# A Quick engine detail



## Lion (Sep 4, 2006)

Thought i would detail the engine on my latest project, a phase 1 mk3 astra. I will get some full body pics of it all swirl free when i ever get some good light  hate winter lol.

All i did here was soaked in AG engine and machine, worked in with a brush (repeated a few times) and rinsed off with hot water from one of those pump action spray bottles. Then some poorboys ssr2 on the head and cam cover (still need to get into 1 or 2 tight spots to finish it off, but my back told me to stop for now lol), and Megs Nxt tech protectant on all rubber and plastics, bit of copper grease on brake pipes and moving parts and a bit of cleaner wax on the interior painted surfaces.

Engine before









And after


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## Epoch (Jul 30, 2006)

Superb, amazing transformation


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## beardboy (Feb 12, 2006)

That's a fantastic transformation!

What brush do you use, a thick paintbrush or...?

Want to do my engine bay soon.


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## Phil H (May 14, 2006)

what a difference! excellent!


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## Lion (Sep 4, 2006)

Cheers, yes a 2" paintbrush, and a babys bottle cleaning brush (similar to a toilet brush, but use a clean one lol) for anything stubborn.


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## [email protected] (Jan 9, 2006)

Blimey thats come up well


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## Refined Reflections (May 12, 2006)

You sure you didn't take that after pic when the car was first built? saying that it does look better than new, great work indeed.

Never even thought of using ssr on alloy parts, how had work was it? I've got an engine to do next week and you just given me an idea :thumb:

Looking forward to seeing the outside when you get it sorted as I'm sure it'll blow us away too.

Again great work, very impressed, kick back and have a great Christmas


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## Lion (Sep 4, 2006)

Cheers for the comments!  The ssr was quite easy to work with surprisingly. I did cheat though and used an extremely harsh compounding head on my rotary on the cover (the sealey yellow grade) http://www.justoffbase.co.uk/Compou...se-Foam-Sealey-PTC-CH-M14-Y?sc=9&category=243 , but the head was done completlley by hand (only 1 application of ssr used here too, i am hoping to have it like a mirror when we get some kinder weather), the hardest part was getting in the nooks and crannies as the vauxhall 8v lumps are always this wierd shape lol. As you can see 1 or 2 bits i still cannot get at where the head bolts are. (and i forgot to polish the top of the rad  )


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Looking good mate, very nice! Cracking transformation of the engine... Last tie I seem to remember you posting a Rover 200 series, have you replaced that with the Astra?


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## Lion (Sep 4, 2006)

Dave KG said:


> Looking good mate, very nice! Cracking transformation of the engine... Last tie I seem to remember you posting a Rover 200 series, have you replaced that with the Astra?


Hello mate :wave: good to see your still on here
yeah sorry havnt had time to use the forums (or do any detailing work) in ages! New job etc. Yes mate, the rover decided to die on me last month (gearbox just shattered), so i bought the astra.


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Lion said:


> Hello mate :wave: good to see your still on here
> yeah sorry havnt had time to use the forums (or do any detailing work) in ages! New job etc. Yes mate, the rover decided to die on me last month (gearbox just shattered), so i bought the astra.


Cool - glad to see you back around on the forums. :thumb: Hopefully the Astra will bring you more luck car wise, my first car was a Phase1 Mk3 with the multipoint injection 1.4 (C14SE) engine, and in the four years I had it, it never once left me stranded at the side of the road.  There pretty tough old birds, the old family engines - head gaskets the weakest point on the higher compression units, but bottom ends are sturdy, top ends may get a little tappety with high miles.


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## uberbmw (Jan 31, 2006)

Awesome mate. My old Cav needs doing looks like your top pic lol. What if any parts did you cover up? cheers


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## GlynRS2 (Jan 21, 2006)

Well you certainly made a difference to that. It hasn't looked that good since the day it left the factory.


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## Lion (Sep 4, 2006)

uberbmw said:


> Awesome mate. My old Cav needs doing looks like your top pic lol. What if any parts did you cover up? cheers


None :thumb: Engines can take so much water with no problems, i took care not to wet the altenator and electrics in general though, but other than that, everything got soaked  I did run it to warm (not hot!) before and to dry off after though.


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## CK888 (Apr 23, 2006)

Look f'ing brand new! Well done:thumb:


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## Scotsbil (Nov 27, 2006)

Lovely job, nice results


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