I am a newbie to this forum although have been reading posts for sometime. Imam in the process of restoring 1975 fj40 and will post pics when I figure out how! I live in west michigan, have a shop which is cold when I'm not in it. Heat with wood when I'm out there. I have the body off and the engine is off the frame and on an engine stand. I'm looking for advice on how to clean and prep the engine to repaint. I have used oven cleaner and scrubbed but still a lot of dirt and sludge, especially in the crevices. I think I need to take it all apart and clean it inside and out. Is this the best way to go? Thinking of soda blasting. Concerned that other blast media will be too difficult to remove. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all who help on this forum and hopefully I'll reach a point where I can help as we'll!
Fj40 restoration
- Thread starter Wolverine 59
- Start date
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Use a good engine degreaser and a wire brush
JohnnyC
Long ago TLCA# 2231
Small pressure washer
Welcome to the forum!
I mentioned this in a different thread, but oven cleaner is really caustic and it doesn't play well with aluminum. So if you want to continue to use it I would recommend you remove any, and all, aluminum parts or do thorough job of protecting them.
A pressure washer gets really messy...fast. When you blast away with lots of pressure the various nooks and crannies will divert the flow in all kinds of directions. Definitely an out of doors operation and I'd strongly advise good eye protection. It works reasonably well, but usually takes several applications as you can't really see well wearing goggles exactly where you missed. You absolutely want to wear old clothes as you will be wet and covered with some of the crud you've blasted off the engine.
If this is doable for you I'd advise waiting for a nice day and moving your engine (and the rest of the cruiser) outside and renting a steam cleaner from a rental yard. It'll cost you a few bucks but save you a significant amount of time compared with various solvents and brushes. I suggested the whole cruiser because there will be assorted crap all over the body, frame, axles, etc. Ideally you'd have the transmission, transfer case and driveshafts out of the vehicle and you could clean them at the same time. Having everything clean is really nice and it's a somewhat of a morale booster to have that chore over with. Spending hours and hours cleaning parts isn't fun; it's tedious and boring.
As far as painting the engine I think you'd have better results removing any stamped steel parts and media blasting them. Then you can also install new gaskets and seals. Some people like the idea of painting the engine fully assembled so all the various bolts are painted whereas others like painting an engine in pieces and using plated bolts that show off their finish.
Good Luck!
I mentioned this in a different thread, but oven cleaner is really caustic and it doesn't play well with aluminum. So if you want to continue to use it I would recommend you remove any, and all, aluminum parts or do thorough job of protecting them.
A pressure washer gets really messy...fast. When you blast away with lots of pressure the various nooks and crannies will divert the flow in all kinds of directions. Definitely an out of doors operation and I'd strongly advise good eye protection. It works reasonably well, but usually takes several applications as you can't really see well wearing goggles exactly where you missed. You absolutely want to wear old clothes as you will be wet and covered with some of the crud you've blasted off the engine.
If this is doable for you I'd advise waiting for a nice day and moving your engine (and the rest of the cruiser) outside and renting a steam cleaner from a rental yard. It'll cost you a few bucks but save you a significant amount of time compared with various solvents and brushes. I suggested the whole cruiser because there will be assorted crap all over the body, frame, axles, etc. Ideally you'd have the transmission, transfer case and driveshafts out of the vehicle and you could clean them at the same time. Having everything clean is really nice and it's a somewhat of a morale booster to have that chore over with. Spending hours and hours cleaning parts isn't fun; it's tedious and boring.
As far as painting the engine I think you'd have better results removing any stamped steel parts and media blasting them. Then you can also install new gaskets and seals. Some people like the idea of painting the engine fully assembled so all the various bolts are painted whereas others like painting an engine in pieces and using plated bolts that show off their finish.
Good Luck!
^^ interesting. What kind of steam cleaner? I searched for this piece of equipment and couldn't come up with anything. Could post a pic/link to one? Thanks!
A good pressure washer will do the trick, also removes loose paint. Use a medium nozzel pressure wash from like 2 feet away and move it closer as needed to get it clean, real close will do it real real quick, but avoid that in areas of gaskets and seams, keep it a little further away for those areas, but you can move it close enough to remove all the gunk, the gunk will go away long before any risk to gasket. Just roll it in the lawn and wear old clothes and goggles, everything will get messy.
reddingcruiser
Practicing for retirement
Check in your local yellow pages (or the modern equivalent) for someone that does mobile steam cleaning/pressure washing. I have done this several times for trucks and heavy equipment. They have the right stuff to get the job done and typically only need a water source, though some are entirely self-contained.
thebigredrocker
SILVER Star
Here's what I did with my greasy SBC. Squirted it down with oil eater, kept applying for 20 minutes or so. Then used a metal handled wire brush (purchased 6 years ago, either from Napa or Carquest). I'll post up a pic, it has heavy kinked wires that don't get mashed over and curls up at the end which helps get in nooks and crannies.
Then used Duplicolor Rattle can paint stripper. Tried the Aircraft stuff but it seemed to foam up and evaporate quick. The Duplicolor forms sorta gels up into a transparent film. The paint bubbles up nicely. Wire brushed most of it, used a small 3/4" end brush in my drill to get the tight spots. Obvious a drill w/brush will fling some paint strip so don't wear a tank top. Safety Glasses are a must. Used paper towels to wipe the remaining paint goo off.
The next evening I used a cup brush mounted on my angle grinder to clean the motor up some more. The drill and skinny end brush also came in handy once again for tight areas.
Then brake cleaner as my final step before Mar-Hyde self etching primer.
I'll post up some pics
Then used Duplicolor Rattle can paint stripper. Tried the Aircraft stuff but it seemed to foam up and evaporate quick. The Duplicolor forms sorta gels up into a transparent film. The paint bubbles up nicely. Wire brushed most of it, used a small 3/4" end brush in my drill to get the tight spots. Obvious a drill w/brush will fling some paint strip so don't wear a tank top. Safety Glasses are a must. Used paper towels to wipe the remaining paint goo off.
The next evening I used a cup brush mounted on my angle grinder to clean the motor up some more. The drill and skinny end brush also came in handy once again for tight areas.
Then brake cleaner as my final step before Mar-Hyde self etching primer.
I'll post up some pics
thebigredrocker
SILVER Star
Here's a few more
- Thread starter
- #10
Thank you for the responses! I will digest and decide on a course of action. From the pictures,it looks like you cover up the openings with a tape of sorts. What is that and where can you buy it. Also do you all think of opening the engine up and going inside for cleaning.
You could also use what was originally Castrol SuperClean--now just SuperClean. It's a slightly caustic degreaser--if you leave it on long enough, the paint will come off. I find it works very well for degreasing and general cleanup. Advance Auto carries it, sometimes you can get a deal-1 gallon for ~ $7.99
As for going into the engine "for a cleaning" -- be prepared for new bearings everywhere, new rings, oil pump OH, new seals(definitely)--when you open it up, you gotta put it back new.
thebigredrocker
SILVER Star
Not sure if it was to code, bit I used Duct Tape. The stuff in the picture was something Carhartt gave as a promotion. I think I used a razor blade to cut around the exhaust ports. Although I wanna say I "ever so lighly" tapped on the sharp lip of the port to cut the tape. Ima little fuzzy on that detail. That trick works great with masking tape. Congrats! Keep us posted on your progress.
