but I just was not too convinced this would result in a nicely finished block. I will certainly consider this option. Any other opinions are welcome :-). Also, any input on restoring the aluminum?

 

As for both the intake and valve covers most people glass bead them. Both then lose the original finish and texture. There was a gentleman that had a process that would return them close to original appearance. But not sure he is still doing it.

 

I cleaned mine with a neutral based floor cleaner and they look great... the intake I used KABOOM aerosol cleaner with a tooth brush.

The plug wire stands were BRUSH painted and the intake has a coat of Aluminum silver paint from the factory.

 

I found this Eastwood product to make aluminum look original and it cleans good, too. A natural aluminum look.
https://www.eastwood.com/ew-aluminum...er-bottle.html

A wheel cleaner, that sulphuric smelling stuff, got sprayed on a dirty aluminum intake. Made it shiny and weird appearing. I spray the Eastwood Prep and Cleaner on the intake and the offensive appearance was gone. I think you rinse with water. That stuff smells like the old DuPont rusty metal etch that was green and thinned with water.

Steve O.

 

I've had good results cleaning my LT-1 intake manifold with carb or brake cleaner.

 

just let it ''snowball''
tear the whole car apart,clean every nut-bolt-washer-bracket
and in 4-5 years it will be perfect and you will never drive it again

i like the idea of taking the least off [leave the engine in car] and cleaning and painting

 

Does anyone have experience with the effects of soda or dry ice blasting on aluminum? There's a process called vapor honing which is another blasting method that is purported to not affect the original texture - high pressure water and some other medium. Lots of YouTube videos on it - one from Jay Leno's garage.

 

I think the answer to your questions start at how much detailing do you want to do in the engine bay itself and how much additional time will it take to accomplish what you want with the engine left in.
Right now, my engine bay is completely stripped and I can’t imagine trying to paint and detail the engine and bay, with the engine in place.
Even with a small block.
I would pull the engine and transmission, power wash them, strip the engine and start the detailing process.
If the transmission is still clean from your restoration, then just pull the engine.
You’ll have a ton of room and probably do a better job in less time and not have back pain working over the fenders.
Just my $.02’s.

 

I just went through a major engine bay detail with my L48 ‘72. Bottom line is. How much time are you willing to spend and how In depth are you wanting to clean and restore each nut, bolt, bracket and paint each component separately. The problem is to make it look restored you also need to restore and detail the area in front of the rad support as well. Then you get into the situation where everything is painted clean and new looking but the decals look weathered. The hoses look old and grey. Wiring needs cleaning etc. I went down this rabbit hole. Probably spent about 150 hours but also with engine in and heads off ( for head and roller cam swap as well). Media blasting provided best results on brackets manifolds etc. I ended up ceramic coating my exhaust manifolds. I also media blasted my aluminum covers and overflow tank. They cleaned up well. But did have a slight fine grit sandpaper feel. I ended up polishing them with Autosol polish and they look pretty correct. I’ll attach some pics. With heads off and motor mounts off I was able to paint the underside of the block quite well. I also took the hood off and painted the underside of the hood. I’m pretty happy with the outcome and overall result. But way more work than I thought and learned a lot. Forum searches and Alan71 pics helped me big time.



Shielding not on yet. This is underestimated in the amount of time to put back on correctly. Can see why it’s often discarded.

They say decals are exact repros. They look good. But when compared to original. Not exact. But you have to change them. Everything looks new. Then you have an old weathered decal. Detracts from the look. So even though mine weee pretty good given age. Replaced them.

Valve cover after media blast and autosol.


More valve cover detail.

Getting the correct blacks for different components requires some research.

Drivers underside.

 

You are exactly right… I am getting my car ready for NCRS judging this fall… They told me to not touch the motor except light cleaning if I detailed it they will take off

points

 

Ever looked into dry ice cleaning?

 

I have no desire to have my Vette judged. I don't even bring it to "shows". I do feel that I possess a piece of history and I want to pass it on in a state that will look like it did when new. I'm not into the "original" patina. I want it to look like it did in 1971, not a 51 yer old car in 2022. I'm lucky to have a 95% original car with NOS components where needed. I put it on my lift this afternoon and looked at the engine and underbody. I would give it a 9.5 out of 10. The restoration that was done was with the intent to have it NCRS judged. All labels, stickers, tags etc are there. I may just refresh the top end and the aluminum intake and enjoy it. While I have the original Rally Wheels and Goodyear tires, I have upgraded to 17" wheels and modern tires. I have installed Bilstein shocks and the car drives sooooo much better. Still, every and ANY components I replace are set aside to reinstall or sell with the car someday. Hobbies are what we make of them. Some people, just want to enjoy their toy while others want to be the curator of a piece of history. What ever floats YOUR boat. I enjoy manicuring my Vette and taking it for drives on nice days. I truly appreciate all of the feedback.

 

I am not into the judging as well, however I bought this car a short while ago from the original owner with 9000 miles on her .. Since than I have put over thousand miles on her .. It is probably 98% original and runs outstanding.. Just want to share with other car enthusiast that’s all

 

I have been through a number of flight judging 2x regional 1x national as well as bowtie at the nationals. YOU have a nice LT1 which would judge well in any NCRS event.