The rear timing belt covers are missing, in case you didn't know.
Yes, if you don't use the right type of paint it will not last or work well. However, I had mine powdered coated in a wrinkle finish, should last pretty long.
We`ll see how long this paint will last. Many specialists use these paints, so I hope it will last a couple of years, at least. I am not sure what to do with the unpainted stripes and text yet. I do not want to use clear coat on the red paint.
Hi All, I know this is an old thread, but I have been struggling with this and wanted to get your take. I stripped the plenum and TB and followed the instructions on the can - "Three heavy coats". So, yeah,... That doesn't work It looked like crap - very uneven and wherever it pooled, it was way too much. I did try "curing" it at 200 deg for an hour, but that made almost no difference. So, I stripped it again... This time several lighter coats. Better, and, with a little careful sanding, I was ok with it. The TB looked pretty good too. It did take many trips out to the lawn for lots of coats in specific areas though, then cured again. So, great... I ordered a can of #300 Rosso Corsa in a spray can and hit it with that with several light coats. The texture made it a bit hard to cover easily. I went to check on it after an hour or so and the new paint had bubbled up in several places. I was hoping it would just finally lay back down, but in the morning it was just like a dried bubble - then, when scraped, went right down to the bare metal I'm pretty sure I couldn't suck more at painting... So, I stripped it yet again (because that is soooo fun) and now I'm thinking power coat. Can any of you that have gone that route: How is the texture? How is the color? How is it holding up? The PCer has a "light texture" that they recommend. I'm hoping for an authentic-ish finish, but even paint will start to peel within a few years I'm betting so even if it isn't an exact match, it will look close enough (I hope). My car is a red '85 Euro (I think the '83 is a slightly different red?) that is nice enough, but not concours for sure. Let me know your thoughts... Thanks, Franny
powder coat is the way to go, I have restored many plenums 308's, 328's BBI's etc and I powder coat all of them, average cost is low and once it is done (done right) you will never have to worry about it for a very long time. Here are a few examples of ones I did Wade Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Some bolts are difficult to remove, because you need double jointed wrists, but it can be done. Pay attention to the rings in the manifold rubber gasket. They can drop in the engine if you are not careful enough.
I have a 3.2 and noticed that the area that is not red, on sides and bottom are wrinkle pain in grey, aluminum colored. I thought that was interesting.
A lot of great information. All the pictures look great. Some very nice clean engine compartments. Seems to be a variation of colors of the plenum's. It may be the camera's or my computer. Some look to be pretty orange. So I decided to remove my complete intake to have the plenum powder coated. The powder coater says he has done them before and has the correct color red in the wrinkle paint. I hope so. He said he strips the paint and treats the aluminum for oxidation before he powder coats it. He is also cleaning my intakes. Said they will come out looking like new. It would of be cheaper to do my self with the spray can but for $130.00 I'd let someone else do it and hope it last a lot longer. I'm have the hardware cad plated. I'm not sure on the intake bolts and washers. Are they painted silver, zinc plated or are they cad plated? I'm changing the hoses and cleaning up the other parts under the intake at the same time. I'm going to use simple green to do so. Is there a better product to use than the simple green to clean with? I will post some pictures when done.
I have wanted to restore the Plenum and the Throttle Body. I guess it had been painted when the car was built, red wrinkle paint over the raw aluminum castings. Well, short story is they were peeling when I bought the car, I cleaned off as much as possible and have been driving it. Had other things to fix on the car. Well, I started to take off the bits and pieces this weekend. Some of the Injector lines were on very tight and I had to get these off before I could get to the Plenum Mounting Bolts on the under side. These were also very tight and in the end I bit the bullet and removed the Rear Engine Compartment Panel! Has anyone had the same experience here? Anyway, it gave me more room to get some extra leverage with the Ring Spanner I was using. Its is all off now and I used Paint Stripper and got rid of almost all the paint on both pieces, The Plenum and the Throttle Body. Now here is the problem. First, after trying all the automotive parts stores in the area, AutoZone, Advance Auto, O'Reilly's, Lowes, and Home Depot for VHT Red Wrinkle Paint, no one had any. I could not believe it as there was always some on the shelf as long as I can remember. Came in to work today, and called around. Finally found some from the O'Reilly's near here, they will have it in a couple of hours. Hopefully, that problem is taken care of, though I would like to ask what experience you have had, painting the bare aluminum with VHT Red and no Etch / Primer first. Looks like that may have been the original problem and why the paint was starting to flake off. Next question I have is: after I removed the Plenum, I noticed that the large hose lying on the top of the engine is looking rather suspect. It goes from the Air-box to the Left Hand Side of the Engine. Can someone tell me what it's called and what does it do? I am going to change it, so is there some sort of special line I should use? Seeing that it lies on top of the hot engine, should I get a high temperature "silicone" type of pipe as a replacement. Thanks, I will post some pictures when I have finished this exercise!
As I have mentioned in the latter part of #37, there is an Air Line that lays on top of the Cylinder Head. Mine looks like it has deteriorated enough to need replacement. Any ideas on the type of Hose required here? The current one has the fabric wrap on the outside. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Franny, I am doing the same exercise. After removing the Air Plenum and the Throttle Body and stripping off all the old Red Paint, I washed mine thoroughly to remove any of the Paint Stripper. I let it dry overnight and then washed it again in a tray with Solvent to get rid of any oil or chemicals. Let that dry overnight and then used my air compressor to blow it again. Be careful if the compressor has any water in the tank or lines as this may cause the paint to bubble up. This is the point I am at now. I am going to use a light coating of Etch Primer before applying the VHT Red. The VHT is a High Temperature paint that will withstand repeated heat cycling the engine goes through. Ordinary automotive paint will look good for a while, but will then start to flake off. When I cleaned off the last remnants of the old Red paint, I noticed that the last areas that had not come off with the paint stripper had what looked like surface primer beneath the Red paint. Obviously the plenum had been re-finished before and no primer was used.
Hi Robo, I did finally go with the power coating and it really turned out great. They were also able to get the color to match really well. It was a difficult road, but after striping it three times I had burned through my stripant! I wish you the best of luck and looks like others were able to get this to work with th paint so it is possible One word of caution: I did my painting outside quite a ways from the garage with the garage door down, but several day after I gave up and sent it to the PCer, I was looking at one of the white cars in the garage and something caught my eye... I got some clay bar and sure enough, it came back with a bit of red on the horizontal surfaces. ALL the cars had red paint on them and all I did was let the plenum dry in the garage. I never paint in the garage. All that contamination came off just fine, but I did have to clay all the cars and the scooters. So, be careful where that stuff is when it drys... If you have an outside shed you can use, I would try that. A little before and after... Franny Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Well, the engine came out for some head work so that made it easier. I wend down to the shop working on the car and spent eight hours in front of the parts cleaner. I had the alternator and started rebuilt/cleaned and the engine bay was thoroughly cleaned and then the firewall re-sprayed. Mostly lots of elbow grease (super Green, brake cleaner, etc.) from the amazing shop that worked on the car (Maranello Motorworks just north of Denver, Co) and a bit more from us. Tom towed the car without the engine to a car wash and power washed the engine bay. It was crazy dirty and the dirt here has to be manually scrubbed. He did a killer job. The car looks great and runs even better. The PO lived on a long dirt driveway and I think he may not have bothered to drive very slowly on the dirt. It sure looked pretty sad, huh... Franny
I would just like to mention that the most difficult part of this job was removing the Plenum and the Throttle Body from the Engine. Most of you have glossed over it, maybe because it is a PITA to do. Not having double or triple jointed arms and having to work "blind" on the forward cylinder, not to mention that the Plenum Nuts had never been removed, neither had the Injectors. 3 of the plenum nuts were really difficult, 1 on the rear and 2 on the front, so I had to take off the Injector Fuel Lines, and then there were 4 of those that were really "frozen". I used a Hot Air gun to heat the various parts and after a couple of attempts, they did come loose. For someone like myself, who had never removed those parts before, I have to say they were really difficult. Anyone attempting this, should at least be warned! Anyway, most of you have shared your pictures "before" and "after", so I will do the same. It is an ideal time to get in there and give most parts of the engine and engine compartment a good clean. As mentioned before, Simple Green and Brake Clean helped a lot. I suggest using various brushes, cotton buds, scourers and metal cleaners and you will not know the engine bay afterwards! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Had my plenum painted by Tim Taylor at Red Car Restorations in Rockwall,Texas. He also vapor blasted the intake and valve cover. Great job. Vapor blasting made my valve cover and intake look like new. If you have any aluminum pieces off your car have them vapor blasted. What a difference it will make. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Robo: well, it may have been a major PITA to get off, but it looks super sweet now! Congrats on an awesome job! Off: Yours looks perfect too. That vapor blasting-- What is that? CO2? Any issues with it corroding again? I think there may have been some sort of super light anodizing originally. That was gone on the valve covers on my car (can't imagine why...) and they had larger gray blotches. The shop actually painted mine with super high temp same color as original. We powder coated the exhaust manifolds/extractors too. Boy, those really look great! Franny
Dave, Looks like you sprung for a new set of brass Bosch Injectors as well. I noticed this weekend that the car seemed to respond just a tad quicker down low and that the overall response all through the rev range "felt" better. Seat of the pants stuff though, did you feel a noticeable difference?
Check out this you tube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDjVAvBvD38 Doesn't hurt the soft aluminum just cleans it like new. Cheap to have it done. Not many places have a vapor blaster. Not a cheap machine. Looks like a large sand blaster but uses water. His machine is large enough to do your block. Yes new injectors and new plugs. Tim check mine and tried to clean them said just buy new ones. They where just $20.00 each. Had all my nuts and bolts along with the throttle linkage yellow zinc plated. Should of did my injector lines also, next time I have something yellow zinc plated I will do them. Yes it idles a little better. But ran very good and strong before. My 85qv euro only has about 26,000 or 39,000 km on it.
I'm in the middle of this job. A reminder that EXTREME CAUTION must be taken when removing the intake to prevent the 8 metal spacers which surround each bolt from falling into the runners/manifold. You can either slip index cards between the intake and manifold to cover the holes, or raise the intake enough to wrap tape around each bolt as a stop. Or both. Whatever you do...don't let the spacers fall, unless you want to turn a cosmetic resto into an engine tear down
