Cleaning of the engine bay and cross member....done!

[2QUIK6]

Thought I would post these pics and maybe motivate someone to do some cleaning....a frind of mine had cleaned the bottom of his car spotless several years back and it motivated me to clean my TTA underside with a small brush over several months until it was showroom clean again after 28k miles!... So now my engine is out of the GN for a rebuild so I took on this project...I did not clean everything, pretty much stopped after the back of the front tires on the frame, you can start getting into a lot of work fast if you can't stop or set some boundaries on what to clean...and didn't touch the A-frames as they are a mess

What it looked like to start with:



Used lots of rags and gas to get the wax like coating and all the grease off...this frame has 57k miles on it BTW..



Then a coat of primer, and 2 coats of semi-gloss black:

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[TURBOPOWERED68]

looking good

 

[Boost231]

Time to do the control arms now.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

 

[EVIL]

Looks great.

But that oil and grease is what keeps some of our cars from rusting hahahahaha.

Keep up the good work.

D

 

[2QUIK6]

Thanks for the comments! Yeah, if it's going to be a few more weeks before the engine is ready to drop back in then I might get motivated to do the control arms...but it's about spring time and there is a ton of other crap I need to do around the house

 

[Bruce Urie]

Absolutely nice work! I've been meaning to do the same thing to my '69 Corvette engine compartment, with the engine still in....took the exhausts off, manifolds, a/c, alternator, etc. all that crap and it would be the perfect opportunity to get my falling apart body back under there for a good cleaning.....after plugging up all the holes with tape, rags, dead mice, etc. I'm figuring on using Gunk engine spray on cleaner, then using a spray bottle of water to wash off....plus some brushing.......(it's up on high jack stands, just like my poor Grand National)..damn oil pan has been leaking for years, so I've got a one piece gasket finally to fix this.....I hate dirty engines and engine bays......you have really motivated me to get going! (After I finish an all day trip of running my beloved Shirley around......doctors, prescriptions, shopping, etc.)

You've done a great job on that! Thanks for giving me the kick in the butt that I sorely needed!

Bruce '87 Grand National

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

The biggest problem when getting into a detailing project is knowing when to stop. Sometimes It seems like more and more items begin to get removed until every part and bolt is laid out on cardboard, wire wheeled, brake cleaned, wiped with lacquer thinner and sprayed. I have found that if you clean many items that don't get painted first in the engine compartment (brake lines, plastic, rubber, aluminum, etc.) then later, you can mask many of these items with aluminum foil.

Aluminum foil wraps them nicely and conforms to the individual shapes. It's thin enough to pull behind most items and then just squeeze and crimp. Of course, masking tape and rags help as well. Then for more intricate small parts, I use an artists brush and spray the paint color of choice into a paper coffee cup. This is good for brass/gold stuff like brass fittings and the gold-zinc nuts and bolts. Most times the solvent in the spray paint will bleed through the paper cup thickening the paint for better coverage with the brush.

For nuts and bolts, I heat them (not cherry red!) with the propane torch and then spray them. Seems to bake the paint on good.

 

[2QUIK6]

Glad I could motivate you Bruce! Thank you for the compliments on the work!
Joey, the aluminum foil is an awesome idea, that would have made it alot easier and great tip! Yeah I did more than I intended when I started, I may go back a do a little more if time permits, and I can always do more even with the engine in now since all of that area is done now. THe rear axle needs a little attention also.

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

Glad I could motivate you Bruce! Thank you for the compliments on the work!
Joey, the aluminum foil is an awesome idea, that would have made it alot easier and great tip! Yeah I did more than I intended when I started, I may go back a do a little more if time permits, and I can always do more even with the engine in now since all of that area is done now. THe rear axle needs a little attention also.

Rob,

There is one more little thing I forgot to mention. You see all those holes on the top of your cross member? Have you ever dropped a bolt or screw and it has fallen into one? Then you find yourself having to snake it out with a magnet? Happened all the time to me.

There is a tape made for HVAC work (not duct tape) made of pure aluminum with a peel away backing. It is very sticky. I used this over all those holes before I painted my frame. I cut it into shapes overlapping the outside edge of the holes by about 3/4 of an inch. Then stuck it over the holes and rubbed it on nice and smooth. Then I painted over it. You wouldn't believe that the holes were even there. And it wont peel loose or wrinkle over time. Iv'e had mine like this for 4 years now or so. I even used it at some other locations to give the frame a smoothed out look. Sure, it's not as cool as welding them up and grinding them smooth, but it works, is reversible if you need the hole to help snake a wire, and it's easy.

Now I never drop any screws into the frame.

 

[2QUIK6]

That's a great idea as well, but I'm past that now, may just put some plastic push in thingys in some of the holes and call it good for now.