Facelift on my V8 engine

[81v8gp]

I have owned my '81 Grand Prix since new and I thought I would give the engine bay a facelift. Here are a few pictures.

I originally was going to do just the valve covers, but once I got those off and saw how rusty the block was I couldn't stop there.

First I removed everything I could and I ended up with this.

Then I primed it.

Painted it GM blue.

And finally reassembled it

I had all the brackets and pulleys powdercoated, disassembled the alternator, distributor and air pump and painted them with Alumablast from Eastwood. I painted the P/S pump and and A/C compressor and bought a new decal for the compressor.

I think the hardest part was masking the area off. I didn't want to get overspray on the firewall or the frame. I went into too much detail also. Once I had the block painted, I looked at the exhaust manifolds and had to do something with them. I bought some 1200 degree paint from Eastwood and hand painted, with a small paintbrush, the tops of the manifolds - at least were you could see. They turned out real nice but once I assembled the engine back together, you can't even see them.

 

[Blake442]

Looks great!

 

[RockSS]

Really nice job 8) looks like you took your time ... as far as the manifolds hey YOU know they look better now 😀

 

[dogsht]

Great job. Never seen anybody do this in the car & do a nice job like you did. Is that a Pontiac 301? Original owner since 81! Had my GN since Nov 86, just rebuilt the motor & transmission & painted them. I should post some new pics.

You should put some pics in your gallery. Click my pics link ie the little camera button for some ideas.

 

[redboy504]

It looks great. like it just rolled off the line. Dont worry about the manifolds. At least you know its done right. All your time and effort paid off.

 

[81v8gp]

Thanks for the comps. No it is the 265 and yes original owner. I should have done the timing chain when I was in there thou. I checked the timing and the mark is bouncing all over the place. Guess I'll have to rip it apart again.

 

[kuruption109]

:shock: :shock: now thats factory FRESH!!

 

[tc1959]

That's a lot of work but well worth it. Very cool. 8)

 

[Minion1186]

nice job, looks great. I did my engine swap 2 winters ago and while the old motor was out i stripped the firewall down and put a coat of paint on it,looks a lot better especially with a shiny new motor in it.