Engine painting???
#1
#2
I used castrol super clean and power washed every thing down. Depending on the grease you might have a chotch brite pad of wire brush to get some of the crap off. Make sure it is grease free before you paint, Tape off all holes to keep paint out of places like spark plug holes and intake ec. I used Duplicolor high heat spray paint.
#3
You can paint everything except for the exhaust manifolds/headers. The name brand high-temp engine paints available at autoparts stores work as advertised. Having a clean surface will get the best results. I like to assemble an engine entirely and then put junk valve covers and plugs and carb. on it and then spray the whole thing. Ford Blue, of course.