Removing Engine Paint for New Paint

[Tom Wesenberg]

I've got to stop taking things apart. Every time I remove something I find another problem. Yesterday I removed the broken 2 piece aluminum pulley and found someone had forced the sleeve into place without lining up the notch for the key. It forced the key to cut a new notch and also put a crack in the sleeve. I saw where someone had done this same thing to an original pulley a few years ago, but on that cast iron it broke out a chuck of the sleeve.

They also deformed the key by pushing it up and to the side, so now the oil slinger can't be removed. I'll try to straighten the key tomorrow.

[burner31]

Well, lets see, I work as a aircraft corrosion control supervisor. ie: paint stripping.

The best stuff is called "plane naked" it is eco-friendly and my #1 pick...if you can get it. The warmer the working temp and higher the humidity the better.

#2 would be "phenol", very harsh, very very eco-unfriendly, this shit will burn the hell out of you if you do not wear proper protection, makes a mess, but gets the job done quickly. Use lots of rags and lots of water, only use a water hose once you get 99% of the chemical wiped off. Cover yourself from head to toe. And don't splash it on anything you don't want stripped, stained or melted.

As for me...I used a good eco-friendly degreaser and a power washer, repeated several times, let fully dry, mask and paint.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Still making slow progress. If the crank was out of the engine then I'd install a new crank gear, but in this case I spent about 3 hours sanding on it. It seems the crank gears like to rust on engines that set unused for long periods of time. Look at replies 39 and 40 to see the rust. Also notice the left main bolt in the picture should be turned 90* for the cotter pin hole to line up better. The small bump on the head should face straight in or out. Notice the groove worn in the aluminum sleeve of the two part pulley. I've seen wear from the rope seals before, but never this much.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Well, once again it's one step forward and three steps backward. I saw this engine run for an hour two years ago. In fact I was the one that helped get it running. It ran strong and smooth and never leaked a drop of water. The water was drained after the run, and I bought the engine a few weeks later. The engine was down low on the wood engine stand I made when I sandblasted and painted it, so I never saw a problem.

I never saw these two water jacket cracks until I had it in the regular engine stand and turned it upside down yesterday. The red paint had covered them over when I bought the engine. Since it never leaked before I think I'll sandblast the cracks and use some JB Weld on them.

I did get the flywheel cleaned up today. It cleaned up fine for being the home to a family of mice. Since the wishbone ball hole was left open on the bellhousing, the mice had a nice opening to enter. When the engine first started, ground up mice came flying out the hole and a couple burned mice flew out the exhaust pipe.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Well, after putting this engine on hold for a while, I finally sandblasted the 2 cracks yesterday and applied slow set JB Weld by pressing it into the cracks as well as I could with a plastic credit card. after it set up for a couple hours I detailed it by using a small wire brush, then today I painted it. It was too hot and muggy and too many mosquitos to do any more work on it today, so hopefully tomorrow, if it doesn't rain again, I can get the covers back on.

Since the cracks never leaked when it ran 2 years ago, I hope the JB Weld will be a good secondary plug to keep it from leaking. Only time will tell, and I hope I can get it installed before it's too cold to work outside. I learned one thing from all this, the next time I buy an engine I'll have to look closer for cracks, and not pay more than good core price, unless I have real proof of the engine condition. Yes, they can sound good, but have many problems to be fixed.

[Dollar Bill]

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I think you'll be fine. Repaired a similar crack in the last 8N I restored using JBWeld - Hasn't leaked in 5 years.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Still making progress on the engine, then I spotted a void in the casting on the front of the block at the bottom of the cooling chamber. This area always looks like an old repair, but that must be from the factory grinding away the excess cast from the pour. Anyway the void looked deep, so I sandblasted it and filled it with JB Weld.

I bought a new cam plunger and spring because the oil grooves were almost worn away on the original part. I turned a thick piece of wood to 1 5/8" to use to pound in the new rope seal. I never soak them in oil, but I oil and grease them well after they are in place just before installing the cover.

The flywheel cover had no bolts nor shims in the top two mounting holes. After cleaning the threads and installing two bolts and one shim on each side, the cover was out by just over .010". By adding a second shim to the left side I was able to dial it in under .004".

I had to install a new timing gear due to a crack in one tooth on the original gear. Notice the timing dimple lines up to the right side of the keyway, not the left side as has been pictured in some books.

The valve chamber was cleaner than I expected, so the seller was probably telling the truth when he said his dad overhauled it shortly before he quit using it.

I had to make a new tool to pull the timing gear cover down enough to get all the bolts started.

[Dollar Bill]

Looking good Tom! You’ll be making smoke before long. I applaud your ingenuity - Those tools will make the onerous rope seal installation go a lot easier.

[PatrickGrant]

It is nice to see another place to mount the engine stand. The thing is I would like to get access to the valves and am leery about using the pan mounting threads and water inlet mount method. I have the flywheel cover off. I was wondering if I could use the top 2 bolt holes, above your indicator, and the two that hold the carb linkage on? I will make a new plate, pipe fixture and bolt it directly to those places. I would use a 2" longer pipe with spacer on it to get the crank to clear my stand. Question is, would this be a good location ? Also thanks for this thread.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by PatrickGrant

It is nice to see another place to mount the engine stand. The thing is I would like to get access to the valves and am leery about using the pan mounting threads and water inlet mount method. I have the flywheel cover off. I was wondering if I could use the top 2 bolt holes, above your indicator, and the two that hold the carb linkage on? I will make a new plate, pipe fixture and bolt it directly to those places. I would use a 2" longer pipe with spacer on it to get the crank to clear my stand. Question is, would this be a good location ? Also thanks for this thread.

I would only use the side mount. The water inlet bolts are large and with the two pan lip bolts your engine will be mounted solidly. You'll be able to assemble the whole thing except for the two pan bolts.

[captndan]

If you don't like using chemicals get a needle scalier. That's what the big equipment boys use.

[Tom Wesenberg]

I finally got the dog house made and my engine put away in it. I've had the engine stored outside next to my pine tree under 3 plastic tarps since the end of September. You can see the flywheel took on a little rust, which I'll have to remove again. I still need to paint the oil pan, then it will be ready to install in my 28 Phaeton as a better temporary engine.

[Dollar Bill]

I like your dog house Tom!

Knock the rust off of your flywheel with a maroon Scotch-Brite pad and then spray/wipe on a light coating of ATF.

I have ATF thinned about 25% with varsol in spray bottle to wipe down unplated tools to keep them from rusting. Cheap and very effective.

[Barry B./ Ma.]

Originally Posted by Charlie Stephens

If it won't come off with a wire brush on the end of a power tool I think I would paint over it.

Charlie Stephens

I agree with Charlie. Just don't paint over grease, no problem over another color.

[Ray64]

Im with Russ #8 Post did mine just like that Good results