My freshly painted engine is rusting

Question:

I am presently restoring a ’67 Firebird and have had the engine rebuilt and repainted. The engine is back in the car and running great, but the fresh paint job on the block is starting to rust here and there. I am wondering 1) if there is a right way to refinish engine blocks and 2) any tips on how to touch up the rusty spots and basically arrest further deterioration of the finish. Plasti-Kote engine paint was used.

Answer:

I’ve found that in places on engines where the paint burns off and rust forms, you can shoot on a little silver high-temperature exhaust manifold paint first, then shoot on the color. This helps insulate the color coat. Be sure you scrub all the rust off with a wire brush, clean the area of grease, dirt and old paint, prep it with metal prep and then shoot on the paint. No primer should be used. Plasti-Kote is good, as are The Eastwood Company’s engine paints.