Engine Paint Questions

[guyryan100]

Hi,
I'm prepping my engine for repaint from crate engine black to Chevy orange.

From the factory my engine was painted after the heads were installed.

I had planned to paint it differently, so the head and intake bolts aren't orange. I think the best way to do this is to set the heads on the block, without bolts or gasket, so the paint will cover the small block surface areas not covered by the heads. I would mask the heads for this purpose, and paint them separately.

Has anyone tried this?

Second question - how close to final assembly prep should I be when I paint - I've dismantled everything off the engine, should I have my block surface fully prepped for gaskets, my cylinders sparkling, or should I do some of this after paint? It seems like a chicken and egg kind of problem because when the surfaces are prepped they need some light oil to prevent rust. But light oil isn't good when prepping for paint.

I'm either ready to mask it, prime & paint, and then do final cleanup, or I need to do final cleanup, mask, prime & paint. What's the optimal order?

Last question - I have an Edelbrock intake that has lost its silvery luster. I'm planning to paint it orange also, and I think I should set it on the heads, no bolts and no gaskets, so the exposed edge of the head is painted. Does this sound right? And will this paint survive or will heat damage this paint (I'm using VHT high temp). Or am I making the whole thing too complicated and I should jsut assemble first paint second, bolts gaskets and all?

Ryan