Engine Detailing

I have a 1990 Golf Cabrio GTI which I have owned for 10 years. Just over two years ago I had the engine rebuilt with a few mods:

Rebored engine block 1.9
Ported and polished cylinder head
Newman fast road cam
Vernier cam pulley

The block had been painted with some red paint stuff and it's all flaking off! Also the gearbox is on it's way out the usual crunching from first to second.

So this is the plan:

Remove engine
Complete engine & bay detailing
Have gearbox rebuilt professionally
Refit engine


So this is how she looks at the moment.





After stripdown




Engine out!




Looks like the valve seals are on the way out!




Removing the clutch pressure plate




Then onto engine stand




Engine bay degreased




After a couple of hours the block now looks like this







The block is degreased & metal prep







Just painted. I'm glad that red has gone!




Masking tape off

lovely work mate

i like nice clean engines



is that matt black your using??

nice work mate.
so much better. i bet your well chufffed.

ash x

Thanks guys. It's stain black engine enamel by VHT. Very happy the way it turned out.

The car is mint but let down by the engine bay. I want to get that factory fresh look!

Ok a quick update. I've been sandblasting some of the parts already taken off.

Then painted with Self Etching Primer and top coated with Under Hood Black. I am very impressed with this paint the finish and colour is spot on!





Some of the parts painted




Close-up of the finish




Radiator cowling completely stripped, painted and reassembled




New warning sticker from www.volkswagenstickers.co.uk




Radiator fan cleaned and painted with Eastwood Clear Zinc spray. Then replacement sticker applied.




Starter motor cleaned up, painted and reassembled. Looks as good as new!

Looks good dude.
I love it when people buy those stickers and put them on frehsly painted parts. Makes it more satisfying doesnt it.
And it just makes it look way better.
Nice work

wow mate, that engine bay is gonna be stunning! it's well worth the work, i've not got around to mine yet, my mates think i'm nut's for polishing my bay!' never heard of 'eastwood' products? where did you get them from? keep up the good work n' post some pic's when it's finished, cheers, al

Hi Al and thanks! Eastwood is an American company but you can buy there products from www.frost.co.uk. There a bit pricey but the quality is really good. I guess you get what you pay for!!

wow… I'm speechless!

I've never seen a finish like this…it looks factory.





Keep the updates coming dude.  8)

Lovely pics mate, top work going in there

Are you doing this all by your self ????

Keep us updated with more pics :mrgreen:

Cheers guys, thanks for the comments. Yeah going to do most of the work myself, stripping down,
 
painting, cleaning and putting back together. There's going to be plenty of high quility photos of

each stage. The Head is with a specialist at the moment, being stripped down. Probably needs

new valve guides as they are starting to leak, want to leave that sort of stuff with someone that

really knows want there doing!

all looking goooood so far, reminds me of my last winter !!!



did the same thing to mine, takes a while doesn't it!   but very satisfying when all done.
i may have to visit that site to get some stickers for mine now though..  

Is that halfords high temperature spray your using for the silver parts?

Another quick update for you guys! Been cleaning up some of the aluminum parts with Ali-clean to remove the oxide. You need to wear gloves using this product, it can really mess your hands up if you don't!





Once cleaned up a light coat of Aluma Blast followed by a couple of light coats of Diamond clear to make the surface more durable. This product is really nice to use and can be used on bare metal surfaces to stop them oxidizing.





Now let the photos do the talking!













Water pump ready to be reassembled cleaned up painted with Aluma Blast, Detail Grey and pulley in Under Hood Black.










Air Flow Sensor refinished.

Looks quality mate

Wish i could have my engine spik & span like yours  :mrgreen:

woah man nice work

looking good - brill photos & lots of good tips
going na add this to my favourites , might do the same to my engine bay sometime
cheers
baz

Time for another update!

Stripped down, cleaned and painted brake servo and linkages.


















Sandblasted engine mount bracket then sprayed in Underhood Black and pressed in new engine mount rubber.




Some genuine parts ordered!




Engine block waiting for rebuilt head to arrive!




I bought a Zinc plating and Blackener kit from Caswells to duplicate the original finish on the bolts and brackets for aesthetic and corrosion resistance.




Here are the yellow zinc parts

very nice work

love the zinc plating kit where did you get that from??

looks bang on that, ill pop mine ofr ya to do lol

chris