ENGINE RESTORATION

[southcarolina803]

I WANT TO RESTORE MY AIR CLEANER AND VALVE COVERS AND WHATEVER ELSE I CAN INSTEAD OF REPLACING THEM, IM GOING TO START OUT WITH THE AIR CLEANER AND VALVE COVERS, HOW SHOULD I DO THIS THE RIGHT WAY AS FAR AS SANDING THEM DOWN AND PAINTING THEM??

[marcar1993]

As for stripping them. Get a good chemical stripper and a good brush with no plastic in it or the brissles. The chemicle stripper attacks plastic, just as it does paint. If this is original engine paint, it's X# years old baked on paint. You may need several coats of stripper and at least a day to strip them.
Also, get alot of sandpaper, or a wire brush that attaches to a drill. No matter how well the paint held up, every set I've striped always has some rust on it. When you paint it all you want is pure silver metal, no discolorations or dirt. That leads to rust.
When you're ready to paint it, rub it down with denatured alcohol on a fresh clean rag, NOT A PAPER TOWEL!! You do not want to leave any lint behind. Do not touch the area you're painting once you've cleaned them, your hand oils will not let paint stick.
Now spray a good 2-4 light coats of primer on. Don't cover it all in one coat. Over lap your strokes, hold the can about 10-14" away from the object. Then after the primer is dry, start by laying down your color in a very light coat. Expect 3-4 coats of color. Each one progressivly heavier to create a shiny finish. Do not lay it on to thick, it'll run, or create "drips" in the paint.

If you've never painted before, learn how to on some scrap metal or something with cheapo hardware store paint cans. Learn how the paint reacts when you make the strokes faster/slower, when you move the can away from/closer to the object. Then, once you've gotten good at it, then try it on you're parts.

[59-59-59]

Originally Posted by marcar1993

Get a good chemical stripper and a good brush . You may need several coats of stripper and at least a day to strip them. Also, get alot of sandpaper, or a wire brush that attaches to a drill.

Thats good advice if you are retired with a ton of free time on your hands and nothing else to do..However, I would get them bead blasted and that should take 5 minutes away from your life

[southcarolina803]

thanks for taking the time, either way i go is good, but where would i get it bead blasted ?

[joe_padavano]

Originally Posted by southcarolina803

thanks for taking the time, either way i go is good, but where would i get it bead blasted ?

I agree with bead blasting. Look in the yellow pages for Sandblasting.

[southcarolina803]

thanks will do..

[Oldsguy]

I give a third vote for blasting off the old paint. It is much easier and the result is very satisfactory. Are you planning or original colors, black, silver, fake chrome? There are lots of choices.

[southcarolina803]

im goin with the black on the air filter housing and the original gold on the valve covers, i was goin to buy another filter housing and valve covers the chrome ones...but i think im gonna stik to factory, also i got another olds rocket 350 sticker to go on the top