Project Cleaning the Clutter in Our Engine Bay

[The Stig]

Woot! It pays off to watch the price is right

[Moreno1]

OK, here's what I got accomplished today.Worked on the Vararam intake. The goal was twofold, get rid of the casting seams and the Vararam logo. Below, you see where it has a casting line that goes across each side of the unit



So after a little bit of these.



And



And



A little more.....



how do you like the banana peal on the floor.... no time to take a break for breakfast, eat as I go.



Getting closer but still along way from finished.



After I was done with sanding, I spray it with this stuff. It's a primer that has flex already mixed in which help with the paint adhering to the plastic.



I gave it three coats and than sanded it down with 600 grit. It came out as smooth as a baby ....Didn't get to finish, got dark outside and couldn't see as good. I'll finish tomorrow.



I did get other other half done.



I was hoping to be mobile by Sunday but unfortunately, I just checked the tracking number for a vital part in route and it wont be in till Monday.

I recieved the Katech tensioner but I can't leave well enough alone, so I'm replace the center bolt with a stainless ARP.



This is the water line thats replacing the factory unit in the rear. Again the reason for the nw lines is because when I fliped the throttle body, the tube interfered.



So here's where I'm now. I finish cutting the new black coupler to size and putting a hole for the vacuum line. If you look closely, you'll notice I have the valve covers inverted. This allows me to put the oil filler cap in the left rear instead of on the passenger front. Gives the front of the engine a cleaner look. The other thing is, I'm rerouting the vacuum line that went from the front passenger side to the top of the coupler on the Vararam. It will now run from the rear driver side valve cover down the back of the engine and up the front. Again cleaning the hoses on that are on the front.



Here you get a better idea of what I'm referring to. The Katech fitting is getting eight six for XRP stuff.



And one last shot of the covers. These thing are really nice!







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[Moreno1]

Originally Posted by blazzin1

Damn right that is so not right!!! Thanks Steiger!!!

LOL, Blazzin, I feeling kinda bad for ya, so I'll tell you what....if Steiger mails his after he install this one. I will polish his and include the two ARP bolts. I had to buy a pack of five bolts, so I have three left.

[BLACK10]

Lookin good

[Moreno1]

Originally Posted by BLACK10

Lookin good

Thanks, it's getting there.

[Kronix]

Originally Posted by Farthestnorth

Just put one of these in there and call it good!

Attachment 317210

Same here

[572HP]

Man, this is some really great stuff! Great work!

Noob question: I have a strut-tower brace (convertible) that I want to replace the bolts with nice looking bolts like ARP. What is the process to determine which ones to buy?

[mikepage0007]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/360323545043...S:1123&vxp=mtr they sell 12 and 24 inch coil extensions, if you want to make it easier..

[The Stig]

Originally Posted by Nathan Moreno

LOL, Blazzin, I feeling kinda bad for ya, so I'll tell you what....if Steiger mails his after he install this one. I will polish his and include the two ARP bolts. I had to buy a pack of five bolts, so I have three left.

Sorry I will mail mine back out to you as soon as I get yours in.

[Kilo-9]

Originally Posted by 572HP

Man, this is some really great stuff! Great work!

Noob question: I have a strut-tower brace (convertible) that I want to replace the bolts with nice looking bolts like ARP. What is the process to determine which ones to buy?

I would take one out and figure out the thread size, pitch, and length...then order appropriately. You could also PM member MS3DALE and ask him what size they are...I believe he ordered polished titanium bolts for his.

[Moreno1]

Originally Posted by 572HP

Man, this is some really great stuff! Great work!

Noob question: I have a strut-tower brace (convertible) that I want to replace the bolts with nice looking bolts like ARP. What is the process to determine which ones to buy?

Originally Posted by Kilo-9

I would take one out and figure out the thread size, pitch, and length...then order appropriately. You could also PM member MS3DALE and ask him what size they are...I believe he ordered polished titanium bolts for his.

What Kilo-9 said. Just in case this is all new to you, it was to me when I first started this project. I didn't know much about "thread, pitch and how to measure.... so just in case..... Bolts have three measurements. "Diameter", either standard or metric. All the bolts I've replace are metric. "Pitch", thats the number of threads per millimeter and "Length".

You can go to Home D, Ace, etc. By the way, I love Ace! They'll have a board with sockets (see pic below), all you do is screw your bolt to the appropriate socket, this will tell you the diameter and pitch. Example: 6MM X 1.5. ( 6MM is the diameter and the 1.5 is the pitch. On the board, it also has were you can measure for length. To determine the length, you want to measure from the bottom of the head to the tip. So you might have a bolt thats 6MM X 1.5 by 30 MM. Next you can call ARP and have them give you a parts number for that size bolt. With the parts number, I call Summit and get a price. They sell individual and packs of five. If you need three of the same, it might be cheaper to buy the five pack. One thing I like about Summit is that if you have to return something, they include a postage paid return label with each of their orders.

Also, you have the two types of heads, Hex and 12 points, every bolt I've gotten have been 12 points. I think they look nicer.

Hope that helps

Oh, thanks for the compliment. It makes taking the time to post on here gratifying. I appreciate that.

[Moreno1]

Originally Posted by blazzin1

Thanks Nathan, but you don't have to do that. I'm good, I just want to make sure I give Stieger a hard time about it though!!!! I thought about doing the same thing to "cdn2usa" when he guessed 1-21-1991, but I thought no, I'll be a good sportsman about it and pick a few months later, just so he still has a good chance too. But I guess our buddy Stieger isn't quite as sporting!!! J/K Stieger! But you should feel guilty!!! Hahahaha!!!

BTW, I have a buffing wheel in my garage, so I can definitely polish my own vapor tube, so it's not a big deal. But thanks for posting up all the pics of what you're doing, I've never even thought about doing half this stuff until your thread came along. Thanks for all the great ideas....keep it up. Whoever convinced you to keep the vacuum hose going to your intake tube must have had a very good reason. You're through a lot just to keep that hose!!! Myself, I got one of SC2150's check valve breathers, and got rid of the hose completely. Works great for me!!!

You ain't kidding, it has been a lot of work.... I did partially explained the reason on post #113.

"I know some folks will put a breather on the valve cover and just do away with the line. But I spoke with Patrick at Vararam, he gave me a thirty minute explanation on how the car loses power when you do that. Also the Katech valve covers don't come with a oil deflectors/baffels, so you'd have oil spilling all over the place. The name of this thread "Project Cleaning the Clutter in Our Engine Bay" would take a whole new meaning, LOL. Even if I could use a breather, once see what I'm doing with the covers, you'll see why I wouldn't want to. Stay tune for that."

Here's what I meant by the last statement on my previous post. Because both valve cover are interchangeable, I'm running what would be the passenger side cover on the driver side. This moves the oil fill cap to the drivers rear side. Giving a cleaner look to the front of the engine. So even if I could run a breather, I wouldn't want to stick it back there. Since part of what influencing my decisions is keeping the compartment as clean and simple as possible. Unfortunately, sometimes what seems simple is LOL. Also, By inverting the cover, I can now run the hose from the valve to the intake out the rear. instead up front.

[Moreno1]

The factory finish on the cylinder head has a bunch of swirls and scratches. Unfortunately,



So, I took 2000 grit paper and ......



I taped up the area



And after some effort.... the heads is still moist from the wet sending inn this picture but it looks really nice now.



Here's a quick preview of what I'll be posting more details on tomorrow. Just to tired to spend an hour uploaded and elaborate now.

[IOM Black Diamond]