1995 Ranger Project - Engine Bay Clean Up

The majority of the rebuild process is cleaning up and polishing the details from the mock up process. Case in point the engine bay, while its functional its far from pretty. So, this post is detailing the steps taken to make this from pig sty to beauty queen, after all we have a beauty of a twin turbo V8

to drop in here.

First step removing the motor so it can be clean and painted as well to match the new paint scheme for the truck and well as get some more mods to prep for the turbos. 4 bolts holding the motor to the mounts, a couple hoses and an engine puller make quick work of removing the engine. Now for easier removal and since we are prepping the bay for paint. We went ahead and also removed the radiator, steering arm and box, air conditioner housing and transmission. 

What we're left with is this greasy multi-colored rust hap hazard of an engine bay, but that will quickly be fixed. First step degreasing and pressure washing. This will be nasty and get crud everywhere around the car so do this somewhere that can be cleaned easily. Take time to tape off and remove anything that can suffer water damage and shouldn't be painted later. Once cleaned use a 80-100 grit sand paper to prep the frame for paint, this will remove any surface rust left and ensure a good bond for the paint. I recommend using a brake line fluid resistant paint, as that is some corrosive stuff and will ensure long lasting paint even after a spill or two. As for the rest of the engine bay. Go over it with 100-120 grit paper and remove any rust, stickers and feather out any deep scratches. Extra prep time here will ensure a better outcome then rushing though to the painting process.

The paint process should be done in a 2 step process. First layer is a rust sealer/primer to stop any further damage, followed by your color of choice. We are going with 2 colors satin black for the frame and the rest flat black. Like before when painting stay 6-12 away using several light edge to edge passes. Allowing plenty of dry time in between each pass. 

With the final color on, we put the newly painted engine back in

(see our other posts for the engine clean up and paint)