Cleaning an engine

[enjenjo]

The engine I am putting in the 46 Chevy truck is freshly rebuilt, and has a nice 235 blue paint job on it. He had it on a run in stand, and started it now and then.

Unfortunately  it has some oily dirt on it here and there, and I have to partially disassemble it to change the front cover and engine mount. The other bad part, he wants it 216 grey.

Any suggestions on getting it clean enough to paint?

[purplepickup]

A guy on a motorcycle forum posted a while ago that he dry ice blasted a nasty dirty assembled engine and it turned out really nice without contaminating the internals. I don't know if something like that (or soda blast) would work...maybe in conjunction with paint remover/oven cleaner, etc. A quick google search turned up dry ice blasters in Toledo and Kent, OH ( http://www.apexdryiceblasting.com/services.html ). They might have some input if you were considering something like that. Could be costly...dunno.

Then, there's always solvents, scrapers, wire brushes, elbow grease.....

[39deluxe]

The before and after photos are very impressive. They seem to be able to clean wood, plastic , electronic panels and hard parts including paint removal from steel without any damage or altering of the surface. Since the dry ice would evaporate to nothing the only residue left would be the actual paint and dirt removed in the process.

Tom

[papastoyss]

The engine I am putting in the 46 Chevy truck is freshly rebuilt, and has a nice 235 blue paint job on it. He had it on a run in stand, and started it now and then.

Unfortunately  it has some oily dirt on it here and there, and I have to partially disassemble it to change the front cover and engine mount. The other bad part, he wants it 216 grey.

Any suggestions on getting it clean enough to paint?

I like Simple Green for light cleaning & Greased Lightning for thicker crud.

[Digger]

Either a steam cleaner or spray it with degreaser followed by a pressure wash with soap and hot water. Works real good.

[idrivejunk]

Get a gallon of cheap wax and grease remover and load some in your spray gun. Use that as sanding lubricant while thoroughly scuffing with a Scotch-Brite and gloves. Flush contaminants away by spraying with low pressure as you go, and wipe clean with clean paper shop towels then blow dry with compressed air. That should get rid of anything oily and won't hurt any of the parts. Tack rag it real good while lightly blowing air over it before spraying.

[Beck]

I have been using a citrus cleaner called Citrol. It is the best of this type of cleaner I have found. It isn't cheap at nearly $15 a can but it works well.

http://stores.buyschaefferoil.com/products/schaeffers-citrol-266-citrus-spray-degreaser-cleaner-16oz-can.html

I would follow this with hot water or a high pressure water wash if your brave.

After it dries, you might follow this with a solvent like idrivejunk suggested.

On really greasy stuff I pretreat with penetrating oil to soften things up a bit. Spray and let soak a day, then repeat. Follow that with your preferred washing method.

[enjenjo]

This engine does not have any heavy grease on it, it's more oil stains from it running since rebuild. Power washing an engine I don't want to tear down kind of scares me, but I may do that before I take off all the parts I have to change.

[UGLY OLDS]

Frank ...If it's just oil stains from running, spray it down with dish washing detergent to cut the oil & just rinse it with the power washer .. Just like at the .25 car wash ...

Bob ..