What is the best way to remove all the rust off an engine before painting? I don't plan on doing a complete teardown, just want to detail it, as I'm on a pretty tight budget. But I still want to do it right and make it look nice. All advise is appreciated.

Without teardown, its pretty manual. First make sure all openings are well sealed with duct tape or other means so dust doesn't get inside. After that a small wire brush on a drill, sand paper and a pick of some type to scrape out the corners will get most of the rust off.

A thorough de-grease is important also.

If its very rusty, I would consider a first prime coat of rust stop primer. Rustoleum is available in spray bomb (red) at the home improvement store or rust encapsulator (black) from Eastwood. Then a light coat of grey automotive primer for a neutral color then finish paint.

There is very little to de-grease. I made the mistake of powerwashing it, and not painting it right away. Now I'm Gonna pay for it.

Not that big of a deal, if it's just flash rust on a clean cast iron surface. I'd wire brush it and then spray it with an etching primer, then the color of your choice. Cast iron isn't like steel, it'll rust into a pretty stable surface, think about the differential carriers that are cast iron and leave the factory unpainted.

R.

If you just have to have that rust gone you can apply sulphuric acid with a paint brush to those areas until you see it turn gray again & wash it off with water or youcan treat it with ospho or extend then paint