Topic: 428 CJ Engine Painting

[1970 Snake]

I could use a little help understanding the painting process Ford use to paint the 1970 mustang 428 CJ engine corporate blue. I have reviewed the engine detailing Marcus and Bob have provided but it does not clearly define how the corporate blue was applied, to get the correct coverage. How are the exhaust manifold, carb mount, timing cover and back of water pump areas painted. Are any of the bolt on components pre-painted then mounted and finish painted with engine, was anything masked off?? Any details would help, thanks.

[Bob Gaines]

I could use a little help understanding the painting process Ford use to paint the 1970 mustang 428 CJ engine corporate blue. I have reviewed the engine detailing Marcus and Bob have provided but it does not clearly define how the corporate blue was applied, to get the correct coverage. How are the exhaust manifold, carb mount, timing cover and back of water pump areas painted. Are any of the bolt on components pre-painted then mounted and finish painted with engine, was anything masked off?? Any details would help, thanks.

The current conscientious of opinion is that the special Cobra Jet exhaust manifolds were not on the car when painted and added later . The waterpump was on the engine when painted and consequently received thin coverage behind pump. If you want the look but not the surface maintenance issues bare cast iron will have you may want to paint the portion of the timing cover covered by the pump and the back of the pump with a stainless steel or similar bare metal looking paint prior to painting engine color. What little thin blue paint area you see it will be hard to tell if bare metal or paint metal color. Others simply paint the timing cover and back of pump before assemble prior painting the entire engine. The water pump heater hose fitting was added after painting and fitting was most likely plugged. The intake heat hose fitting was not plugged . The oil filter adapter engine surface had a mask similar to the shape of the bolted on adapter to keep paint out of oil passages. The fuel pump opening had a similar covering or bolted on blank plate. The water temp sender and the dist advance vacuum switch had a mask over it and so did about the last inch of the end of the thermostat housing and carb contact area. There was a bracket bolted on the back of the CJ intake for engine handling and it left a witness line once removed after the engine was done. some kind of mule valve covers to protect the rocker area from paint . The pcv hose was painted and the amount varied but typically painted about half way up rubber hose to protect the valve from paint. The cast iron bellhousing was installed without the inspection cover but of course with the block plate. Care was taken when painting underneath in the the area of the block plate that the starter bolts to so as to maintain a good ground for the starter when bolted in place .The crank shaft spacer sleeve on the front of the engine was installed but not the balancer  The sleeve protected the timing cover seal from paint . A minimal amount of paint overspray on the spacer sleeve  where it meets the timing cover is typical. I am sure I left something out but others can fill in what I forgot to mention.   

[J_Speegle]

To add just a little to Bob's excellent description

- The necks where the radiator hoses would attached were masked by likely a slip over mask that kept the paint off of the sealing surface with the hoses.

- Water pump pulley attachment hub was masked also.

- No parts that I think of were painted first then installed and repainted with the engine assembly.

- Oil filter adapter was not installed at time the engine was painted

- Smog tubes and check valves connected to the heads were in place and attached when the assembly was painted

- If you choose the back side of the water pump can be fully painted with a fake "natural" paint prior to installation to protect the surfaces that may not get engine paint

- Borrowed from another posting but an example of the shadow Bob described at the back of the intake manifold. Also the painted and unpainted parts of the PCV vacuum plumbing

[rockhouse66]

Nice work by Bob and Jeff.  What about the carb spacer?  On when painted or off?  Also, the vacuum fitting at the rear of the intake manifold was painted with the engine but the fitting that screws into it was not yet installed (as it varied depending on car options).

[RoyceP]

This picture is either a 1968 GT500 or a Cougar GT-E. The intake is the aluminum C7AE-F casting with the blank off plate at the rear for use of the intake on earlier vehicles with either a road draft tube or PCV system plumbed in that hole.

To add just a little to Bob's excellent description

[Bob Gaines]

Nice work by Bob and Jeff.  What about the carb spacer?  On when painted or off?  Also, the vacuum fitting at the rear of the intake manifold was painted with the engine but the fitting that screws into it was not yet installed (as it varied depending on car options).

Carb spacer was installed after painting just like the accessory vacuum fitting with multiple small nipples you mentioned.They certainly deserve to be mentioned .Thanks for the help.

[specialed]

From my research the vaccum tree was added after paint on an FE not masked off.

[1970 Snake]

So I finally looked at this thread, I didn't trigger the notify by mistake and did not realize I had replies, was getting worried. A really great description Bob, and all other inputs too, thanks. Most of my questions have been answer and am in the process of prepping the engine for paint.

I am still not clear though on how the exhaust manifold area on the heads and the carb mount face area on the intake were handled, did they just stuff something in the holes or did they just shoot the paint right on to the mounting faces, covering nothing??

Also I hear you guys regarding the timing chain cover and the back of the water pump and how to approach that, but I am thinking more and more I should just pre-paint those two surfaces with corporate blue before mounting the water pump. I will use tin foil and masking tape to cover the valve train areas

[J_Speegle]

Ford appears to have a standing practice of not painting mating surface that would later receive gaskets and possibly affect the sealing of those gaskets. Don't have have the painting instructions for the 428CJ engines but it is spelled out pretty clearly for other engines of the general time period

[1970 Snake]

Okay thanks Jeff good to know, unfortunately I have no idea how that is spelled out for the other engines, are you saying they masked off those areas or how did they keep the paint off the gasket surfaces?? Additionally I never checked before and surprises me somewhat now that I checked but my CJ exhaust manifold ports are longer than my CJ head exhaust ports.

[J_Speegle]

An example from a little later. Earlier cars than yours typically had a sharp paint break between the carb and the base (intake and or spacer)  Likely a drop/slip on mask like what was used on the fuel pump mounting flange. At this point I think what the end product looked like is more important than how they got there though its always fun to know or at least discuss

[1970 Snake]

That's an awesome picture and some good points, thanks, helps me see the process and obviously how fast they actually painted each motors, wish the picture was a little clearer, I just did not visualize it as an assembly line type painting process. For the carb mount I think I will just mask off the holes then drop a carb mount gasket over the studs and then mask the studs off, and then figure something out for the exhaust port area. I will have to look and see if I can find the assembly date on my block, I am just curious about when it was painted. Really appreciate all the details you guys have provided regarding this topic.

[1970 Snake]

BTW, I checked to see if I could find my engine assembly date as indicated previously, but they did not stamp it very well and all and it can not be read.
The block foundry casting date was 9H5, Aug 5, 1969 only one month before the car build date of Sept 4, 1969.
I find that pretty amazing that the engine was probably only built and painted a week or two before the car build date.

[1970 Snake]

Okay I found the engine build date, it was stamped on the front PS of the block beside the water pump opening, not above the oil filter adaptor, the motor was assembled just 8 days before the car was built. Amazing the coordination that must have taken without the use of a computerize process like we have today, because the car serial number is also stamped in the back of the DS head.

[cobrajet_carl]

Okay I found the engine build date, it was stamped on the front PS of the block beside the water pump opening, not above the oil filter adaptor, the motor was assembled just 8 days before the car was built. Amazing the coordination that must have taken without the use of a computerize process like we have today, because the car serial number is also stamped in the back of the DS head.

Process was pretty well computerized even back then. Ford used the IBM System/360.