Cleaning the engine

[Raw]

I got my whole engine bay "steam cleaned" for £5 last week, it came up realy clean but it's a wonder the engine still works! They cleaned it with a hot pressure washer not steam.

[jimbugalee]

Ot oh .... that was another option of mine but I think I might take some bits off and get them sandblasted now.

I didn't exactly clean the engine at the weekend ..... I did the girly alternative and went shopping!

[G40DAS]

Hi, just a warning about sand blasting engine bits, especially rocker covers, yes you can make it look pretty, but be extremely careful you don't get any blasting shot/sand inside your engine. The particles can get embedded in the casting and fall out after a while. I've seen a polo cam wiped-out by shotblasting residue not being cleaned-out properly.
We build racing engines at work and any form of abrasive blasting is banned for this reason.
Our (aluminium) engines get;-
1. Wash tank (safetykleen, yes, spelt like that, similar to kerosene)
2. Hot wash (like a big industrial dish washer with chemicals in)
3. If they're still scabby, brush vigourously with "altranz" (commercial aluminium cleaner from Deb chemicals) leave to soak for a bit then rub with scotchbrite (looks like nylon pan scourer) and put it back in the hot wash again. (Don't leave it too long, it's a bit aggressive !)
If they still look ropey, it is possible to get "Ice blasting" done, this is like shot blasting only they use crushed ice, which obviously doesn't leave anything behind when it's dried off.
I've just done my cover as I'm rebuilding the engine, I'll post a picture, but it just looks like a new casting really.
Polished ones do look nice though, but I'm not keen on all the elbow grease !
Hope this helps

[Alex]

I painted my rocker cover with satin black Hammerite just after the engine conversion:



I was expecting it to get really shitty and start peeling off after a few months, but it's actually lasted really well. No signs of it flaking at all, apart from a tiny bit under the oil cap. This is the most recent pic I have and while it's a bit dirty you can see it's still looking fine.



But I did take a lot of time doing it. I cleaned it inside and out about five times with Gunk, then washed it for a few minutes with a hose to make sure all the nasty stuff had washed away. Then I dried it thoroughly and applied four coats of Hammerite leaving around an hour each time to let it dry. It'll probably flake off at some point, but the car's done a lot of miles since and isn't showing any signs of looking scabby so I'll probably just do it the same way next time. I'm happy with that!

[supercharged spaniel]

is it better to get it sand blasted? Is that even possible?

this is one of the best ways to get it to look original and like new imo but like whats been mentioned make sure you airline it to death to get any remaining abrasive sand or whatever out... thats what i did with mine and it looked brand new, here is a picture..i polished it after that anyway but been thinking about getting one to blast again to just have an original one. personally cant be doing with hamerite or any paint for that matter looks yuk...great for garden gates but not for oem-ness  lol.....sorry just my personal preference.

[Alex]

I'm gonna have to disagree with you - I reckon the all silver rocker cover looks a bit unfinished. I knew as soon as I got a G40 conversion that I'd be going for the raised bits in silver, it's all BMW's fault.

[Dan]

As regards blasting, I think glass bead blasting is the best method for aluminium and is less harsh. The advice G40DAS has given out sounds very good. Never tried that deb altrans, looks good for blocks etc.

[sohailG40]

wot i did with my rocker was i got some emmery wet and dry paper and cleaned it with it and then used some auto sol that will bring the shine out of ur rocker cover 

[Dan]

G40DAS, did you get any pics of your work on rebuilding you engine ?

[G40DAS]

Hi yes I did, I've been doing a bit of a picture record all through it, it's all a bit anal and Haynes manual-ish!
I've even got pictures of feeler blades in ring gaps and plastigage blobs on cranks against the gauge card, so I can remember what clearances I built it with.
The lump is all together and on the gearbox ready to go back in, hopefully tomorrow actually, family permitting !
I'll stick a couple of pictures up when I get straight, but it's been my daily driver since April '97 and been waxoyled, so it isn't going to win any show and shine just yet ! Engine itself looks quite smart though, in a standard sort of way. It could do with some stainless downpipes to make it look really good. I'll have to ask santa !
Cheers!

[Dan]

Would be good to see pics of the whole build mate ! Sounds like you were very thorough with it all. Im about to do the same kind of thing with mine. I think I'm gonna buy a new downpipe for mine from VAG.