Engine prep for paint

[banjoman]

Our Atomic 4 has developed some rust on the head and a layer of grease in some other areas. Grease and oil don't bother me but rust does. What would be the proper procedure for getting this thing ready for some paint? What can I use to clean it and get the rust off?

It would be best to remove the engine...but that is not going to happen for a while. Looking for a decent band aide to get through the season or more.

I did a search but turned up very little.

[Larks]

Hi B'man, I've used a few different products that work quite well as long as you can get rid of any of the loose flaking stuff with a wire brush or even a high pressure hose/guerney or the like. Here's one for starters but maybe a search on rust treatments might pull up something else if this isn't available locally:

http://www.onsiteind.com.au/flyer.pdf

here's an American one that I haven't seen but I gather (without reading it properly) that it's much the same principle:

http://www.therustdoctor.com/resources/treatments.html

You do ned to follow the instructions pretty well as some don't seem to take some paints very well if not treated correctly.

[banjoman]

Thanks! I'll give The Rust Dr. a look!
Next week's project is either another coat of paint on the deck or get the engine lookin' pretty.:D

[The Bigfella]

A needle gun

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

A high pressure hose and an engine can be very unhappy bedfellows.

Slap some grease on the rusty bits (slows down the surface corrosion) and deal with the thing properly later.

The proper prep. for paint involves a complete strip and de-grease - pretty much guarantees a total engine rebuild.

[jonboy]

You'll have fun getting all the crappy residues and degreaser out if the motor's still installed ,.... I'd go Stazzer's route for now.