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Hello folks. I have a nicely restored 72 nova that is great on exterior and interior, however the engine and engine bay need to be painted. Motor would need to be pulled obviously. Is my best option to find an engine builder who could do this for me? Any suggestions would be helpful. I am also in the Northern VA area an if anyone has any referrals that would be awesome. Any input on cost would also be appreciated!,

I don't know about Northern Virginia, but around here, North Georgia, engine builders want the engine out of the car when you bring it to them.

Who will you have doing the painting? If it's a body and paint shop, perhaps you could arrange for a "mobile mechanic" to do the work on site, in the storage lot at the body/paint shop. Otherwise, it's either a do-it-yourself job at home, or get a mobile mechanic to do it at your home, or take it to a repair/service shop and have the engine pulled out there, then have the car trailered/towed to the body/paint shop.

 

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Do you have a body/paint shop picked out to do the paint work under the hood? You can ask them who they recommend.

Also check "yourmechanic.com" or search for "mobile mechanic near me" to find other mobile mechanics.

As always, check references, get quotes/estimates from several before making a final decision.

 

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Sun Belt Rentals rents engine hoists (cherry pickers) and transmission jacks and some other specialized repair equipment. In most major metropolitan areas, there's also local competitors in that market.

I've used Sun Belt, and a local rental place, to rent a higher quality transmission jack. I used to own one of the inexpensive ones (got mine from Northern Tool, IIRC). I had a friend borrow it, and he wanted to keep it and gave me cash for the price of one at Harbor Freight. I do so few transmission jobs now (I'm semi-retired), and the quality of the offerings at Harbor Freight just wasn't impressive. The equipment rental places have "commercial grade" (big, strong and heavy) jacks for rent. The last time I used one, it was for an older RV with a big Alison automatic transmission, and I think I paid $35 to rent it for a "day" (over the weekend, from end of day Friday to early Monday morning usually counts as one day at these places). That was about 5 years ago, and I'm sure prices are higher now, probably for the exact same jack I used.