Starated working on the engine compartment today also. I took the portable steam cleaner to it and competely cleaned off the passenger side of the block and the front of the engine and the timing gear cover. I then washed everything down with acetone and put on two coats of high-temp black paint (1500 degrees supposedly)
It looks really good though it is hard to see in the picture below since it is a black engine and the picture was taken at night. I also sprayed the timing gear cover with high-temp silver and it came out pretty nice.
I didn't do the driver side of the block yet and for good reason. After I pulled the intake and exhaust manifolds off I found that there was an oil leak on the two side covers of the engine. These are also called the tappet covers and the are notorious for oil leaks. Judging by the amount of oil it was a small leak but over the years, it was sufficient to put a light coating of oil all over the side of the block. It also allowed the paint on the covers and the block to peel off.
I haven't yet cleaned up that side of the engine because I have to break the exhaust manifold to exhaust pipes bolts loose and pull the manifold out. There are six bolts on the manifold studs and I can guarantee that several of the studs will get broken off when I try to remove them. I sprayed them with penetrating oil and will let them sit a day or two before I try to break the bolts free and I'll put a small torch on the manifold to help it expand away from the studs some. Unfortuantely it will probably be for nothing. Over so many heating and cooling cycles and with so much moisture exposure, the bolts and studs are almost universally "welded" in place.
I'll wind up taking the manifold to a machine shop to have them remove the old studs and replace then with new stainless steal studs. I could probably get the old studs out on my own but the manifold ears are very easy to break and I don't want to risk that.
Once I do that I'll clean off the driver side of the engine and get to work trying to seal up those tappet covers. There is probably a 50% chance that they will leak again no matter what I do so I might just have a set of thick aluminum plates machined to fit. The old covers are pretty thin and they flex so much it is hard to get a good seal.
I also got some of the parts for the engine cleaned up and sprayed with high temp paint. Since Sears has not yet seen fit to send me the ceramic tips for my sandblaster that I orderd a week ago I had to do the parts cleaning with the whire brush wheel on my bench grinder and drill followed by a thorough cleaning with acetone. In the picture above, the top two are of the intake manifold and the bottom left picture is the heater tube which attaches to the valve cover bolts and carries the hot antifreeze to the heater box. On the bottom right are the water pump and thermostat housing. They all cleaned put pretty nicely.
I was going to leave the intake manifold unpainted polished aluminum but no matter what, it would have tanished and looked like crap again in just a few months. That is the nature of aluminum. So, I just put the high temp silver paint on it and it looks like it is brushed aluminum but it isn't.
I also stripped down and sprayed the two radiator support brackets white to match the car's future color.
My idea of using a smal .17-.22 caliber gun barrel cleaning brush worked perfectly on the female bullet connectors on which I tried the brushes...worked perfectly, that is, until my dog stepped on one of the brushes and got it completely tangled in his paw hair. My wifey had to hold him while I cut the brush off with an exacto blade...what fun!
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