My 71 Duster work in progress

[b-body-bob]

I just confirmed they all ride up and down and rotate now.

I'm wondering if I want to stick with the permatex super slick on the cam or change to a moly paste. It might be a little while before I get it started and it seems like the moly paste would hang on there better.

 

[b-body-bob]

I switched to Lucas assembly lube with moly and recoated the lobes.

Do I need to prime the engine parts before painting? The block has black paint on it from the machine shop so I'll just clean that and spray over it. The oil pan, timing cover, water pump, heads, and intake are bare and except for the oil pan are all aluminum.

 

[Dr.Jass]

Anything aluminum that you plan to paint will stay painted longer if you use self-etching primer before painting. I've never had a problem with Dupli-Color engine paints going direct to metal, as long as that metal is ferrous. I don't recall priming the water pump, timing cover or intake on the Valiant's engine and it hasn't jumped off yet, but that engine doesn't have any street driving and only maybe 4-5 hours, so I wouldn't call that much of a stress test.

I'll disclaim now that the paint on that engine is equipment enamel, not engine paint.

 

[b-body-bob]

I've got self-etch here but per the mfr that's only good to 200* F. The high-temp primer I've found isn't self-etching.

Back when aluminum bike frames first became really popular, I saw several brand new bicycles that had the paint peeling off the frame in sheets. Aircraft mechanics said it was likely caused by using the wrong primer.
I'm not convinced to paint the heads and intake yet, but I am thinking about it just because it makes the job easier. I can bolt it together, close off any openings, and paint everything.

 

[Dr.Jass]

I used Dupli-Color self-etching primer (DAP1690) on some M/T valve covers on my 440 years ago. I did bake the valve covers prior to spraying it on (my first go-round with heating parts prior to painting) but no heat afterward. I painted over that with MP Race Hemi orange, which I don't think I baked (but the covers may still have been warm).
It was a sonofabitch to sand the paint off those fins, and despite the engine getting hot enough to vapor lock several times, that paint never burnt, blistered, or flaked. I even tried chipping them a couple of times just to see. I couldn't. The guy who bought those covers later complained about how hard it was to remove the paint and primer, asking me what I'd done to make 'em that indestructible.

 

[b-body-bob]

The guy who bought those covers later complained about how hard it was to remove the paint and primer, asking me what I'd done to make 'em that indestructible.

On the other extreme, what paint didn't come off the timing cover in big chunks I used a screwdriver and a little pick to scrape off. It wasn't really stuck stuck anywhere.

A great thing about painting aluminum is that you can clean on it until your arm falls off and you will never NOT get oxidation on the towel. I use this stuff before painting anything.

 

[Dr.Jass]

I'm sure it's the same as the U-Tech R859 I loved so dearly (but to which I no longer have easy access) and whatever brand it is that I have in a 5-gallon drum I've yet to use. Pretty much all the same, and excellent stuff regardless of the brand.

 

[b-body-bob]

Pretty much all the same

I dunno, I walked into NAPA and asked for a gallon of Wax and Grease Remover, and they sold me a gallon of Acetone. I had forgotten what that was until I opened the can and got a whiff of it. I had sisters so I know that smell.

It is not even close to the product that real honest-to-god wax and grease remover is. It's weird too because it makes your hands cold so I couldn't stop thinking I was probably poisoning myself by using it.

I've got pretty much a whole gallon of it to use for something. I've heard you can use it as paint thinner.

I agree though, the stuff we know and love is branded but it probably all came from the same chem plant and process.

 

[74DartSport]

“100% virgin solvent “
Do we really care what the solvent does at night?

 

[Dr.Jass]

I dunno, I walked into NAPA and asked for a gallon of Wax and Grease Remover, and they sold me a gallon of Acetone.

It doesn't sound like they do much, if any, paint business.

I had forgotten what that was until I opened the can and got a whiff of it. I had sisters so I know that smell.

Sorta. Your sister's stuff had a tinge of lemon scent in it. You can't lie to me, I had sisters too.

It is not even close to the product that real honest-to-god wax and grease remover is. It's weird too because it makes your hands cold so I couldn't stop thinking I was probably poisoning myself by using it.

The rule of thumb I've heard involves time through the skin and into the bloodstream, in seconds. It's something like "20 to the vein, 10 to the brain" but @restoman probably knows the adage better than I.

“100% virgin solvent “
Do we really care what the solvent does at night?

Olive oil is something else entirely, though... that's going in my mouf.

 

[68R/T]

I've got pretty much a whole gallon of it to use for something. I've heard you can use it as paint thinner.

I use acetone for prepping for paint and as a small engine carb cleaner. Put about 1 oz. per gallon in the tank. Saves the work of pulling the carb apart on your lawnmower, motorcycle, even a moped.

 

[restoman]

The rule of thumb I've heard involves time through the skin and into the bloodstream, in seconds. It's something like "20 to the vein, 10 to the brain" but @restoman probably knows the adage better than I.

Been through enough training sessions and read enough Material Safety Data Sheets on absoption to last a lifetime, but never heard that one!

The effects on the brain are bad enough, but the kidneys and liver really take a beating from solvent absorption.
I know quite a few guys who manage to function without full use of their cranium contents, but life can get really complicated with damaged kidneys or a liver.

I'd be looking for another jobber if they passed off acetone as Wax 'n Grease Remover...

 

[b-body-bob]

It doesn't sound like they do much, if any, paint business.

I'd be looking for another jobber if they passed off acetone as Wax 'n Grease Remover...

This was my local NAPA store, they concentrate the paint at another place 4-5 miles away that has warehouse space. IIRC it happened on a Sunday right before closing so they wouldn't have had their best and brightest holding down the fort.

I wonder if acetone will kill yellow jackets? Kidding not kidding. And by yellow jackets I mean ground wasps.

 

[restoman]

Acetone will kill them and then some.
Put it in a sprayer and the little b*stards will shrivel up mid-flight.
Not as good as brake clean or carb cleaner, but it's pretty darn good.

 

[b-body-bob]

Acetone will kill them and then some.
Put it in a sprayer and the little b*stards will shrivel up mid-flight.
Not as good as brake clean or carb cleaner, but it's pretty darn good.

I don't need to see them die, I just need them dead when I find a nest in the ground. Currently I just pour about 1/2 pint of gasoline in the hole after nightfall. But I've got that gallon of acetone and nothing better to do with it ...

 

[b-body-bob]

I didn't find what looked to be an acceptable way to prime the timing cover and water pump before painting. I might try hitting the timing cover with a scotch brite pad tonight to rough it up a little bit more than it already is and skip painting the water pump.

I was thinking about bolting them together for paint, but TBH it seems like more work to rough up all the surfaces on the water pump than it is to just mask off the gasket surface on the timing cover. We'll see. I've also got the aluminum bellhousing that might or might not be orange when it's installed.

I found web-based insinuations that the engine enamels have etching compounds built in because primer under a topcoat is always going to be a problem due to the heat.

I also need to get a paint pen to highlight the timing marks on the balancer that I already painted black out of habit.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Hmmm, I hope that rustolium hi temp primer sticks on my engine?
I was thinking of leaving the new water pump unpainted?

 

[b-body-bob]

If I wasn't afraid it would peel off in sheets I would paint everything orange but with my luck it will look like it has leprosy before long.

I read back up there and see again that Jass had luck with etch primer that isn't high-temp, but that was on valve covers which shouldn't get nearly as hot as the timing cover. I expect that to be right at the same temp as coolant so as much as 220 or so especially at break-in and until everything seats in.

So ... I dunno.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

I guess we will find out a few years down the road!

 

[Dr.Jass]

I read back up there and see again that Jass had luck with etch primer that isn't high-temp, but that was on valve covers...

...that he admitted were at 350°F when he painted them.

...which shouldn't get nearly as hot as the timing cover.

Engine oil runs around 20-30° hotter than the coolant, and it's splashing around inside both. While the valve covers aren't sandwiched like the timing cover is and hence get better airflow, they've also got headers or manifolds wafting even-higher temps at them constantly. The primer held, and well.

All that being said, factory engines absolutely were not primed and I've got several bellhousings with considerable paint on them that was applied by Chrysler. My equipment enamel has held up spectacularly well on the W2 engine, too.