Motor cleaning before painting

[EKSPCL]

Does anyone have any tips on cleaning the motor before enamel
What cleaners or solvents etc.
I don't want the paint peeling off anywhere in the near future

[mrs ratbox]

i've always just used a good degreaser but can't comment on longevity as i don't keep the cars all that long

[Devilrod]

As rat said a good degreaser, or that cheap shit from Super cheap will do. Mines lasted 2 years so far....

[EKSPCL]

Thanks fellas

Learning as I go

[CHOPPED]

if your motor is in bare metal (acid bathed or sand blasted) be sure to use a good quality etch before paint

[Sammy]

i've always usually used petrol in a spray bottle pot thing then just straight engine enamel over the top (VHT GOLD!!)

[KFH]

For a start I scraped as much grease as I could from the motor with a putty knife etc then gave it a good wash with kero then got the wire buffs on both right angle grinder and electric drill out. Each has a different a different profile making it possible to get into the majority of the areas. The rest of the areas I used coarse emery paper. Another wash with kero, a good dry down then a thorough wash with wax and grease remover followed by painting. I painted a motor in my 1929 Rugby around 15 years ago using this method and the paint is still in good condition.

Keith

[mrs ratbox]

i can't beleive VHT keep producing a colour just for 1 person or maybe it's just getting rid of old stock

[FCCOOL]

here is mine, i sanded, wire wheeled, die grinded, prepsoled and acided and prepsoled, you have to be carefull not to let any water rust up the machined surfaces, i gave any excess water a quick wipe with metho. i then gave it a light 2k etch, 2k hs and 2k b&w mixed to make grey.

[(AUST)Mod]

Thats the toughest sounding red I have ever heard online

[Dee]

Hi EKSPCL,
I did the scrape, degreese, wire bursh, 1K etch and engine enamel job - mine seems OK - only comes off when I knock it with something.

Dee

[EKSPCL]

Thanks Everyone,

Going to paint the engine bay today, motor is next.

[FCCOOL]

Hi EKSPCL,
I did the scrape, degreese, wire bursh, 1K etch and engine enamel job - mine seems OK - only comes off when I knock it with something.

Dee

i got a couple of chips on mine, the thicker the paint and the colder the metal and the dirtier the metal the more likely it is to chip so get it clean, wheel it into the sun to preheat and dont go to thick, unless you are using rattle cans, then you will be lucky to get any thicness, good thing about thick is it smooths the rough casting but the disadvantage is chiping and possibly cracking so any smoothing of the rough casting on the metal before paint is better, the smoother it is the better it looks and easier to clean.
i found with rattle cans that degreaser will damage or remove the paint, that was with power plus and vht but its the only way if you dont have a compressor and gun, i was lucky painting grey becuase i was painting some parts black 2k and some parts white 2k so for the engine bits i just mixed some black & white together and didnt have to buy paint for the engine.
most people have good results using 2k but you will need a gun, paint, hardener, 2k thinners, 2k etch, 2k primer,a compressor, it will probably cost over 100 in materials alone.
i havent used epoxy but you may be able to use some epoxy primer on the metal then let it sit for 1/2 a hour then spray 2k over it without other primers.
even if you go rattle cans it should come up ok if its well cleaned, i did mine unassembled wich was tricky to clean becuase i wanted to keep wd in the bores but have no trace of wd anywere near were i was painting, i worked in a wreckers years ago and we rebuilt engines, we just degreased the motor and gave them a rattle can job with traces of oil and grease left behind, they still looked ok when we fitted them into a dirty engine bay but they wouldnt last looking like that and you would rather something looking a bit better in you pride & joy.