Smoothing engine?

I used a roloc on the big areas and finished it off with the dremel sanding bands. You can buy a top of line Dremel with accessories for $100. If it doesn't come with a flexable shaft extention ($30), you need to get one. There is no way you can get the dremel in some tight areas without it. Don't get cheap on the dremel because if you work them to death like I do, you will eventually burn them up. I've already gone through 2, but in 5 years and multiple projects it's still worth it! If you buy a package of sanding bands you will get 6 in a pack for $3... Just sayin' LOL

It also depends on the look that you are going for. On my daily I just prepped and then painted. For my Sema Show truck I was going for the smoothest finish possible. It just depends on how picky you want to get.

Daily Driver (2000 Dodge Ram 360)No grinding

Failed Sema Show Truck (1994 Dodge Ram 318)Grinded smooth

Some of it is wavy but once all the accessories and headers are installed, you won't even notice it.

Best of luck!!! It's a lot of fun...

Well I want mine pretty smooth. I dont have many accessories so I have a good bit of block and heads showing in the front.

Should I rebuild the motor first? I plan on going thru the motor and putting new gaskets in. Just wondering If I should wait to go thru the motor first.

I would get it rebuilt after you get finished grinding everything. You will get a lot of metal shavings no matter how well you cover all the holes. It might even be easier if you took it apart and worked on it in pieces if you plan to disassemble it?

jance.... how much time would you say you have it each one of those? give us a comparison....

That's really hard to compare since I used some parts from my Sema truck on my daily. My daily was down for a few days while I was prepping and painting everything ON the truck. I would say a couple of weekends worth of time, and then enterchanging parts from my 94 to the 2000. Valve covers, fan shroud, air intake etc...





It does get dirty...

http://www.jancecustoms.com/2000_dodge_ram_daily_driver_engine.html

As far as the Sema engine goes, I won't even guess at how many hours I have in smoothing out the engine, polishing the intake and transmission, smoothing out the spindles, door jambs and everything else. Trial and error and a lot of patience.

It's very time consuming. Rolocs, corse wire brushes, Dremel bits, die grinders.... I did one 3" section and got pissed off. If you're looking for a Chip Foose quality block, then OMG, good luck!!!! It's easier just to build a nice sheetmetal engine cover. IMO, I think they look nicer.

I hate dremels and wont use it. It just seems way too weak for the stuff we do. I only use die grinders with all sorts of wheels, cut-off wheels, thin discs, roloc flap discs, standard rolocs, scotch brights, carbide bits, hand files, sandpaper and blocks...











This is just after being sprayed. A lot of the pieces were wet sanded and buffed also.

WOW!!! That is what I am looking for!!!

make sure you dont put a clear on the motor it will turn yellow

Robbie is killing it, beautiful.