What is the best way to clean an engine before painting it?

I have the engine out of the car at the moment.

When the engine is properly cleaned I will paint it with spray can high temp engine paint.

Thanks.

i use the Gunk Gel degreaser and spray the whole engine down. are you just cleaning and painting and putting it back into the car? If so, just hit it with a wire brush as that gunk gel is doing it's thing so you can get the dirt out of all the crevices.... if you have a long enough hose, run it into your house and connect it to the hot water outlet and use that to spray the motor down. after you made sure all the grease and dirt are off, go to home depot and buy a product called TSP (trisodium phosphate) and use that as a final wipe down for the motor.

as for paint. If you have money and like to spend it, buy engine paint from Eastwood. If you're cheap like me, use Krylon or duplicolor

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70 Plymouth Valiant 4dr

Like ValiantBoyWonder said, gunk degreaser is a good product/first step to getting it clean. If you happen to have access to a pressure washer, all the better. Spray the gunk, let it soak for 15-20minutes and most all the grease and gunk (get it) will come off.

TSP is a good idea, it prepares the surface so the paint will stick better.
That said, I usually don't use it (except for painting gloss paints on woodwork). On engines, I wipe the engine down with a lighter cleaner like gasoline, paint thinner, or even carb cleaner (always wear gloves and do this outside/good ventilation). That should remove any heavier grease residues left on there. I've never had any issues with engine enamel sticking or coating evenly this way. I think engine enamels are made a bit stickier more giving in this way, but I don't know that for sure.

brian

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https://tinyurl.com/yynpj4v2

Use a paint prep cleaner (like for spraying the exterior of the car for painting) as the last cleaning step. It is much better than gas, which will leave residue, as will Gunk or any other petroleum cleaner. Any engine paint will stick well after that treatment.

Did you know that milk jug caps fit perfectly/snugly in the tube hole openings? No need to mask those...

http://s785.photobucket.com/user/67dart ... p.jpg.html

brian

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i heard carb cleaner was similar to what they used at the dry cleaners. that stuff is tough man, you can feel it burning a hole in your lungs.

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70 Plymouth Valiant 4dr

Nope.

But, the chlorinated form of brake cleaner is close cousin. Do not ever sniff the fumes from combusted brake cleaner, it is basically nerve gas, and one good whiff will cause irreversible damage to ones carcass. This why brake cleaner should never be used as a vacuum leak detection fluid, or subjected to a flame wrench.

Carb cleaner is not dangerous when combusted.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

I use heavy duty oven cleaner. Dollar General is a block from the shop and its $2 a can. Works wonderfully as a degreaser. Be careful with that stuff though, wind blows the wrong way and you'll think you're gonna die. That's my way off telling if something is strong enough I guess, cuz the fume free stuff ain't worth nothing IMO, plus its more expensive!

Good tip on the brake cleaner as well...

OK, since I have extensive knowledge and experience with organic chemicals, drug design/synthesis and pharmaceutical testing, I'll attempt to put things in perspective.

Yes, anytime one uses organic solvents they should use proper protection, gloves, goggles, and especially ventilation...that is the most important. We all read a lot about how this chemical or that chemical is bad for you, causes cancer, etc, etc. Fair enough.

The studies they do, e.g. for cancer effects, are on lab rats. They specifically use rats, because a) you can't use human subjects, though they would be the best test subjects for assessing effects of the chemical in question on humans, b) rats and mice have relatively short and predictable lifespans so they can get genetic mutation data more quickly (actually fruit flies are really good for genetic studies because their life cycle is really short and we have their genes fully mapped, but alas they aren't mammals), and c) rats are really hard to kill, so they use those as a first pass mammal to test toxic effects, i.e. you can test multiple chemicals on a rat - it takes a lot to kill a rat.

Another thing to keep in mind is that when they test rats, e.g., for cancerous effects, they give the rats like thousands of times of the chemical as one would ever encounter. They often do this to accelerate the effects of the chemical, but the problem is it also changes the conditions drastically. When they determined that saccharine was cancer causing, they gave rats so much of it, it was like a human eating like 10 pounds of saccharine per day - more exposure than one would ever encounter. I submit that anything in that quantity is bad for you. Pure distilled water, in too much volume, is toxic to humans. Drink distilled water, and nothing else, for too long, and you'll throw off your electrolyte balance and go into shock, possibly die.

OK, so why is ventilation so important? Because toxic effects are directly proportional to amount of exposure, i.e. the concentration that gets into your body. When it comes to solvents, the easiest way to get too much exposure is through the lungs. That's why ventilation is so important. Yes, if you splash your skin that is bad as well, but the lungs are terribly efficient at absorbing inhaled vapors. Ventilate, ventilate, ventilate! Do your cleaning outdoors, preferably on a slightly windy day and stay upwind of your work piece.

Of course, there are some chemicals that are really bad for you, even in very small concentrations, but these are typically few and far between. Stay away from unrefined organics, like creosote or roofing tar, not good. They have tons and tons of different chemicals in them, lots of which cause cancer. Cigarettes are another one. When one smokes, they are inhaling literally thousands of different organic compounds into the lungs. The chances that one or more of them are bad for you is really high. And, yes, combustion products of any organic chemical are to be avoided.

That all said, the human body is an amazingly resilient thing. Take the smoking example above. My wife's grandmother smoked her whole life and lived, cancer free, well into her 80's. Actually the real concern with smoking is heart disease.

Another example, my organic chemistry professor in college told me of the days when they regularly used to wash their hands with benzene. Benzene in high doses causes cancer. My organic chemistry professor is in his 80's and cancer free.

Short term damage: chlorinated solvents, like methylene chloride, which is the primary ingredient in paint stripper, will burn your skin on contact. If you've ever gotten it on your hand, especially under your wedding ring, you know how badly it burns.

So, on the one hand, don't freak out that everything is bad for you, or will cause cancer or kill you. The key in most cases is the amount of exposure. Being exposed to stuff is not the best thing, but for most people, an occasional exposure is no big deal. The folks who work with large amounts of chemicals, day in and day out are at the most risk. Keeping all that in mind, be as safe as you can, wear gloves and appropriate protection and make sure your work area is well ventilated.

Brian

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Oven cleaner is caustic, basic, like potassium or sodium hydroxide. Lye in a spray format. Yes, it will burn your skin and lungs. It also will clean an engine really well. It is inorganic, not carbon based. Like Gunk, you can rinse with water to remove.

Strong lye is a great degreaser, yes, but not necessary. Lye will also eat into the engine block if left on too long. DON"T EVER USE IT ON AN ALUMINUM BLOCK. Gunk will do the job and neither burn your skin or lungs nor corrode your block.

brian

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Thanks guys, very informative.

I don't think I have any rats in my motor (lol)!

Well after reading the above, I think you should spray at least 10 cans of oven cleaner on your motor to make sure there are indeed no rats in there! LOL

Alright, so don't use it on aluminum because it will corrode it? I'm just gathering information for future reference Besides, this stuff interests me.

yes, caustic solutions will dissolve aluminium, this is why you never hot tank aluminium parts. you dont get them back out of the tank

There is some interesting reading here:

http://www.wastemin.com/discuss/index.p ... UoDPOXIlxA

Olaf

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Aspenized