That's looking awesome DD! I went through all the trouble to do that (engine/tranny/front cover) and then watched it fade over a few days. It looks like you used clearcoat? Let me know how/if it holds up.

Last night I pulled the headlights and motors, sorted through a bit of obsolete wiring.

I hope I can get to some painting today...

 

Pictures of what you painted would be awesome.

I got the second rear lip done to a really nice mirror polish. I would post pictures but my laptop is being an annoying bitch and not recognizing my SD card. Does this every now and then but then it'll work fine for a month. Argghh!

 

Final polish and clearcoat on the front cover; Also (not pictured as I ran out of light) one of the rotor housings is done.

Changed the rear trans seal, since it's pointing straight up in the air just now while the clearcoat hardens.

 

Got a used oil pan I picked up all cleaned and painted for the fb as the one thats on the engine I JUST put in the car seems to have a perforation in it...(not thrilled about changing the pan out with the engine in the car.) How much is this going to suck please let me know. It looks do-able, but those are the jobs that always turn out to be a bear.

 

It's possible. Take offthe motor mount, jack up the trans till the the clutch lever touches the trans tunnel. One you get the pan bolts out you'll have to let he pan rest on the crossmember and remove the oil pick up, there won't be enoughroom to get it out with the pick up there. Reinstallation is the reverse, make sure ya re seal the pick up and tighten it down and slap the pan back on. PITA, did it that way to reseal my pan a month or so ago.

 

sounds like a fun way to spend tuesday morning. silicone, gasket, silicone sound like theway to go?

 

Didn't use a gasket on mine, friend of mine works at a ford dealership and got me tube of the stuff the used on diesel trucks. Problem solved.

 

noted...thanks

 

Drove her to the store to buy some beer

 

cfamilyfix: Or a simple way is taking off the idler arm^^. Then you can move the whole steering bar that is right under the oil pan. Simple. I didnt use a gasket on my oil pan last time either, but this time i'm thinking silicone, gasket, silicone.

 

Make sure your crankcase ventilation is working properly. I pulled my oil pan twice before I figured out the real problem was not a poorly sealed pan, but a pressurized crankcase! When I fixed that the leaking oil pan stopped leaking immediately.

 

twinkletoes: thanks! I wasn't sure if the steering linkage or the crossmember was gonna be the bigger pain in the neck. All that steering stuff down there is in need of some "love" anyway so now might be the time.

rwatson...crankcase vent not hooked up at this time so I don't think that could be it unless not having it hooked up can cause pressure?

 

It could if you have the nipples on the oil filler tube and the center iron sealed up ( I foolishly had mine covered with vacuum covers). If they are not open then the pressure will build up and force the oil out.

 

mine are uncovered...I have the mess all over my engine to prove it lol!

 

started polishing my new intake, didn't get too far, but it's a pain in the butt to get into all the tight spots!

 

Finally got some pics. The two finished lips involved somewhere between 10 and 16 hours of work. Had to redo the first one which I did tonight. Glad I did because it came out much better. Gave it a good waxing to help it keep its shine a little longer. Need to pick up more polishing cloths before I can wax the other one and do any more polishing.

 

Installed new inner and outer tie rod ends, and a moog idler arm. Re-aligned the front end then put it away with the cover on because the rain and snow came in :-(

I want to drive!

 

Glen,

Care to share your polishing sequence with the rest of us? I've polished stuff before, but NEVER have I had it come out looking like that. What steps did you use to get down to that point where it looks like it's been chromed?

Jamie

 

Jamie, this has been my first real attempt at polishing metal, so I've kind of been making it up as I go.
The current sequence is:

Get the part clean: I use Gunk Engine Brite to clean and degrease,then clean water, then acetone.

If it's been painted like the trans was, I use Aircraft Remover, then water again.

For surface prep, I use Merit stripping wheels in vfine grit. Tough spots I use either blue nylabrushes or a very light touch with a brass brush, then smooth it with the other prep wheels. All on an ancient Black & Decker 3/4hp power drill.

Polishing is with a stitched cotton wheel and felt bobs for the small places. First pass is with black Emory compound, then clean it with acetone, then another set of wheels and bobs with white diamond compound. Final cleaning with acetone, mask and clearcoat asap to stop oxidation.

It's not mirror-perfect up close, but it looks great from a couple feet. I was going for sort of an 'antiqued' look, rather than trying to clear every single nick and ding.

 

Had my flywheel resurfaced, and put in a stage 3 clutch for the TII.

Hopefully will have some body work done today too! It's been a productive day

 

Interesting. When I did mine, I just used a brass brush on an angle grinder. I started out with a standard drill, but then found out the angle grinder does the job 20x faster.

By using just the brass wire brush, I was able to get probably 90% of the shine you've got on yours. Getting to that point (which is still very pretty) is actually pretty fast and simple with the setup I used. I think I'll probably repeat that process, and then clearcoat it.

The added work to reach the point of true "bling" like you have achieved would be a bit much for a "work horse" type of car like mine.

Again, beautiful work!

P.S. What type of clear did you go with?

 

If there isn't we should start a "polishing thread" to see how everyone is doing it I am sure we could all learn something.
I started with sandpaper progressively getting finer then a aluminum polishing kit using a drill then back at it by
hand with polish.

This is what I did for my SA a few months ago

 

Finished installing the clutch master cylinder, the studs from the new one were diff then the original so had to take them out and just use some long bolts that fit, works better then before but now cant find a way to bleed the system as i cant reach the bleed nipple and i cant figure out how to do it...

 

Looks great Ray.

 

Put in a new rear trans seal and driveshaft after work tonight. Gonna tackle the oil pan tomorrow.