My 396 is sitting on a stand and I want to clean, strip the old paint off of it and repaint it. It is assembled now but I will be adding a stealth intake and a pair of ported "781" casting heads to it so I am mainly conserned with the block and oil pan. I will most likely use wire brushes also. My Questions are:

1. How can I keep old paint shavings from getting into the inside of the engine? Or perhaps stripping the block before swapping the parts is the answer?

2. I may use depending on your suggestions, a cleaner/degreaser to clean the oil off it first. It is not extremely dirty but this will most likely be necessary. Anyway, paint will not stick to the surface if it is not clean and oil free. What type/brand degreaser will give me a good clean surface? I will be using VHT products.

Any other suggestions on this would be most appreciated.
Chris R

I used aircraft stripper. It is nasty stuff, but it sure gets the paint off. Make sure your engine is well sealed. Spray the stipper on, work it with a wire brush, then hose it off. Make sure to use goggles, gloves and respirator. Then take the motor apart. You may want to preclean with gunk engine cleaner or something like that. The stripper works OK over grease, but its really meant for paint



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Jameel Qazi
#'s 67 SS

I used a product called Mean Green to clean my engine. It did a great job of cleaning oil and dirt. The key is to let it sit and then scrub with a good stiff brush (including a toothbrush). You can buy Mean Green at any Wal-Mart, K-Mart, or auto supply.

Hey Chris,
Just a suggestion. If you're going to go to all of that trouble to strip the engine you might want to think about using POR-15 engine paint. It'll take a little while but in the end you'll have an engine that looks like it was dipped in porcelain. Just follow their directions to the letter.