Lifter valley paint

[PaulProe]

I am getting ready to assemble my FE. I am leaning towards painting the lifter valley for improved oil return.

A couple local guys have commented about using Rust-o-leum rather than Glyptal. Claim the fish oil based paints adhere to the metal just as well.

Has anyone used Rustoleum in this application? Seems the best deal I can find on Glyptal is thru Caswell's. If Rustoleum works just as well, it would be much more convenient. Can you tell me the type of Rustoleum you've used. Number or name would be helpful

2nd question: do you only paint the lifter valley or do you go into the main area and paint it also?

Thanks

Paul

[jschiller]

I have no first hand experience but I would seriously consider Glyptal as the only choice for painting the inside of the block. It is proven to work in an environment where failure will be catastrophic to the health of your engine.

Paint chips floating around in the engine, getting on bearing surfaces, clogging oil pump pickups, blocking lifter oiling, etc is no way to find out if Rust-o-leum is better than Glyptal.

Glyptal is available in aerosol cans and brush-on cans. It doesn't take much.

Here's a pic.

John

[Woodz428]

We used to use Rust-O-leum (sp) pretty regualrly many years ago, at the time that was considered kind of a standard. We used the brush on in Red or Black. A lot of time was spent insuring that there were no oils left on the surface to impeded adhesion. Never had any fail or flake off. But... that was many years, and probably a 100 paint formula's, ago. Glyptal is a great paint, but I have no personal experience and with some of the new style epoxy and urethane paints there is probably even better paint now. The last time I used Rust-O-Leum was about 4 years ago on an old Harley engine and trans case. It was a 1940 engine and as far back as the late 60's we used to use it on the inside of those cases to keep them from "bleeding" through the castings. They too were cleaned extensively to eliminate any oils left. So although I have used it many times without any failures it is not a recommendation as the best, or only paint, to use. It might not hurt to talk with an automotive paint store and see what they would suggest.Like many people, I tend to use what has worked, but am always open to improving the process.

[lineslinger]

I used glyptal, the adhesion has always lasted whenever I used it without any residue, chips or "leaching" problems.

[Barry_R]

I don't like paint inside the engine.
I don't like paint inside the engine.....

[speed220mph]

As Barry says, don't paint. For one thing, it doesn't help the flow of oil to the pan. Secondly, it was mainly for sealing debris that should've been cleaned out in the first place such as casting sand and plain old dirt from inside the block. My experience is not to add anything such as paint that get loose and contaminate the oil or worse, block an oil gallery. So do it right the first time and remove any flash and, if you have a lot of time, smooth the lifter area with a die grinder fitted with a burr or an abrasive stone, then clean the heck out of the block afterwards.

I cover block preparation and all other aspects of engine building in my newly published book, The Racing Engine Builder's Handbook. I show how race blocks are prepared for NASCAR Cup, Busch, late model, Dash, boat or whatever racing. Bottom line is cleanliness, it's the key. If it doesn't make horsepower, leave or get it out. The biggest problem with many engine builders is they do excessive "romancing" of the parts. Painting the interior of a block falls under this category. Save the paint for the exterior of the engine, but wash it down with brake cleaner first.

[Woodz428]

I would have to agree about not painting. I haven't used it on an automotive engine for some period. I don't think it will help oil flow any better than deburring and polishing in the same area. That's what I have done for quite a while. I have always been worried about the possibility of paint flaking off and destroying an expensive piece. Although, I have never seen any indication of that, it is always a possible. Since most blocks have casting "slag" that is left, by removing that and a little time with a sanding drum accomplishes that same without an potential side effects. I wouldn't have used it on the Harley if I wasn't trying to stop seepage through the early castings.

[Carnut427]

My Genesis block came painted with glyptol. I had to have the engine decked to get the quench I wanted, and the machine shop ran the block through their pressure washer afterwards. Some of the paint flaked off from that, telling me it wasn't a good idea. I used paint stripper and a wire brush (in a drill) to remove the rest of it, and obviously cleaned the block extremely well afterwards. Don't paint it. It's just a possible failure point.
My 2 cents,

Dan