Making My Engine Compartment Respectable Looking

Any and all suggestions & HINTS will be appreciated. If that kick down cable didn’t put up a fight, the motor/ tranny would have cleared the fenders in 40 minutes . My POR chassis black arrived today so back to degreasing

 

What did you use to degrease everything before paint? I have SO much grease on my frame et al from years of oil leaks that even after powerwashing/cleaning everything, that I'm afraid that the paint wouldn't stick because of the residual contaminants left behind.

Thanks,

 

Mike I used a few products as the grease , crud and plain old dirt responded differently to each chemical . To be safe lots of thick rubber gloves ( 3mil )and do this outdoors. .Spray Nine Grease Off and Zep Fast 505 Degreaser for the heavy thick stuff . The lighter duty products I used where scrubbing wasn’t necessary were Krueger Kutter and Simply Green. Load up on the plastic and wire brush’s as well A 1” putty knife, 0000 steel wool come in handy too . Take your time and lots of pictures to help you put it all back together.

 

Thanks, Rich!

There isn’t silicone or anything like that in the degreasers that would affect paint adhesion?

 

Looking over ingredients on can no mention of silicone. Before I paint I’ve bee using SEM SOLVE with good results. A little pricey but does a good job cleaning the surface and doesn’t have strong odor

 

Anyone tried Formula 88 from big box stores? Supposed to be decent. I bought some to try out. So far it has dome a great job on cleaning the wire brushes of grease. I will report back after I tackle some greasy parts. $6/gal!

 

Gave the engine compartment a thorough degreasing- pawer washing . A perfect weather day makes the job go easier as well Jacking up the front and removing the wheels allows you to get in all the out of the way places. Before and after Picts

 

Been doing the cleaning, stripping wire wheeling routine for a few days and decided to break up the routine with some glass beading and painting.

 

Ran into a glitch on the underside of the car today. Backstory- in fall 2016 I began the first part of my restoration when I removed a leaky gas tank and noted how much of the underside of the car was covered in 1/8” of a clay like soil . The car spent the first 45 years in rural Va. The car was put on stands on top of blocks - roughly 3’ off the ground. For the next 2 months I scraped, sanded, and wire wheeled the underside. The reward was floor/ trunk pan that extremely clean . That heavy duty boxed frame was also very clean - first 4 Picts . I decided to treat the well preserved underside with POR 15 . I used as mfg recommend metal prep on the frame had very minor surface rust . The pans I wiped down with mineral spirits an proceeded to apply the POR15 with a brush. This very tedious - dirty job moved forward where I knew I was going to run into problems. This car had an oil leak from the filter mount for what looked like many yrs leaving the front passenger side soaked in oil. Entire lower side of motor, crossmember , starter, and the entire pass floor pans were covered in yrs of 10/40 . Many days of pwashing and degreasing I thought would give the POR15 a shot at adhesion. Not even close ! It didn’t help that when I completed the rest of the project and began driving the car again the oil leak was still present.I have driven the car approx 5 months last year and 4 months this year. Besides the POR-15 delaminating due to the oil contamination, the pristine areas, pans , tranny tunnel are peeling off in 3” sheets. The frame fared much better, with only the very front area not bonding. It did look good when I first applied it ( Picts ) but have some more underside work that I was not planning on. Post is a little long but wanted to include the details so I can get some feedback on fixing this “ glitch “

 

POR 15 needs a rough surface (rusty, blasted, ground, etc) to adhere. Smooth clean steel will not work. I supposed it could have been etched first. Now its peeling, so peel it off and use rustoleum over a primer.

 

Hate to think I made a rookie mistake having never worked with POR ; in researching today it seems like a common mistake applying to smooth metal . Only way to get it to adhere is the metal prep with thin layers

 

looking good!

 

One area of the compartment that took a beating is the passenger side inner fender under the battery. Most GM cars this area took a beating and mine was not exempt . The previous owner made a galvanized steel patch that was riveted to the surrounding metal. Even this patch has started to rust through. Thankfully my radiator support looks somewhat intact . I am aware that a patch panel for the 70-72 models is available and have been told that with modifications it can be made to work for my car .Has anyone gone this route ? How much modifications are needed ?

 

I contacted Mike and said he discontinued the 68-69’s Currently the 70-72 patches are the only ones ☹️

 

Update- as what I’m told , these “ projects take on a life of their own and currently going to address the missing battery sheet metal under the battery. The passenger side fender had a small dent so looking like the inner fender, support , and outer fender are getting some TLC . I’m sure a few other things will get some attention . More photos to come.