Now that u heave your engine removed and on the cherry picker or engine stand, what do u use to clean off the dirt, oil, grease, etc. before painting? Power washer, chemicals? Other suggestions? I ask the question because I will be pulling engine in the spring to replace the rear main seal and whatever is necessary. Engine was painted by a 3rd party back in 2002.
The foaming engine cleaner in the aerosol dies excellent with the psi washer, as does the foaming super clean in the spray bottle, then rags and a case of brake kleen
I soak the real heavy grease/oil with brake clean. Then I hit it liberally with Simple Green, keeping it wet for awhile. Then power wash.
I've had good results scraping off as much as possible. Then coat everything with Easy Off heavy duty oven cleaner and let it soak for about an hour. Then spray it down with some Parson's sudsy ammonia and start scrubbing with various brushes with a little water. Rinse that off and hit it one more time with ammonia and scrub brushes with a little water and rinse well. Heavier grease may take a couple rounds with oven cleaner, but it works. Just be careful getting oven cleaner on aluminum. If you leave it on aluminum too long it can etch it or discolor it. I removed the fuel pump and it worked out good. Also try to have ventilation, the fumes can make it hard to breath.
Scrape the heavy stuff off, soak it and scrub with Purple Power and a round short parts cleaning brush until all the dirt/grease is off. Use a wire end brush on a die grinder to remove the old paint until it's all shiny metal ( high nickel blocks will get shiny when wire brushed). Wash it down with prep-sol and paint it.
