Engine bay tidy/paint without engine pull

[Dodger]

Hey all,

I'd like to give the engine bay/engine a good tidy up and paint before rego inspection but would like to do it as best I can without pulling the engine out.

Anyone got any tips, tricks, advice on how best to go about getting the best results and maybe some before and after pics???

Cheers
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[dubie]

Any object like steering column, exhaust pipes etc can be wrapped in aluminum foil to conform to the odd shapes. Other than that, you can wrap everything else up in poly or garbage bags and tape it shut with duct tape. Then cover the rest of the cab and front clip[ with tape and poly to protect it from over spray. Degrease the engine bay, make sure it's good and clean, then scuff every thing with sand paper or a scotch brite pad and shoot a couple fresh coats of paint. Then to paint the engine, cover the engine bay you just painted and do the same to the engine. I would recommend you do the engine first then wrap it and and do the engine bay. It's just lots of masking and taping to make a really clean job out of it

[Rude Dude]

Pressure wash the engine bay first, any left over thick grease globs can be removed with putty knife than use easy off oven cleaner than another rinse.

[Denee007]

Hi Dodger! hm, let's face it, to do it right~ and you want to do it right, right? I think we need to see a picture of your engine compartment as it is right now otherwise, you'll have to pull your engine to do a nice job to be proud of



Ogre made me remove the ridge!

[Dodger]

Fair enough,

Truck



Engine bay


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[NEWFISHER]

You will have more time doing it with the engine in and then detailing the engine, than pulling 8 bolts, 2 hoses, a fuel line, coil wire and throttle cable. But, if you want to do it in the truck, using the mentioned tricks works too. Degrease it, pull everything from the firewall, wrap the trans and back of motor with tin foil ( it conforms well to wierd surfaces) scuff it with a red scotch brite and soft scrub soap. Rinse it, use wax and grease remover , mask it and shoot it.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Everything Fish said, and I'll add that with careful shopping you can find a yellow close to matching the body. I'd suggest doing the firewall in that yellow. That's the cheapest way if you just want it more presentable. You can also get spray cans filled to match or use the Preval system for a small job like this.

I'd spray the inner fender panels in semi gloss black, get some cheapo finned valve covers for that SBC and paint it in Chevy orange....like I did.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-SBC-86-E...dc32ee&vxp=mtr

BEFORE:


IN PROCESS


I've since sprayed the inner fenders & firewall, added a chrome alternator & a few other minor things.

[Denee007]

That is looking very nice~ and some new headers OMG~ run your wiring under the fender wells/aprons! You have a beautiful truck!! The engine compartment should match the outside~ so when you pop the hood~ peoples' jaws will drop!
dne'

[Dan in Pasadena]

dne'

YOU talkin' to ME? lol.

My headers came with the truck. I'd actually like to take them off to have them ceramic coated IF they're not too thin. Or replace them with rams horn exhaust manifolds. I'm just terrified of breaking off the bolts in the heads!

As for the wiring, yeah I'd like to put it in some armor of some kind and run it in the wheel well. But I'd have to weld some kind of anchor to attach the armor to.
I know a guy that ran his AC/heat lines through the wheel wells which made for a VERY clean engine compartment.

What did you shoot your firewall/inner fenders with? Rattle can or REAL paint? I have a big compressor and HVLP guns, but I've never used them. Getting to be time to break them in!

[Denee007]

Oh Dan, I'm confused! Darn! I thought the engine pics were Dodgers! I hate it when that happens!

Well lets see, yes, I painted the engine compartment and dash at the same time using the standard process: sand, epoxy primer, 2 coats color coat followed by 2 coats clear, all using HVLP guns.
As for your headers? You have such a nice looking engine and a pretty, oh excuse me, a macho set of headers would look so nice! But alas, leads to a full exhaust resulting in more money spent, the vicious cycle of spending never ends!
Me
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[mknittle]

[QUOTE=Dan in Pasadena;6062194]dne'

YOU talkin' to ME? lol.

My headers came with the truck. I'd actually like to take them off to have them ceramic coated IF they're not too thin. Or replace them with rams horn exhaust manifolds. I'm just terrified of breaking off the bolts in the heads!

Most people I know have the opposite problem with headers!

[OrrieG]

I have done a number of engine in detailing jobs over the years. It takes time but you can get all of the visible stuff presentable, but close to the firewall, between the pan and crossmember, and all the nooks and crannies will be a compromise. It is so easy to pull the engines in these trucks I would do it. Gives you the ability to sit in the compartment vs. hanging upside down and you can clean up wiring and other stuff you may not be able to get to with the engine in. Here is a Caprice I owned for a while. It went from a dirty pig to very presentable in 24 hours of work. I pulled every component and bracket off the block, installed all new wiring, hoses and belts. Fire wall and inner fenders were given good powerwash and cleaning but no paint, it was original paint and I did not want it to look like a used car rattle can rebuild. Just for grins here it is right before I sold it and a photoshop of how I would have wanted to slam and chop it.

[_Ogre]

i'm in the pull the motor group
1 it's easy
2 you get a better paint job
3 it give you a chance to clean the motor

if your going to use real prep and paint, pull it
if your going to use spray bombs, leave it

good looking truck

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by Denee007

Ogre made me remove the ridge!

and it turned out great

[Dodger]

Thanks all for your advice.

I'm trying to get the truck as tidy as possible in a short time just for inspection/rego.

I've taken a couple of weeks off work to do the jobs that need doing and get it over the pits during that time (hopefully).

Once I get registration I will plan out a decent build that will include pulling the motor for paint/tidy.

Just want it to look decent in there for the nice (and probably friendly LOL) vehicle examiner.
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[rdlackey]

Pulled the engine, prep and prep again...then using the PREVAL system sprayed three coats.
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[mr48chev]

The first step is to get it clean and spotless and then work on the painting. Removing everything off the firewall and painting the firewall a close match to the body color would be a big improvement. As the folks said, you can often find a paint store that can mix and put paint in spray cans so you can easily paint an area like the firewall yourself without having to have special paint equipment. The paint store I went to in Texas in the 70's mixed and sold paint that way to the guys building choppers so that they could custom paint their bikes easily and inexpensively. He also mixed a high quality primer that way that I used many cans of when I was prepping my 48 for paint.

I'd then do as some said and remove the accessories and brackets from the engine and paint it and paint the brackets and accessories and reinstall them. Paint the inner fenders and core support their natural satin black color and put the wiring back in a neat and tidy fashion and use a couple rolls of electrical tape to tidy up the wires and eliminate any that aren't being used and you have spent about three serious days of getting it squared away.

I wouldn't waste my money on inexpensive aka cheap chrome valve covers as they almost always leak. just paint the stock valve covers for now and wait until you are ready to buy some quality valve covers and other shiny trinkets. The thread with the gray engine in the 59 Apache shows that proper paint and serious attention to details equals chrome and shiny very well.

As you plan to tear it down later don't go overboard now. Pay attention to detail and take care of anything that might draw an inspector's attention and cause him/her to think that the work on the truck is less than stellar. That includes fixing things that someone took short cuts on such as wires that look out of place or are frayed. I wouldn't worry about hiding the wiring as it isn't that kind of truck, it's a real truck that you drive in a real world that has it's wire looms out where you can see them just make them neat and organized along with the rest of the engine compartment.

[apacheben]

here is a picture of my new project, 58 chevy apache 350 engine

[Dan in Pasadena]

So Dodger, what have you decided to do? You can tell us...1/2 of us will think its a great decision and the other half will rag on you unmercifully, ha ha!

Btw, happy Memorial Day to all (You folks down under too). Afterall, you've always been out allies and we so appreciate your friendship. I'm out in Vegas for a concert and back in good ol Pasadena tomorrow. Best, Dan.
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[Dodger]

Hey Dan,

Pull the engine is the decision mate but it isn't done yet.

I took three weeks off work to try hard to do all the things needed for rego and put in some solid hours leading up to last Friday when it was booked for inspection.

Had about 15 minutes spare after finishing up the work I needed to do on the ol girl and she let me down at the last minute with a starter/solenoid/bad ground/altenator (yet to be determined) problem.

I know it will be an easy fix once identified properly but I haven't gone near the truck since (slightly cranky)!

I'm back at work so not much time and I think taking a break for a few days will prevent extensive panel damage being caused lol.

It's booked for inspection 7 June so I will need to get back to it soon.
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[mknittle]

Originally Posted by Dodger

Hey Dan,

Pull the engine is the decision mate but it isn't done yet.

I took three weeks off work to try hard to do all the things needed for rego and put in some solid hours leading up to last Friday when it was booked for inspection.

Had about 15 minutes spare after finishing up the work I needed to do on the ol girl and she let me down at the last minute with a starter/solenoid/bad ground/altenator (yet to be determined) problem.

I know it will be an easy fix once identified properly but I haven't gone near the truck since (slightly cranky)!

I'm back at work so not much time and I think taking a break for a few days will prevent extensive panel damage being caused lol.

It's booked for inspection 7 June so I will need to get back to it soon.
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I think it will save time in the long run. Even better though you can get to spots that you would miss trying to paint around the engine.

[broey]

yezzi did it just fine without pulling the engine, just make sure you tape everything up really good.



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