This is gonna be a long one but a few people told me privately they were interested so hope it wont bore you.
I like to clean engines. I have done a few ferraris including a V12 which took one year. 8 days ago I decided to tackle my S4 Spider. All the work was done with the engine in the car. I try to get the engine to a "factory" look thus no BLING, no polished cam covers ect. I call it stage one because I haven't yet tackled the manifold of fuel rail, that is stage two. Everything was done in my little attached garage here in the UK with basic tools. Any questions, please ask and I will try to answer.
Generally the process is to take EVERYTHING apart that you can. Pull the Alternator, belts, pulleys, PS pump, hoses, radiator, coil, plug wires, VVT and cam cover. get yourself the following: Cleaner degreaser 3 gallons, cellulose thinner, paint brushes, wire brushes, tape, gloves, glass bead for your home shot blaster 20kg, a digital camera, basic hand tools, UPOL and Wurth Paints.
First you can see pictures of the engine bits during the tear down.
Now once you have all the bits in a big pile along with every nut, bolt, clamp, ect you are going to spend about 5 hours washing and cleaning the engine block. Its a back killer but worth it. I use panel wipe to clean and degrease everything starting at the top of the engine and working down. My engine used 3 gallons of the stuff. best to use a pressure spray bottle in order to wash out all the oil and grime from everything.
You also have to clean all the parts you have removed. Seperate the silver from the gold bits. Use the cellulose thinners for the really grimy stuff. Doing the work now will make all the shot blasting easier and will make your glass bead last longer.
Get yourself one of those home style shot blasting cabinets. they are pretty cheap. You have to have an aircompressor as well of course. My little 50l one takes ages to clean stuff but at least it gets done right. You do not want blasting grit, find yourself glass bead; this will make a great finish on the castings without marking them up. Put all the small nuts and bolts in a mesh cage and blast them clean as well. make sure you have noted which parts are supposed to be gold passive and which are silver zinc. You need to make sure you get the right parts plated the right colours!
My next thread will take up from here....
I like to clean engines. I have done a few ferraris including a V12 which took one year. 8 days ago I decided to tackle my S4 Spider. All the work was done with the engine in the car. I try to get the engine to a "factory" look thus no BLING, no polished cam covers ect. I call it stage one because I haven't yet tackled the manifold of fuel rail, that is stage two. Everything was done in my little attached garage here in the UK with basic tools. Any questions, please ask and I will try to answer.
Generally the process is to take EVERYTHING apart that you can. Pull the Alternator, belts, pulleys, PS pump, hoses, radiator, coil, plug wires, VVT and cam cover. get yourself the following: Cleaner degreaser 3 gallons, cellulose thinner, paint brushes, wire brushes, tape, gloves, glass bead for your home shot blaster 20kg, a digital camera, basic hand tools, UPOL and Wurth Paints.
First you can see pictures of the engine bits during the tear down.
Now once you have all the bits in a big pile along with every nut, bolt, clamp, ect you are going to spend about 5 hours washing and cleaning the engine block. Its a back killer but worth it. I use panel wipe to clean and degrease everything starting at the top of the engine and working down. My engine used 3 gallons of the stuff. best to use a pressure spray bottle in order to wash out all the oil and grime from everything.
You also have to clean all the parts you have removed. Seperate the silver from the gold bits. Use the cellulose thinners for the really grimy stuff. Doing the work now will make all the shot blasting easier and will make your glass bead last longer.
Get yourself one of those home style shot blasting cabinets. they are pretty cheap. You have to have an aircompressor as well of course. My little 50l one takes ages to clean stuff but at least it gets done right. You do not want blasting grit, find yourself glass bead; this will make a great finish on the castings without marking them up. Put all the small nuts and bolts in a mesh cage and blast them clean as well. make sure you have noted which parts are supposed to be gold passive and which are silver zinc. You need to make sure you get the right parts plated the right colours!
My next thread will take up from here....
