I have a 240 I6 out of my truck, the motor is a oily mess and red and it needs a paint job. Is it best to just pressure wash it and repaint. Do I use a high heat primer, is there any surface prep needed (removing the old paint) etc.

Also what is the stock color for a 65 F100 inline? Oil pan same color as the block same color as the head? I've searched for pictures but it seems a lot of people do things different.

Thanks in advance
John

 

Subscribed. Would love to see photos!

 

I'm sure others will chime in......

in general for cleaning, yes, start with a degreasing product and (I'm assuming you are tearing down the engine) use a high pressure gun to clean/rinse. If you are not tearing the engine down, IMHO, I would use a little more physical scrub effort and perhaps use one of those hook it up to your air compressor engine cleaning guns....as the water flow is much less, but very controlled to avoid getting water inside. Spray can (high temp) works well on an engine/tranny....I use to like VHT but Rustoleum makes a line as well....both typically available at machine shops, welding supply shops or industrial supply like grainger....auto body paint supply dealers will have them as well!

 

Thanks, I was planning a rebuild but to my surprise when I took the valve cover and oil pan off my 240 was rebuilt and stroked to a 300. I just picked this up off craigslist for $250 the guy who I got it from bought a wreck for some parts and kept his V8 so I couldn't be happier.
The air compressor tool sounds interesting I will definitely check it out.

1986F150six I will post some pix of my progress as I go.

 

I asked the same thing on the 1961 - 1966 forum. Here the link if anyone was following this post.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...300-240-a.html

 

I'm sure one of the restoration sites would have a better way to paint engines than I use, but I have painted a lot of them over the years using basically the same method.

I assume you have fixed whatever was causing the oily mess in the first place.

First thing is to duct tape, plastic and tape, and/or plug off any place water should not be. If you have to clean a little to get the tape to stick, take the time to do it.

Scrape/wire brush off whatever you can get. I pick one edge of the engine and work my way all the way around.

Soak the engine with degreaser, easy off oven cleaner works better than any of the actual degreaser products in a spray can I've tried. Mean Green used to work very well also, but I think they have diluted it in recent years, still works - just more slowly.

Use a parts washer brush, or other very stiff bristle brush and scrub the cleaner in, may have to wire brush some more, maybe use a smaller wire brush for tight spots.

I rinse the cleaner off with more cleaner as I go, keep it wet with cleaner the whole time. I keep working my way around the engine doing this until I'm basically happy with it, sometimes taking breaks but making sure it stays soaked with cleaner the whole time.

If you have a power washer that works fine, just make sure not to peel off the tape you put on earlier, or a garden hose works ok as well. Maybe a little dawn and hot water with a scrub brush, mostly to get the cleaner off as their shouldn't be any grease left soap will remove at this point.

Then I use an air hose and dry the engine, you could let it sit in the sun and turn it on the engine stand a couple time, but compressed air is faster and better.

I used to use brake cleaner at this point, but recently learned about Wax and Grease remover. Its specifically for paint prep and any body/paint store will have it and its pretty reasonable in price. Actually I used to use carb cleaner before they started adding oil to it. In any case spray it down with one of the two (W&G is probably better) and blow it off again.

Look for shiny spots, anything flat and smooth with factory paint left, etc... and rough it up with some sandpaper, somewhere between 100 and 180 grit, whatever is handy. You've probably already roughed everywhere with the wire brush, but now is the time to double check.

Blow it off, and spray it down with the W&G remover (or break cleaner) again. Make sure its good and dry, but don't leave it sit for a long time, the W&G or Brake Clean with have softened the surface of the paint a bit and will allow the new paint to adhere better. Go ahead and paint it.

I've used various brands of engine paint over the years and they all seemed to work ok. The last engine I painted was the 4.9 six in my truck and I used VHT. It took 4 cans, could have gotten by with 3 probably, would have liked to use 5 but I only bought 4.

I've never used engine primer, never even saw it available until the last few years so I don't know if it helps or not. The factory didn't use primer, and the paint jobs I've done and seen years later still look pretty good. I don't think anything will be as good as the factory paint though.

Let it dry for as long as you can, in the direct sun is best. Might want to peel off the tape the next day though, or else it can be hard to get off. May have to cut around the edge with a razor blade first to avoid pulling up the paint.

When you run the engine you will be able to smell the paint for a while, a couple days or so of normal use. Seems to bake on during this time.

You might have to touch up a spot or two, on my truck the upper radiator hose had a small leak and caused a small area of paint to lift. Maybe the primer would have helped, maybe not.

Depending on how you go about it and/or how dirty the engine was to start with it usually takes me most of a day to do a good job, but I've done quickies in an hour or so. How long you scrub it with the degreaser is the main difference.

Like I said before, this isn't a show car paint job, but still pretty decent for something you just want to look nice.

 

Thank you very informative. The oil leaks were from the valve cover and oil pan, it was barely bolted on, also the motor was on its side for a year after it was pulled so this may have also contributed to the mess.

I didn't think about the oven cleaner. I was using mineral spirits and it worked pretty good. But I'm sure I will have to neutralize it before painting.

I started documenting my progress here.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...300-240-a.html


John.

 

I think the mineral spirits are oil based so I don't know about needing to be neutralized, but probably won't get along with engine paint. Not sure about that as I'm not sure what the base is for engine paint in a can.

I checked out your thread, You are going a little more in depth than I had imagined - with the electrolysis and all. Might want to check out hodrodder.com. They are pretty restoration focused over there. The paint and body section may have some good info for you.

The cast paint looks nice, I used it on the brackets and manifolds on my engine also. Burned off the exhaust in a few days but I expected that.

Masterseries has some exhaust paint:

Hot Jet High Heat

A bit overboard for my daily driver, but might work out for you if you are interested in keeping paint on the exhaust.

 

Thanks for the link, I have both the intake and manifold painted with black Rust-Oleum High Heat rated to 2000°F but I think your right it will probably burn off the top coat is going to be the cast paint. Just might order the manifold coating.