Engine re-painting

[brumbach]

The machine shop painted block...standard chevy orange but looks like they might not have prepped it well. There's some peeling around an edge or two. What can I do to correct? I have no problem repainting but what should I do to ensure good bonding? Must I strip the block first? If so, can it be done easily by using a chemical?

Thanks,

Bill

 

[BarryK]

Bill
for what it's worth I repainted the motors in both of my cars. In the '65 i left it in the car but on the '78 I had pulled the motor out. Obviously, when the motor is already out it's much easier!

I'll use the '78 motor as an example:

I stripped the old paint off the block using chemical paint stripper. I put on the stripper fairly heavily, let it soak in to loosen up the paint than used a scrapper to take off the old paint. In tough areas I reapplied the stripper and also used a wire-brisle brush to get the old paint off.
After the chemical stripper, I went back over the block again with brake cleaner. This will also remove any remaining old paint plus it 'cleans" the block from any residue of the chemical stripper remaining. The brake cleaner is suppose to dry without leaving residue of itself so you can paint next but i went an extra step just to be safe and wiped the block down with a Pre-Paint cleaner I get from the local PPG supplier called Acrli-Clean.

Now the block is stripped of the old paint and clean and ready for new paint. I used the hi-temp engine enamel paint from Hirsh Automotive and I'm very happy with the paint on both motors. It's available in both quarts or spray cans. I used the spray cans on the '78 and used I believe 3 cans. They recomment NOT priming the block first as they claim the paint sticks better to the bare iron and so far it's been holding up very well. You do want to prime the steel oil pan first though.
After priming the oil pan I than applied 5 coats of paint. The first three coats were very light coats to provide coverage on the block, than I followed up by two more medium coats.
To give you an idea, here are the pictures from when I did the '78's motor:
http://lbfun.com/Corvette/78Vette/mcu/parts.html

 

[brumbach]

Bill
for what it's worth I repainted the motors in both of my cars. In the '65 i left it in the car but on the '78 I had pulled the motor out. Obviously, when the motor is already out it's much easier!

I'll use the '78 motor as an example:

I stripped the old paint off the block using chemical paint stripper. I put on the stripper fairly heavily, let it soak in to loosen up the paint than used a scrapper to take off the old paint. In tough areas I reapplied the stripper and also used a wire-brisle brush to get the old paint off.
After the chemical stripper, I went back over the block again with brake cleaner. This will also remove any remaining old paint plus it 'cleans" the block from any residue of the chemical stripper remaining. The brake cleaner is suppose to dry without leaving residue of itself so you can paint next but i went an extra step just to be safe and wiped the block down with a Pre-Paint cleaner I get from the local PPG supplier called Acrli-Clean.

Now the block is stripped of the old paint and clean and ready for new paint. I used the hi-temp engine enamel paint from Hirsh Automotive and I'm very happy with the paint on both motors. It's available in both quarts or spray cans. I used the spray cans on the '78 and used I believe 3 cans. They recomment NOT priming the block first as they claim the paint sticks better to the bare iron and so far it's been holding up very well. You do want to prime the steel oil pan first though.
After priming the oil pan I than applied 5 coats of paint. The first three coats were very light coats to provide coverage on the block, than I followed up by two more medium coats.
To give you an idea, here are the pictures from when I did the '78's motor:
http://lbfun.com/Corvette/78Vette/mcu/parts.html

Thanks for the advise. I'll start this weekend. Merry Christmas -- Bill