Wipe motor oil in the cylinder walls and wrap the entire block in air tight plastic with a dessicant (water absorbing ) block or packet inside to absorb any moisture, then you'll be ready to prime and paint the block when ready.

 

Spray WD40 primarily on the bare internal areas , especially those that are machined.

 

I would “oil” the cylinders, lifter bores, cam bores and other areas, you don’t plan to paint. The areas you plan to paint, obviously, must be “squeaky” clean.
My internal paint scheme. Has held up for over 13 years, that I know of..

 

I would “oil” the cylinders, lifter bores, cam bores and other areas, you don’t plan to paint. The areas you plan to paint, obviously, must be “squeaky” clean.
My internal paint scheme. Has held up for over 13 years, that I know of..
View attachment 912660

why paint the inside? I don't think ive seen anyone do that.

 

Any tips on cleaning it before assembly?

 

I always paint the valley and bottom end of my blocks with Gyptol. It helps with the drain back of oil into th3 pan And helps keep the internal surfaces clean. This is a pic of a 66 289 with 18k on it after our rebuild. Still looks pretty fresh.

 

I always paint the valley and bottom end of my blocks with Gyptol. It helps with the drain back of oil into th3 pan And helps keep the internal surfaces clean. This is a pic of a 66 289 with 18k on it after our rebuild. Still looks pretty fresh.

No wd40 for me, I’d coat the bearing, lifter & cylinder surfaces with motor oil And then bag the block.

View attachment 912709

 

Any tips on cleaning it before assembly?

There are various techniques that folks use for this. Here is mine:

While the block may come back from the machinist hot tanked and looking clean, I always, give it a Tide bath with lots of water. I have an engine brush kit and run the brushes through all the various bores during the wash job to ensure cleanliness. All the oil passage plugs should have already been removed. Once I am good and wet, I use compressor air to dry the block AND do the WD40 routine previously mentioned on the internal surfaces, and anything machined. Once thoroughly dry, bag it with a large garbage bag if you are not going to mess with it directly afterward.

I tend to save my painting until after the block is assembled.

During block assembly, use lint free paper type towels to wipe down the machined parts.

When its time to install the pistons, it is very important to clean the cylinder bores of small debris that hides in the hone job. Use lint free paper type towels and ATF in a circular fashion from the top to bottom of each bore. You will need to do this several times with fresh towels before the towels start to come out clean! This can be done in advance but be sure to do it again just before assembly.

 

Not a huge WD-40 fan for corrosion protection. I'd use Boeshield or Fluid Film (not the aerosol version) applied to the cylinder walls, lifter bores and, if cam bearings not installed, the cam bearing journals.

 

Yep, I use Fluid Film. It will hang on and protect even vertical surfaces almost indefinitely.

 

- Is it really going to rust in a week and a half? If you're worried about it, get a can of Dupli-Color high-temp primer and hit the surfaces your going to paint with a light coat. That will prevent rust and give you a good base for the engine paint.

- I also scrub engine blocks with hot water and laundry detergent. I'm always amazed at how much grime I get from a block fresh from the machine shop.

- It's also a good idea to hit the oil passages with brushes. You can buy an inexpensive engine brush kit.

- If you want the core plugs to be painted, install them before paint.

- Nothing wrong with coating a lifter valley with Glyptol, but I've never seen any evidence of it actually benefiting anything. No doubt it does look cool; mostly in the dark. This was really popular back in the 80s. I don't see it much anymore.

- You can use WD-40 or just motor oil to coat the machined surfaces.

 

I would urge you to follow what Dennis111 stated. I did this to a freshly machined block and was surprised to find I got some crud/grit out of an oil passage on the left front of the block after removing the oil filter fitting! I also drilled and taped the oil galley plugs at the block where the cam goes in. That is an easy improvement you should do before you build it! I considered the glyptal paint treatment like Ken did but chickened out on that. Do you know if they honed the lifter bores? I did tape the block up, wiped it down with metal prep, used an engine spray bomb primer and paint before assembly. Not happy with the blue one-piece oil pan gasket on my black 289, may change that before dropping it in the car...whenever that day gets here

 

The shop already out all the plugs back in. He mentioned that he washed the block in addition to the tanking and such.

 

In the immortal words of Ronald Reagan, trust but verify.

 

very true. im gonna get my crankshaft back from him soon ill ask for specifics and verify on the block. im assuming ill have to remove at least some of the oil gallery plugs to clean it out?

 

Doesn't WD 40 evaporate?

Yes, it does over time and is a temporary measure that's meant to displace water (its in the name.) Although it can be applied repeatedly every couple of days, I agree that for extended storage one should enlist the use of some other type of petroleum product of your choice (I use motor oil.)

Even if the OP paints the block as intended, if the actual assembly is not done in a timely manner, by all means use a product on the bare or machined surfaces that will prevent rust, like motor oil or some of the other recommendations found above. The block then gets bagged to protect it from air born trash. Additional cleaning should be included at assembly time to remove any excess lubricant.

 

If you spray the surfaces to be painted with Picklex20, making sure you protect any wear surfaces from overspray, you'll inhibit corrosion PLUS etch the iron for better paint adhesion.

 

If you can't assemble the engine in the next few days then something needs to be done to both the inside and the outside of the block to prevent flash rusting. I only clean the block with soap and water when I'm going to build it. This includes the long brush cleaning of all the oil passages.

I researched how the Dearborn engine plant painted these engines (428). Once my engine was assembled to that point I degreased the outside of the engine with paint degreaser and then painted the engine with 2-3 coats of Eastwoods ceramic engine paint.