The factory methods for making...
The factory methods for making the engine in your Mopar aesthetically appealing were pretty crude. This month we'll show you how they did it, and how you might be able to make your engine and engine bay look better than new.
We've said it before: one of the most neglected areas during a car restoration is often the engine and engine bay of the vehicle. There are countless Mopars that would be show winners, and featured here in the pages of Mopar Muscle, if only the engine and engine bay were properly restored. By properly restored, we mean clean, painted, presentable, and matching the theme of the car. If the car is a stock restoration, the engine should be painted like it was from the factory. If the car is modified, modifications to the engine and engine bay are certainly acceptable as well. This month we'll show you how to restore your engine's appearance to factory specs, and also show you some tips to make the engine bay look better than it was when the car was new.
When our Mopars were built, they were constructed by regular people working shifts on an assembly line in one of the many Chrysler factories. The automotive industry was in a growth period during the late '60s, so all of the factories were hiring new employees on a regular basis. Like most auto manufacturers, Chrysler would put new employees in entry-level positions, and they would work their way toward more challenging jobs and better pay. For painters, entry level meant painting the engine bay of the vehicle, and perhaps the inside of the trunk and inner body. For this reason, the engine bays of the majority of Mopars we've seen have at least one flaw, and often many, right from the factory.
Chances are you spent a lot...
Chances are you spent a lot of money on the parts and machine work necessary to make the inside of your engine perform properly, so don't you want it to look its best as well?
The same goes for the engine of your Mopar. After being built at the Mound Road Engine Plant (or Chrysler's Marine & Industrial engine plant in the case of 426 Hemis), it was painted the appropriate color with a spray gun just like the car, and the guy painting it may have never painted anything before in his life. He quite likely just got the job at the engine plant and was doing his time painting engines and waiting to be promoted. Knowing this explains the vast discrepancies we've seen in the way factory engines were painted. In some cases, nearly the entire negative battery cable was the color of the engine; in others, just the end of the cable. Some engines got soaked in paint, causing runs, and others just got a light coat, leaving bare cast iron exposed. It simply depended on the painter's attention to detail, or lack thereof.
So, if you want to restore the engine and engine bay of your Mopar back to the way it was from the factory, you need to decide whether to document all of the defects and reproduce them, or to do it better than the factory did. For uniquely-optioned Mopars, or cars attempting to achieve OE Gold status, reproducing the engine and engine bay the way it came from the factory is generally considered the appropriate method of restoration, but for most of our mass-produced Mopars, spending a little extra time using modern products and restoration techniques can have your engine and engine bay looking far better than when it rolled off Chrysler's assembly line.
This month, we'll show you...
This month, we'll show you some tricks to make your engine look its best.
When we build the engine for our Mopar, most of us take advantage of modern lightweight components inside, and modern gasket and seal technology to keep the engine dry and leak-free. Technology has come a long way in the past four decades, and it's generally accepted that even a stock restoration isn't necessarily required to remain stock internally. And although a little bigger cam, lighter forged pistons, and roller rocker arms can't be seen without some disassembly, items like gaskets can, so if you want a factory look, the visible gaskets should be of the appropriate material, like cork for the valve covers and oil pan. If you're not keeping your car completely factory, however, we suggest that you take advantage of modern rubber and coated gasket technology, as the performance will be much better.
This is what we usually start...
This is what we usually start with when we pull the engine from our Mopar for a rebuild, especially if the car has been neglected by one or more previous owners. With a little work and the right parts, even a rough-looking engine like this can be made to appear better than new.
After a trip to the hot tank...
After a trip to the hot tank at our local machine shop, Auto Performance Engines, engine parts are free from oil and grease and are generally ready to paint. We take cleanliness to the next level, however, and wash all the parts with dish soap and water, removing any contaminants that could affect our paint job.
Using dry compressed air to...
Using dry compressed air to blow all the parts off will remove any moisture left over from washing and rinsing the parts. Remember, this is as clean as the engine parts will get as they will certainly be contaminated by a certain amount of oil during assembly, so now is the best time to paint the engine parts.
One trick we use is to pre-assemble...
One trick we use is to pre-assemble the engine and exterior sheetmetal like the timing cover, oil pan, and valve covers using the proper hardware, then painting everything together ensuring complete coverage of all the parts. Even if you plan to paint the engine again after assembly, this gets a good coat of paint on the parts as a base.
The parts can also be painted...
The parts can also be painted individually, if desired, prior to being put on the engine and recoated. The trick is to get multiple layers of paint on the clean and dry engine parts, ensuring that if the top coat gets chipped, the engine will still be the proper color underneath.
Engine paint is specifically...
Engine paint is specifically designed to be tolerant to oils and chemicals associated with an automotive engine, and it can take more heat than normal paint. Summit Racing carries a variety of engine paints, including the correct colors for all popular Mopar applications.