E30 Zone

the thermostat housing and throttle body, whats the best way to refurb them ? is it just vapour or soda blasting ? whats best ? anything else that can be done ?

if anyone on here can do them, send me a pm

I got mine done at a little company under the itchen bridge, they are brill. They were vapour blasted which is high pressure water, see my m30 thread for the results.

http://www.trestanfinishers.com/

I can't recommend them enough, proper old school engineers, amazing attention to detail also. Cash and cheap also.

There's no substitute for elbow grease. I did my inlet, TB and thermostat housing with a dremel and wet and dry, finishing with a fine wire wool.




Media blasting will get them clean but won't give them a shine.

jimbom30cab wrote:I got mine done at a little company under the itchen bridge, they are brill. They were vapour blasted which is high pressure water, see my m30 thread for the results.

http://www.trestanfinishers.com/

I can't recommend them enough, proper old school engineers, amazing attention to detail also. Cash and cheap also.

Nice one jim, how much did they charge ?

Cloggy - that engine looks great, mine will come out in the winter for a full sort out like that, I need to get a dremnel, is it just 1 tool in it that shines them up like that ?

I started with a dremel with wire wheel attachment which cleans it up nicely but obviously scars the metal. I think I started sanding with 120 wt and dry, working up to 2000 and then the wire wool. The TB was quite quick and easy to do, the thermostat housing less so!

its cheap, i left a large batch of stuff and it was a £100 - see my m30 thread mate

dremnel - pop over to B+Q in Havant and have a look at them - well well worth the ££ IMO - i use mine all the time mostly with a little cutting disc on

There are drill attachments that are like wire wheels but are made of plastic strands instead. They seem to work really well on aluminium.

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Power+T ... d80/sd1920

The last 3 on that page

I think just blasting looks best and is closest to the factory look, I'm not a fan of shiny engines. I'm toying with the idea of trying a clear powder coat over a few bits after blasting to see how that looks.

Cheers guys il look in to the dremmel there's a few tools I need, once the cars re built il hve loads of space to kit the garage right up, cloggy I don't quite fancy too much niggly work with sanding bits like that,it mullers your hands lol

Jim what page is it on ? Any chance you can post a link here I'm on fone at work so bit of a ball ache and data heavy to scroll through all the pages with images , interested to see what else you it done

Can the amf be done ? Or can it not be separated or shouldn't be meddled with ?

Also a question - has anyone done or got an idea of a cost to replace all the engine pipes and hoses ? I might maybe label and remove them all and give a good clean whilst its all apart

All the coolant pipes, minus the metal cross pipe that goes behind the fan are just over £100 from the dealers. The vacum pipes are way more expensive. If you have the two pipe setup that goes from the servo to the TB its over £100 on its own. Add that to the rest and it starts getting pricey.

polsta wrote:Also a question - has anyone done or got an idea of a cost to replace all the engine pipes and hoses ? I might maybe label and remove them all and give a good clean whilst its all apart

Old hoses can be bought back to life by gently rubbing the crusty outer layer away with some fine wet and dry.

Cloggy Saint wrote:

polsta wrote:Also a question - has anyone done or got an idea of a cost to replace all the engine pipes and hoses ? I might maybe label and remove them all and give a good clean whilst its all apart

Old hoses can be bought back to life by gently rubbing the crusty outer layer away with some fine wet and dry.

I would replace if they are looking old and crusty. Last thing you want is an old perished coolant hose to burst.

I'm not talking perished or damaged, just surface gunk and where they've faded.

Cloggy Saint wrote:There's no substitute for elbow grease. I did my inlet, TB and thermostat housing with a dremel and wet and dry, finishing with a fine wire wool.




Media blasting will get them clean but won't give them a shine.

That looks spot on

You said crusty, crusty = old and perished.

Why take a chance on something of little relevant cost that can potentially cause a break down?

Mine arnt old perished or crusty, a bit faded and grubby but no splits or light cracks, but there are a fair few pipes in there once the inlet etc is removed, hence the price question, but its then remembering them all, I might get a load if jubilee clips, then maybe do pipe by pipe and re fit, with a big bucket if soapy water, wet dry paper and rubber treatment ?

SteSE wrote:You said crusty, crusty = old and perished.

Why take a chance on something of little relevant cost that can potentially cause a break down?

I'm not taking a chance with anything. All hoses were checked and in good nick, just crusty, which in this context = discoloured and dirty.

had a look at the pipes today, its all in pretty good order,a good clean up will show more, all i could find was some cracking in the fuel filter pipe,and some cracks,that bent in to splits, in the bottom air filter box rubber boot, so ordered a new one

tonight at work im taking a couple of bits and some essentials, to have a polish up on the top bit afm, whilst im getting paid for it

if you want a factory look, get it all nice and shiny


.....then coat it in a layer of yellowy wax that becomes impossible to clean off!

Cloggy Saint wrote:

SteSE wrote:You said crusty, crusty = old and perished.

Why take a chance on something of little relevant cost that can potentially cause a break down?

I'm not taking a chance with anything. All hoses were checked and in good nick, just crusty, which in this context = discoloured and dirty.

When is it going in Ed?
Let me know when I need to order some parts for you eh!

Sjoerd! I was going to give you a call in the near future, I got your number from your wanted ad on Marktplaats. Did you get any seats?! I'm going to England on Saturday and will pick up the last couple of bits there and then apart from a few small jobs it's pretty much good to go. I'll let you know, cheers

No problem mate, got layed off work so I don't have much on my hands the next 5 weeks.
You can always give me a call. No seats yet probably will be buying a new upholstery set.

Bad news about the work, what's your business?
I'll definitely gove you a call in a week or 2

Yeah sucks big time but I'll work something out. I'm a carsalesman at Ford. Just had a job interview today, will hear the outcome tomorrow... Fingers crossed