Tech Photo-Journal #2 -- Engine Yank and Bay Repaint
Removal of the Engine, Stripping Coats of Paint, and Refinishing the Engine Bay.
Lots of 'detail' pictures are not shown. They were helpful for putting things back together correctly later.
Here's the parts removed from the bay in preparation for pulling the engine. Note the careful organizing of the parts. :-)
With everything disconnected, including the engine mounts, and the carb off, the engine hoist (cherry-picker) is put in place.
Here's a close-up of the load-leveler attached to the engine. The leveler was very helpful in this case, because ...
I pulled both the engine and the transmission together. Clearing the radiator support would have been very challenging without the leveler. Most of the oil was already drained from both the engine and trans, but more comes out in this process.
Up, and away. The hoist worked great, and was on sale at Sam's Club some years ago.
Here's the 383 and 727 setting on the engine dolly. Both were in need of rebuilding, but still worked OK when yanked.
The 727 trans after being separated from the engine and flex plate. Also shown is the new, slightly smaller torque converter. Here's the old one:
The trans went out later for a performance rebuild, using an MP kit and other parts.
Using the advice from elsewhere on the Web, I pulled the K-member and most of the front suspension in one piece, from below the car. Went well except the removing the torsion bars and separating the ball joints were a pain, but that was expected from experience. The two, long strut rods were nasty, and one was noticibly bent, so some new heavy duty replacements were secured.
Here's the bay and frontend with most of the remaining bits and pieces, and the bumper mounts and dinged-up nose, removed. Not yet having good air tools (yet), ...
I used strong brush-on paint stripper, wood paint sticks, and plastic putty scrapers to remove the multiple layers of paint. Some layers came off easily, but some were more resistant. This was a long process, nearing completion as shown above. Lots of mess, and need for safety equipment, ventilation, etc. while doing this stripping.
If I had to do it again (hopefully not), I'd now use a pneumatic angle grinder with Scotch-Brite discs to remove most of the paint. Then I'd use the chemical for the groves, etc. that I couldn't get with the discs.
After washing/neutralizing the metal, a very light sanding to add 'tooth', and a final cleanup, it was time to start painting. The first coat was an acid-primer which is supposed to bond well with the exposed steel. Not shown is the light gray primer-sealer coat that came next. I did not then use a primer-surfacer (and then sand it) because this engine bay doesn't need to be very smooth like the exterior body panels.
Here's my cuurent siphon-feed gun (left). It's a low-cost knock-off, but it worked very well. Had sold my name-brand guns years ago. Haven't used the touch-up/detail gun on the right yet.
Then I applied two topcoats of enamel. All the prepwork is a pain, but spraying the final coats is fairly fun and very satisfying because it looks much better afterwards. The enamel mist (catalyzed in this case) is deadly, and sticks to everything nearby, so proper safety equipment, and lots of ventilation is needed. And waiting for a fairly dry, temperate, and bug-free day helps a lot.
Here's the painted bay with its K-member installed, and a new/rebuilt and painted power steering box.
The frontend was then reassembled using new polyurethane, etc. parts. Didn't replace the pitman arm (but had previously replaced the very-sloppy idler arm) because it seemed fine, and correct replacements are $$ and hard to find. The transmission mount/isolator was totally shot, but a replacement was cheap and easy to get. Using new engine mounts (isolators) is also highly recommended.