Thursday, July 16, 2009

from Motor Gross to Motor Gleem

Before I start a rebuild, I like to to get everything cleaned up. There's a few good reasons for this:
1) I'm not transferring grit and crud and dead spiders into places in the motor not designed for such things.
2) I can only wash my hands so many times before they fall off, and I don't want to push my luck.
3) It's a psychological thing. It helps my morale and my delusion that if the motor is pretty, it will run pretty darn good.
4) It's a psychological thing II. I'm a little bit obsessive/compulsive/obsessive.

So I started with this engine that had been pulled out of my car and sat in a cardboard box in the desert for about a year.

After hours of scrubbing with harsh chemicals, most mechanics would say, "OK, enough." But not me (see #4 above).


I really like the new ceramic based high temperature paints. A few seconds with a spray can and Gross turns to Gleem, Crud turns to Cleen!

By the way, the heads (the "still dirty parts") are from the old motor and won't be cleaned up 'cause I'm not using them. The ones I'm using are still clean (and painted) from when I installed them last year.