How to clean dirt from engine for paint

56servi

I have an EZ Go 295 engine that I want to rebuild. It is a spare motor that I want to play with. I want to paint the block, head & side cover Duplicolor engine enamal Red.

I have all the parts removed from the engine & have cleaned the grease off it. I still have dirt stuck on the head & block bewtween the fins. I tried water from the hose, putting the parts in the dish washer (while my wife was at work) & a suction air nozzle spraying water on the parts.

I still have dirt at the bottom of the fins & other places. I can get the dirt off easily with a small wire brush but I can't get between the fins & other small places.

I don't want to sandblast the parts because I dont want sand in the ports & other internal holes.

Any ideas on how to get the parts clean enough to paint?

BGW

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dirtysouth

Wire wheel in a drill motor...

pizzamaker

bead blasting is what most do, when wash,blow,wash,blow then brake cleaner blow and your ready to start masking. i like to stop short of the fins with the paint

CC-John

PM has it right!! Never paint the fins on an air-cooled engine.. The paint will act as insulation and retard engine cooling.. Painting the sheet metal shrouding that covers the fins is OK..

56servi

Looks like I need to bead blast.

I have had several discussions about painting air cooled engines. Kind of like talking about which oil to use.
I have a Harley XR1000 which I ran at Bonneville that had the cylinders painted. Most Harley's have painted cylinders. I then had the cylinders Powder Coated & ran it hard on the street for several years with no problem.

I have never heard of anyone testing the internal temp on painted vs non painted cylinders so I don't know of any proof one way or the other.

I do have friends that say never paint the cylinders and other that say its OK. I guess everyone has to decide for themselves.

ruredy

I'm like you 56servi, I've had harleys since I was 16 and never had a problem with them being painted, or any other engine for that matter. they say black paint dissipates heat quicker than not having it, I know people have tested this (it's an old hot rod trick) and found very minimal gains in engine performance. Yes paint really does make it run faster. (I always got a kick out of that) There are articles about it in some of the old hot rod magazines and such. Seems like briggs does their engines black also. If you know anyone with a good pressure washer/steam cleaner it'll clean those parts up, if not i'd try the car wash and some cans of brake parts cleaner

dock98

pizzamaker

your right 56, to each his own on the paint but if my memory serves my right the XL1000 had cast iron cylinders, and its hard to compare heat dissipation between cast and aluminum.Harleys evolution engines went to aluminum jugs for the very reason of heat dissipation and briggs & stratton has never painted the cooling fins on the engines, there older engines were all painted after Assembly! and the engines built in the last 10yrs have no paint on the blocks at all. eagle one makes an aluminum wheel etching spray that will get you cleaned up

ruredy

funny thing is they paint those too, well most of the higher end models. seems that cost and extra steps in the manufacturing process are the biggest reason manufacturers don't paint them. Heat disposition or retention hasn't got jack to do with it.

pizzamaker

well ruredy you can beat this subject with words all day long and in the end it's just words. where's your proof? i like to learn, please show some facts, or is this just yourself work'in with your fairy dust again.