Alright guys well I took your advice and I am tearing the whole engine apart now what do I want to do as far as cleaning deposits and grim in the block and heads. I will be replacing all seals and gaskets and any other suggestions. I will be painting the block and heads do you suggest powder coating or it there another way. Sorry there's a lot of little questions in this thread but any complete engine rebuild info is much appreciated
Your best bet if you are not tearing down the whole engine is to scrape the grease off them use an engine degreaser and power washer. You have to make sure the engine is sealed so no water enters into the block.
As far as powder coating a motor, I never heard of anyone doing this before and if you can powder coat it would be more expensive way to go. However, they do sell high heat paint in a wide range of colors that work just fine. The trick is making sure the block is grease free so the paint properly adheres.
The other alternative is having the motor dipped at a machine shop but the engine would need to be completely torn down because the dip would ruin all the internal bearings.
For painting VHT makes several kinds/colors and can be found in JEGs or even at local shops like Autozone or O'Rieleys. The one the machine shop guys recommended was called Flame Proof which is a for headers. They have to be cured and make sure to mask off everything you don't want sprayed. You said in your post you are tear the motor apart now so once its all in parts and pieces I would spray each piece when it is by itself. You will be able to give a better coat to the parts while they are easier to move around and you wont get any paint on gaskets etc. Don't forget to reclean the areas you masked off. I am not sure what kind of residue the tape may leave but I try to go with the safe redundancy of recleaning just to be sure.
http://www.vhtpaint.com/products/flameproof/
It is all about "elbow grease" as your thread states!
You can use engine cleaner, purple power, oven cleaner, etc. and it will still come down to some scrapping.
Once it is clean I like to use brake cleaner to clean the metal for paint. I also use high temperature primer before the high temperature paint to ensure a good base. I also paint everything apart to get the best coverage as well as a complete look.
Though not very commonly done I suppose you could successfully powder-coat a car engine. We used to powder-coat Harley cylinders, heads and cases and they came out looking really good and they held up to an air-cooled aluminum engine just fine. Our biggest challenge was dealing with the effects of the powder-coating process on the aluminum cylinders. The cylinders are sleeved but powder-coating (properly) requires some heat and that makes the aluminum unhappy. We used to coat everything first and then machine to size. You can probably do the same.
Here is a good tip since you're actually taking the engine apart yourself: look closely at EVERYTHING as you take it apart. Even if you're going to replace something, take note of alignment and wear marks on mating parts. Look for signs of gasket leaks. Pay attention to these things before you re-assemble. For example if you notice an oil-pan gasket leak, look closely at the pan before you bolt it back on. It may have been warped or overtightened at some point. Look closely at the rocker arms. If they're not mating properly with the valve tip you will see it. Now's the time to prevent problems before they start.