I recently bought a very nice original condition 37 Chev 1/2 ton pickup, which I hope to drive to Flint in July and try for an HPOCF certification.

The engine is all original, however the paint on the engine has deteriorated badly. If I clean the oil, grime, surface rust off, I'll be left with mostly bare metal on the valve cover, pushrod cover, and oil pan. I really want to clean up the engine, because it's so much easier to keep clean once it's been cleaned up. With the engine clean, the sheet metal parts will no longer have any original paint on them, and the cast iron parts will have only traces of the original paint.

With the engine cleaned to bare metal, I presume it would be disqualified. With the engine disqualified, is the engine bay then disqualified, even if the firewall, inner fenders, under hood and inner grille shell are still in good condition? If the engine is to be disqualified for being cleaned to bare metal, would I be just as well off to go ahead and repaint the engine now while it is removed and cleaned?

I'm pretty sure the cab interior will qualify, as well as the undercarriage. I'm hoping the body/paint will qualify, though there are some problem areas in the paint.

Mark Yeamans

If the engine is repainted or has no paint the engine compartment will be disqualified.
That still leavs the underbody,interior and exterior. You will need at least two "areas" to be )almost all) original to be a HPOCF

Greetings, new guy here. Sorry to start off by resurrecting an old thread, but I do have a question about getting disqualified on my engine.

My car is a 36,000 mile survivor. I am planning to show in HPOCF class in the upcoming Greenwood, SC VCCA National Meet. The paint on the engine is still there to a degree, but is pretty well worn off, with the exception of the original water pump, which has been rebuilt and repainted. Also, belts, hoses and clamps have been replaced (with correct repros from GM Restoration Parts).

WIll this get my engine DQ'd? If so, it would be good to know now (I suppose I could pull the water pump back out and remove the paint, and put the old rotten hoses and belts back on, but that seems foolish).

Thanks!

Hutch,

As was stated in the earlier posts, you can still be certified in two or three other areas depending on condition without the engine compartment being included. You have to ask this question, "Is it a bad decision to repaint the engine or is it a bad decision NOT to repaint the engine?" Eventually original surfaces would simply look better and be preserved better by refurbishing. If the engine compartment is really clean and without grease and crime it might be a good idea to consider cleaning the surfaces and see if it certifies. If you repaint that original surface it is forever gone. Make sure your undercarriage, interior and exterior surfaces are clean as well. Good luck, can't wait to see the vehicle.

The engine compartment is the toughest by far to certify. There are people that feel that an engine repaint is justification to not certify. Also missing or severely deteriorated paint on the engine is not considered to certify.

I am of a different opinion. The paint on the engine is only a small part of the engine assembly and in my mind not even close to the 25% non original to prevent certification. Same for belts and hoses. Most certifiers (is that a word?) consider them as well as batteries to be wear items with very limited safe lifetime and over look original appearing replacements.

Lets try to be practical. The object is to preserve these Chevys so future generations can see how they were originally produced and restorers can use them as examples of what to recreate. If we get too picky then we will have defeated our purpose.

Thanks all. I'll just give the engine and undercarriage a good cleaning and hope for the best.