Engine paint removal

Find a machine shop that has one of those ovens that bake the paint and grease off. Then it gets blasted with steel shot and the block comes out looking like a new casting. Awesome setup but its hard to find a shop with it.

This IS a good method. However, (to the OP) be very careful who you trust your block to for this. I've seen cracked blocks because of guys who cool the block down too quickly.