Also leave the sump plate off so the any residual humidity can evaporate.

Pulling the motor is the easiest part of the job ahead of you. It only takes about a half hour. Then clean it like Ingo suggested. If you want you can drop the motor but leave the tranny in so that you don't have to disconnect your axles. If you haven't done this before do a search or ask for some guidance.

Get the motor back together and running as soon as possible. Don't let it sit. Run it with some cheap detergent oil until it is up to operating temperature, shut it off and then drain it. It will clean and dry itself out.

Now you can do your paint.

+1 at least to the short block... + if you are going non CIS then you can swap the cams/pistons out as running CIS parts w/ carbs is a bad match.

Your shroud, deck lid, and associated rubber/plastic meted all over that engine. Ergo, several of your cooling fins will be clogged up with crap. If not cleaned properly you will be creating hot spots that will cause you issues in the future.

I know its not what you want to hear... sorry...

Best regards,

Michael

"certainly not what I wanted to hear"

- I know and I'm sorry to be (the first bearer) of bad news. boba pretty much summarized it all above. IT will make a lot more sense in year3, 4, 5, etc. than right now. But it is the right thing to do.