Any tips from those with experience?

 

1] Take it out
2] Clean, clean, clean
3] Clean some more
4] Buy engine paint
5] Apply engine paint

You can accomplish 2 & 3 in several ways like engine cleaner and presssure washer.

 

x2 you can't clean it enough

 

I have some friends that are using Imron paint on their engines. This over a good high temp primer. That Imron paint is so tough. I have seen one of their engines that was painted (Chevy orange) over 10 years ago that looked like it was painted yesterday. However, beware of the fumes of this stuff. i think that a paint jobber can mix it in various colors. Imron is used of stuff like airplans, over the road trucks, UPS fleet, etc.

 

Cheap aluminum foil and good masking tape are your friends. The cheap aluminum foil will mold to about anything you want to mask off and is then e-z to remove. You want the good masking tape so it will pull loose easily. Masking tape is not an area to cut corners.

Precleaning? brake cleaner cleans off grunge and then evaporates leaving a clean surface for paint.

In my experience cheap black spray paint works fine on black components. I tend to go for Krylon or Seymour for cast metal finishes. Engine color paint almost has to be ordered from one of the Olds vendors.