Have begun preparing to remove the engine, by removing the ancillaries such as the dynamo and starter, and beginning to clean the block. A lot of dirt there! Have also begun looking for paint for the engine. Fortunately there are some quite pristine areas underneath the grime, and have been using Photoshop to generate paint colours and then testing them against the existing original paint, so that a paint shop can mix the correct colour. First experiments today with a mix were not sucessful, as the paint did not dry the colour the shop said it would, but thanks to the experts at 3 Brothers Classic Landrovers I have a new (and less expensive) lead to try. Will get to that this weekend, as I would like to get the engine painted and onto the other chassis as soon as possible. Not planning to open the engine up, unless I see leaks or something to warrant it once the engine runs again.
In this view, the cleaning is coming along, but there's a lot to do. Note the duck-egg green paint of the water pump, as opposed to the grey of the rest of the engine. Probably a replacement part from a later model.
On the left, the grime, and on the right, what the block looks like after a lot of scrubbing! Paint is almost like new. Note the numbers - there are a lot of numbers and letters on the engine - I'll note them all down, just out of interest.
Things removed from the engine, plus the steering box and upright supports for the bulkhead and steering box. Starter cover is going to need some tlc....
Have repainted the exhaust manifold a slightly darker shade. Once it's fully cured in 7 days, it'll go through a baking process to harden the paint.
Engine cleaning is definitely a huge project! Best of luck. Do you have any favorite engine cleaners that you use?
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm afraid I didn't try any of the Amsoil products in your link. Maybe I should have. I tried a number of those recommended on various forums, but they were all pretty messy and actually didn't do that great a job. In the end, for this project at least, I ended up using a fine brass brush to remove the dirt with as little damage to the remaining original paint as possible, and then just a brake cleaner sprayed onto a cloth, which had the added benefit of making sure all the oil was gone. That also made any dirt trapped in corners dry and brittle and easy to brush off. On really thick oily grime, to avoid gumming up the brushes, I sprayed brake cleaner on first, let it dry, and then gently scraped the dirt off, before going at it with the brush and cloth as above. Before painting I used Eastwood's Pre, just to be sure the surface was clean.
ReplyDeleteMike