Cleaning my aluminum engine

[Devin]

I bought a 91 (I think) engine only off of eBay. The guy didn't lie about the important part, the insides, but the outsides are ugly and downright screwed up. I think it was left outside too long. There was a rodent nest between the heads, and the outside is corroded to ****.

Now I disassembled the intake, washed everything out, ran through 10 or so cans of carb cleaner scrubbed off the intake with hot vinegar and a nylon brush but it still doesn't look "nice", and the heads look just as bad. Before I put the engine back together I want it to look nice, but the hundreds I would pay for powder coating or painting I need to spend on gaskets and bearings. What can I do to clean it? I love the original color and look of the engine and I would like to try to get it back somewhat like what it looked like originally. Is there any hope?

 

[luckyGAT]

Go with the powder coating they will bead blast it that will clean it up enough

 

[NJSHO]

I spent less than 20 dollars on high temp engine paint and did it myself as many people on this forum have done with great results. I would recommend doing this. Do a search for painting intake or some variation of that and you should see the results.

 

[Devin]

That's the thing, I don't want to pay to powdercoat it or anodize it, and I don't want to paint it. I just want to clean the corrosion off of the aluminum.

 

[93medusa]

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but the engine is not bare aluminum, It came painted from the factory. From the looks of it, your best bet is to pick up some silver paint, disassemble the whole thing, and give it a few coats. Then it will look good as new. Just make sure you do a good job on your prep, and you should be happy with the results. Under 20 bucks in spray paint can go a very long way on the upper intake and valve covers from what I've seen

Dave

 

[Sho_Freak]

with the look of that corrosion...u might want to sand it to bare metal.........a wire wheel on a bench grinder worked too...and then buy some "aluminum" engine enamel paint and it will look stock...but better than stock....

 

[caseywan]

I agree with sho freak, you're going to have to sand or polish it down it down. There's no way you want to paint with the way it looks right now, all that will show right through the paint and the paint probably wouldn't last long with a base like that. If you have an air compressor, an air grinder with a wire wheel will work wonders.

 

[n8rsk8r]

you can take a fine grit wet/dry sandpaper to it. Get some MEK (Methyl Ethyl Keytone) to clean the oil and crap once sanded. http://www.nsc.org/library/chemical/Methyl_E.htm Good luck, prep is everything

 

[SHO_Driver]

I did mine with a high temp silver for brake calipers and Duplicolor high temp clearcoat:

I used the caliper silver because it's darker than the Duplicolor silver.

 

[Devin]

That silver looks good. How did you prep, just sanding?

 

[SHO_Driver]

First I cleaned all the grease off with thinner. Then I scuffed it with a steel wool pad. For your's I would sand the rough spots with 220 grit before scuffing. If that won't remove the corrosion go with 100 grit, 220, then scuff. Once its relatively smooth and even, wipe it clean with some thinner and shoot the basecoat silver. After several coats and at least 20 mins waiting time shoot the clearcoat.