engine bay oil covered with cracked paint

[TX82FIAT]

I am removing layers of oil and dirt and have found some paint under the mess. However, the paint is cracked and pealing. Rust is strangely not an issue since the engine bay was coated with oil. I am still working through the layers of oil. Also, the engine is very clean in all areas making me think the oil issue was at the top of the engine (makes sence) and a previous owner cleaned that but let the oil sit on the engine bay walls. With that, I have a couple questions.

I have been using gunk and "carefully" rinsing the areas to avoid electricals. I do not like this approach and suspect a couple more cans of gunk will be required. Any other idea on how to clean this without taking out the hose? I have been considering a wet sand and wipe approach to clean and strip. That will require new paint.

In some areas where I am wiping of the oil for the 20th or 30th time I can see clean metal. Good and bad. I will now need to paint the engine bay. With that said, I do not have an engine hoist and would like to avoid the cost/time commitment involved pulling the engine. Any thoughts on removing items like the ingnition coil, coolant overflow, brake fluid resevoir, vapor canister, air filter, washer bottle, radiator. Lable all wires,use digital photos, cover the engine well, tape off a perimiter at the rubber hood seals and paiting the bay with a white paint as close to the FIAT white I can find.

Looked for similar posts... Ideas

[mbouse]

ideas? sure. one really big one.

if you don't stop the source of all that oil leaking, you'll either be totally frustrated really soon, or redoing your gunk removal.

suggest you plan on some downtime in performing some engine work while the paint dries.

[TX82FIAT]

Engine is fine. No smoke, no oil leaks and I have been running it around the neigborhood as I work out the bugs. Timing, valves and compression are good. As mentioned before, the engine is clean. From what I can tell the oil has been on the engine bay for a long, long time and appears that previous owner did not worry about a clean engine bay.

I am considering using carburetor cleaner to get the last few layers off the engine bay. This is more acidi and should not hurt the remaining paint. This should also help ensure the surface is free of grease for paint.

[mbouse]

with a cold engine, cover the distributor with a plastic bag. cover the carburetor the same way. might not be a bad idea to disconnect the battery.

use some mean green or other bio-safe degreaser and give the firewall and inner fenders a bath with a low power siphon washer. i have a pheumatic air/fluid washer that works great to siphon wash mixture from a bucket.