So after my visit with Sarin, I was inspired to do something with my disgusting engine bay. First I'll show you the before pics:

 

First things first, I degreased it with CD2 engine degreaser, and then used some Castrol Superclean to get any remaining dirt or grease off. I used some 320 grit sanpaper on a block to get rid of all the corrosion on the unpainted part of the intake cover, and then polished it up. I polished up the TB and the airflow meter as well. The top tank on the rad, and the front exhaust heat shield got some fresh paint, and some snazzy blue wire loom was added for a little visual appeal.

It was also still sporting the intake muffler, but during the detail i rebuilt it into a mid pipe setup with a short ram intake, along with a fresh filter. I also put on the FSTB I received from Sarin. So now that it looked respectable I hosed it liberally with CD2 Engine Detail to protect and gloss everything up. I think it made a big difference and was well worth it, look for yourself:





Here's a close-up of the redesigned intake,



I noticed an immediate power difference, as noted by my butt-dyno, and it has a wicked growl! Last but not least, that trip to Oregon really caked the brake dust onto the rims, so they got a good polishing as well.

 

Wow! That looks awesome man! How you liking my old FSTB? EGR valve rub? It's looking good.

Oh BTW...my car died today. Good thing is, it isn't a timing belt. Bad thing is I think either the CAS crapped again, or the igition coil crapped. I think it's time to replace both.

S

 

Thanks! So far I don't see any signs of it hitting but it is real close. I can feel the difference though, it seems to respond a tad quicker to steering input but I really need to lose the floaty-boaty struts! Sorry to hear your car is down, but yeah, at least its not the timing belt ( hehe, no turbo swap for you yet, hehe ). I hope you get it going again soon.

 

wow!! That looks so much better! Where do you get those products that you used?

 

From Sarin, hehe. I guess he'll have to answer that one for you. BTW, I only used half the detail spray, so I can freshen it up again later.

Next project: fix the fugy yellowy parking lights! Not a single store up here has any Polarg M-25's, can you believe that? Finding 1156's for the cornering lights is no biggie, I tried some APC ones and there a bit too blue for my liking but I have some Eurolite ones to try out next. I'm going to try rebasing some other bulbs for the parking lights. We'll see how it goes. I picked up some nifty ion yellow Pilot fogs for the car too, couldn't resist, Princess Auto ( local surplus dealer ) had stacks of them for only $39 CDN and they retail for over a hundred. They look good against the superwhite headlights and they are bright as hell. I guess I need more pics.

 

Armor All will do the same thing as far as detailing, but I would like to try something else....with armor all you just spray it everywhere while the engine is running then close the hood while the engine is still running...then turn the car off shortly after....it give you the same glossy look, I just want to try something else

 

Yeah, Armour-All will work, but you're in big trouble if you ever want your car painted. It likes to make paint fish-eye. See if you can find a silicone free rubber dressing. Even some Black Magic tire dressing would do the job.

 

Engine bay looks great!

Mine looks like the before photos...

Just wondering how long the glossy look will last...

Where did you get all the plumbing for the CAI?

I like the 90 that you used and the straight pipe to the
filter, the mid pipe looks great as well.

Thanks!
Scott

 

yeah I use the black magic professional detailer....I just say armor all because every one is familiar with that

 

OOOO that's pretty! Nice job!

 

not crazy for the blue but yea that looks so much better. I love clean stuff. Keep up the work

 

nice job man ! way to represent !

 

Damn, Ive been looking for some stuff to clean up my engine bay. Havent had the time lately. I guess this weekend would be a good time to start. I like your intake setup. It is a first of its kind. Great job!

 

Wow, what a response! Thanks for the props guys! Gotta keep those ricer civics in there place, ya know, don' be messin with the grandaddy Max, Yo! ...hehehe, anyways, as for that intake setup the rubber boot between the AFM and the short ram ( shhhhhh....a.k.a. piece of shop vac pipe, hehe ) is the factory boot off of the TB. The one I have running off of the TB is from a 300ZX I think. I'm pretty sure, but I have so much crap I coud be wrong. But I'm sure it came from a 300ZX. I just drilled an undersized hole in the rubber for each hose fitting, and forced threaded hose barbs in there. They're in there tight as hell and don't leak a bit.

 

hehehe, whats the mileage on grandma ?

 

So far at 308,000 and something kms and going strong. The tranny was rebuilt about 100,000 kms ago, but the engine has never been apart or had any more than routine maintenance.