So I'm about to tackle the 390, and I was wondering if you guys have any advice for a new HAMBer. I ordered an engine repaint kit from KBS. And I was gonna tear everything down to the heads to refinish, clean, and replace as needed. What the gurus here tell me?
That is how I like to do it. Tear it down to the heads. Mask off the areas you don't want to get dirt, paint, etc on. Clean, prep, and Paint. Just out of curiosity, Cad 390 or Ford 390? Good Luck
I do the whole cleaning process with rattle cans. Engine degreaser first, then paint stripper, then brake clean. Helluva mess, and time consuming, but the end result looks great and the paint stays on. I use a variety of cheap wire brushes from Harbor Freight, and I mask by installing as many parts as possible over tape and then razor blazing back the tape so that the edges don't show
You might want to look into a gravity feed sand blaster for those hard to reach spots, and if your patieint you can do the hole block, thats asumimg you have a compressor. Harbor Frieght has them for around twenty bucks.
Do a search! There are plenty of threads pertaining to prepping and painting an engine, as well as options for type of paint you can use.
if your going to leave it in the car i would get some engine deg.foamy engine brite.then power wash it off with hot water if avail.then if its not good enough put some laquer thinner in a spray gun and go to town.this will get all the slime off and drys real fast.then paint acouple of light coats then the last on put it on pretty heavy to get the shine.sorry wrong pic.
If you are taking the heads off clean the bolts and paint them black. The resulting contrast gives the engine more detail than painting everything the same color.