Does anyone have a tried and true method for cleaning a block while it's in the car?? I've tried several degreasers, lacquer thinner, etc. trying to get the block clean enough to spray bomb. I don't own a pressure washer and it's not in the budget right now so that's out.
Any good ideas??
Thanks.
Joe

I hope Santa was good to each and every one of you.

Hose plus those garden spray guns can produce a decent jet of water. There is always the car wash too.

"Simple Green" is a common brand de-greaser you can buy at a hardware or home store. Works well, but it will bleach cheaper paints.

I was never a fan of spraying jets of water under the hood. Too many things to block off in our cars - breathers, air filters, alternators, etc.

May be a bit awkward to paint an engine in car with a spray can. Remember once you get beyond a certain angle no paint will come out the can.

Purple Power is good stuff, it's made by Castrol,might take a few soakings/hosings. Then lacquer thinner and a stiff parts cleaning brush for the really tuff spots.Think "elbow grease" an "wax on,wax off"

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83 B-150 slant 6,4 speed. 79 B-300 360 pathfinder 4x4. 74 W-300 318 4x4 git-r-done 80 B-100 sl6,4speed

Simple Green.......

If you have some really bad spots use the Les Schwab tire cleaner. I get it in bulk. Don't use it on new paint though. It will bleach it white.

Also POR-15 makes a great bio-degradable degreaser for those super tuff spots under the pan and A-frame.

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Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

For really stubborn grease, Gunk Engine Brite works well. Apply it at the coin-op car wash, wait the 15 minutes, then power-rinse the engine, preferably with hot water (pick your coin-op wash carefully). You can easily avoid spraying the distributor and carburetor directly (and you can also employ plastic bags and/or aluminum foil and/or other shield methods); you needn't worry about the alternator.

But be advised, painting an engine in the car seldom gives results that are anything other than very visibly sloppy.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thanks all for the advice, but... my motor is half apart right now. Intake, exhaust manifolds off, water pump off, alternator off, etc. I thought now was the time to paint but it would be rough to get to the car wash. I guess I'll settle for a half assed paint job. Do what I can and worry about the rest when it's mobile.
Thanks.
Joe

Ah, okay, it gets a lot easier to do a neat paint job with the manifolds off, but yeah, it does make it harder to clean the engine without getting water where it needs not to go. You can stuff the cylinder head ports with plastic bags. If you are disassembled this far, you can go for super-heavy-duty degreasing and stripping in the form of spray oven cleaner. The original-formula kind, not the "no-fume". This is lye in a can, so you need to be selective about where you spray it, and you need to take appropriate precautions not to inhale the fumes that will hover around where you're spraying, nor to let any mist splash into your eyes (safety goggles at minimum, face shield better). Spray it (a trigger sprayer lets you spray more carefully than an aerosol), scrub it into the really tough areas with a stiff-bristle brush, spray more on top of the first layer, and then walk away for a few hours and let it do its work. Do not spray it on anything aluminum, and do not use an aluminum-bristle brush. Rinse it off with hot water if at all possible (buy an adaptor for one of your inside faucets to hook up your garden hose). Rinse it somewhere where the runoff, consisting of lye soap, can safely go. Oven cleaner will strip the grease and the paint right down to bare metal.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

KEROSENE worked very well for me before painting mine

Oven cleaner. You'll still need to rinse it, and may have to use a wire brush, but it will cut through some tough crap. Just use news paper around the engine bay and aluminum foil...it will form to about anything you need it to. I painted my engine in the car with just the manifolds removed and got great results. Just do the sides of the oil pan....nobody's going to see the bottem of it anyway. If you spray upright for awhile, you can spray at odd angles for a few bursts. When it stops, spray something with the can up right, odd angle, etc.

No aluminum foil with oven cleaner! If you use foil for anything, you _must_ cover it completely with plastic. Aluminum + oven cleaner makes noxious and flammable gas.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I ment use aluminum when you paint to cover areas you don't want painted.

Wow!! This is going to be a lot of fun. I can tell that right off. I'll start small and get bigger as I get comfortable using the oven cleaner. I want to know the first guy that tried this. It's got to be close to the first guy that ate a lobstah!!
I thought I had everything clean enough but when masking tape wouldn't stick it gave me a subtle hint that I needed to do more.
As always you guys are great.
Thanks.
Joe

Careful not to get the oven cleaner on any plated parts that you don't want stripped (such as fuel lines, etc). DAMHIK!

Actually, Scrubbing Bubbles also works fairly well as a grease cutter.

For those hard to reach corners, nooks & crannies, I use a little brake-kleen sparingly.

Remember
Safety Goggles

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That stuff works great. I now have a painted motor. As much as I'm going to paint anyway. It looks a lot better and has got to be a few pounds lighter. Forty or so years of grime sure added up. Maybe, just maybe I can start to put stuff back together now.
Thanks guys.
Joe