At 09:38 AM 6/24/2009 -0600, Colin Parkinson in he UK wrote:
"Do you know what the goldish lacquer is that is on the inside of the sump, timing cover and rocker cover? I need to bead blast these, and just wanted to protect them".

If it's inside the engine, and it's still there, it has to be enamel, not lacquer.

Paint inside a sheet metal cover is only there to prevent rust in case the engine should sit idle long enough for all oil to drain away and dry up so moisture could get to the surface. That takes more than six months, so unless you expect to store the car for a year or more, don't worry about painting anything inside.

Paint inside of sand castings (engine block or gear case) is sometimes used to seal the surface in case there may be any left over bits of sand form the casting process. This only applies to new castings. If the casting has been used with oil previously inside it will be clean anyway, and you don't need to worry about interior paint.

I never paint anything inside the engine or gear case, and I don't think the factory ever did either. Maybe some Gold Seal rebuild replacement engines could have been painted inside. That might account for gold color inside the sheet metal covers. Any time the engine block or head is hot tanked for cleaning the paint goes away.