engine and drivetrain Want to clean up my engine bay...need advice/help

[pissdrunx321]

Im really into the cleanliness of cars and dont like it when the engine bay looks cluttered or dirty or......... shitty. I want to give mine a "make over". Ive posted some photos of my engine area and kinda marked what I had planned but I am looking for advice/opinions/CONSTRUTIVE critisism. My main plan of action is to relocate the battery to trunk which will give me a big amount of space, new K&N rectangular air filter, clean up/replace all the wiring and hoses, and remove all the stickers(most are worn away) and clean this thing up. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give me advice for what to do and not to do, easy ways to attack this, and SUGGESTIONS!!!!!!!THANKS -Ian

P.S. Can you pressure wash the engine bay if you cover the air intake. If so what should I look out for.

[Supergeek]

This is what I used to tidy up my engine. Get some wire loom, electrical tape and zip ties from an autopart store. Use that to wrap up the wiring. While you're there, grab some high temp. paint in flat black and aluminum. These two colors will come in very handy! Grab a bottle of Simple Green and a nylon scrub brush. Get rid of that yellow air cleaner ASAP! Sand and paint the brake booster. You can also remove the carb and intake manifold if you wish. Give it a cleaning and a fresh coat of paint. That makes a big difference in appearence! I also removed my exhaust manifold and downpipe and painted it with a silver high heat ceramic paint. Now it looks new! Good luck!

P.S. Did you ever get those sun visor clips I sent?

[pissdrunx321]

sure did I was gonna put them in tomarrow thanks man

P.S. Do you think you could send me some photos to get an idea to help me with my plans

[Supergeek]

Glad you got the clips. Unfortunately, my engine bay is in ruins right now as I work on my F.I. conversion. But this is what Im shooting for when im done. So organized and clean!

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,50/page,download/id,16471/

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,50/page,download/id,16473/

[NickVyse]

I'd keep the original air cleaner - just paint it crinkle finish black, or whatever your taste is and perhaps match it to the cam cover. After market options might look cool, but they're a step backwards as far as performance goes.

Steam cleaning is the best option for an engine bay.

And if you paint your brake booster make sure you plug all the pipe fittings 100 percent first - any particles of crap in there and it'll be FUBAR PDQ.

[BillWilliams]

Pull the motor

Strip everything

Have a body shop paint the engine bay the color of your car.

Replace everything that can not be refurbished.

Anything less will leave you wishing you had.

I took this approach to my yellow car 5 years ago and was not sorry. I am just now getting around to addressing rust and mismatched paint on the body. But every time I opened the hood, I am happy.

Some often criticized me for opening my hood, but it is the nicest area on my car.

Ok, that is too much. Clean the moil from everything, Replace all of your hoses, brake reservoir, paint what needs painting, rewrap your wiring in friction tape or the new fuzzy tape from BMW.

A good cleaner like Marine CLean, brushes of all sizes, disposable gloves, a mechanics apron, boxes of paper towels, Acetone to remove over spray and paint will be your needed supplies to start. Your significant other may call you PIG PEN at the end of your cleaning sessions.

It is a dirty process.

Leave me alone on the tube and K&N air cleaner - that was short lived.

[jerry]

do NOT replace your original air filter with aftermarket crap. there is much more available surface area for air filtering with the OEM configuration than those puny little K&N chrome boxes.

You should also get the rubber elephant trunk and plastic airbox that's missing to channel cooler air from the front of car into carburetor.

the condition of the engine bay paint actually looks good from this distance. clean as best as possible with mineral-spirit-soaked rag then rinse as best as possible with soapy water. rub some car wax on it and you should be pleasantly surprised.

use cloth friction tape to rewrap your wiring harness after removing the vintage oil soaked tape. i avoid those black hard plastic wiring tubes. they just don't look neat to me.

i don't think you have that much to do to actually see great results. it all depends on how much you are willing to scratch your knuckles cleaning grease and rewiring your harness.

[robspeed]

do NOT replace your original air filter with aftermarket crap. there is much more available surface area for air filtering with the OEM configuration than those puny little K&N chrome boxes.

You should also get the rubber elephant trunk and plastic airbox that's missing to channel cooler air from the front of car into carburetor.

there should be a K&N style filter for the stock application, and YES put a snorkel on it to suck cool air...

[pissdrunx321]

do NOT replace your original air filter with aftermarket crap. there is much more available surface area for air filtering with the OEM configuration than those puny little K&N chrome boxes.

You should also get the rubber elephant trunk and plastic airbox that's missing to channel cooler air from the front of car into carburetor.

there should be a K&N style filter for the stock application, and YES put a snorkel on it to suck cool air...

Any examples of the snorkel idea out there. I'd like to see how that looks!!!

[brad_c-ville_VA]

if you have the means, moving the battery to the trunk makes a big difference in cleaning up the clutter.

[pissdrunx321]

Does anyone have pictures of how the snorkel looks????

[Mike Self]

friction tape (unless you can find the stuff with no adhesive) use black "bias tape" You can get it at any sewing center--it's used to hem garments and is cut diagonally (on the bias) so that it's stretchy. That allows you to wrap it tightly around the wiring harness without fear of it coming loose. Cheap too. And it comes in colors if you're adventurous.

mike

[Eurowannabe]

***

On the right side of this pic is the snorkle setup for the air cleaner, it has 2 settings, one for summer and the other for winter:

I plan to keep mine! Sucking hot desert air in mid summer can't be a good thing!

[f1reverb]

friction tape (unless you can find the stuff with no adhesive) use black "bias tape" You can get it at any sewing center--it's used to hem garments and is cut diagonally (on the bias) so that it's stretchy. That allows you to wrap it tightly around the wiring harness without fear of it coming loose. Cheap too. And it comes in colors if you're adventurous.

mike

and it sticks to itself and is cheap.

"3M 4" Vetrap Bandage Tape

Vetrap by 3M stretches and sticks to itself. Lightweight, cool and comfortable. This Vet Wrap bandaging tape will not absorb moisture. 4" wide by 5 yards long," for $1.29 a roll.

http://www.horse.com/products/sku-BHV50.html

It even comes in black and colors. I use it for putting up camera gear that I don't want duct-tape goop on. It really isn't reusable but it's so cheap it doesn't matter.

[peteinjp]

When steam cleaning try to keep from getting water down in the spark plug recesses. If you do it will ground the plugs and you'll get no spark until they dry.

I understand the other opinions about the stock air cleaner but the K&N unit probably flows more than enough- you'll just have to clean/replace the filter more often. The smaller k&n unit does make the carb/engine more easily visible and accessible. In the end its more about looks than anything if you ask me. Plenty of racers out there with the taller k&N units I bet. I like the stock look as well.

My advice in terms of cleaning things up is to get a hold of another valve cover and intake manifold. Get those cleaned up and switch them out. Its much easier to them clean off the car.

In terms of getting the wiring looking good- the old cloth tape is hard to clean. IF you want it to look newish I'd take a day on the wiring in the engine bay. Get set up to do any repairs that you may find needed by getting a good crimper and quality terminals handy along with some heat shrink and necessary grommets. Marine supply stores are a good place to find well plated terminals. Also order the factory fasteners that hold the harness to the radiator area. Pull a section check/replace the terminals that are corroded or frayed. Pull the old tape off and re wrap it. If you do one section at a time it is easier to keep track. Its a great way to improve the the over all condition of the car as well as the appearance.

And yes- your due for a suspension overhaul. THe top mounts are looking pretty tired. Check over ther other bits while your under there and I'll bet there is a ball joint or tie rod as well as various bushings that need attention.