hey sumith, light coat of black is good for your radiator to prevent corrosion, thats what the reconditioners do. as DD said it doesnt seem u need to fully rebuild engine, if u r doing the head its a good time to paint the engine itself because u have the rrocker cover off and the sump and block still together but the head which should not be painted is off.

so u can paint the engine still in, with the rocker cover seperate. OR u can paint the engine out of the car which is better but not totally necessary.

start by having a lot of tins or jars and something to label everything with, what u take either take off the engine or mask up or paint over is up to u. u dont want to paint things like the distributor and wiring but other things like oil pump u might not mind being painted.

Remember paint does not stick to any oily surface well, and even if there is oil in the air, like an oily smell it can cause problems with the paint "fish eyes" so degreasing will be more of the work than the rubbing down.

first mask up the block deck face really well then get off all loose grease buildup, then degrease with astiff brush, then when dry clean everything on the block and sump witha wire brush and steel wool, then another clean with turps or prepsol and paint the block and sump. do these in dry not wet coats because they dont need to be glossy and the dry coats are less likely to play up with runs or fish eyes.

The rocker cover give more attention and rub it down nice and smooth finishing with nothing rougher than 320 grade, primer it and paint it seperately. do it lying on a bench not hanging up so oiliness doesnt get out into the air, and mask up the oil filler hole. degrease it really well, start with 2 sry coats and then two two more wet ones with 10 mins between each.

if u r painting the engine still in the car either wrap the steering and crossmember near the sump with newspaper or get a piece of cardboard hold it there when u r spraying.

the engine bay take off whatever u can and label everything, and label every wire u take off best to use a number system put a 1 on the wire on the engine loom and a 1 on the part it goes to etc. when u have everything out or disconnected take out all the grommets on the firewall and pull them forward as far as they can or at least 20 cm,

dont try and take out the loom from behind the firewall, too much hassle.
just bundle up the whole loom and put it in a plastic bag and tie it up, u should have room to either hang it over the side or inside the car like that, depending on what u r doing. Mask up the part of the loom that is still showing.



to prepare the engine bay, degrease thoroughly first, then use steel wool to prep everywhere asit gets in better into corners than sandpaper but use a 320 or smoother on main flat areas that are easy to get to and more visible. when u paint again do a couple of dry coats and a couple of wet coats with 10 mins between each.

Make sure u clean up all the parts u have taken off and the wiring as u go along putting everything back or the dirty/rusty things will stand out like dogs balls on a freshly painted engine and engine bay.