best way to clean and paint an iron block?
 

OK guys and gals i am going to get snowed in this weekend so i wanted to spend some time cleaning my lq9. I was wondering what do you guys use on your blocks to clean it up and make it look pretty again? I was thinking about painting it some kind of old school chevy orange. but before i do that i want to clean off all the gunk and grim off the motor. What do you guys use or do? for the 454 it was easy the machine shop did it..lol but for the lq9 i am not going to take it apart i know it ran and ran pretty strong even in the totaled truck. am i going to have to pull out the drill and a wire wheel for this one?

I use break cleaner ,whatever is the cheapest ,but do it in a well ventilated area .

i have a respirator mask and i will be in my garage doing it with the back door open i guess. i was thinking about doing it with a wire wheel but now i am wondering if i should paint the heads since they are alum or just make them look nice and clean :)

An engine degreaser and washing with warm water and a scrub brush should work. If you want to wait until the weather clears, take it to a spray car wash and hit it with the high pressure washer, that will take it all off.

I would leave the heads as is, just polish them up a bit though.

Have fun!

yeah i dont have a way to get it to a high pressure car wash but i do have a power washer, but thats going to take a lot of time away from getting it in the car. the goal is to have the motor together with the new trans by the end of this month and start getting it in the car by feb. once i get the rest of the trans paid off i will save for my flywheel and clutch setup (about $350) and put it all together. so we shall see. but waiting until april to clean it is out of the questions :)

Sounds like you have a schedule to keep, so I would go with what Mike said. The engine degreaser, warm water and a scrub brush.

not really on a schedule i just want it in the chevelle before the spring when the rx7 comes back home and no room in the garage :)

Sorry, didn't realize it was still in the car.

What he said, should be good. I would throughly clean the heads, polish them, ect. till your happy with the way they look. Then I would mask them off, and paint the block. When I had my engine out a couple of years ago, I cleaned it and had a friend of mine spray the block with a white epoxy primer, then shot it with Hugger orange body paint and followed that with a glossy clear. It turned out really nice and it still looks fresh today. Take your time and do it right. If you rush it to meet a goal, you'll never be happy with it. The more detail you put into it, the better it's going to look.
Remember to post pictures, we all want to see your progress. :)
Good luck! Bowtie smiley

yeah thats what i did tons of degreaser and a wire brush and some warm water. I let it dry today and if i have time i am going to paint it today but i have to go out and play in the snow with my daughter :)