How to clean engine cover?

My '93 has what I think is the same engine cover that all NSXs have: it has a textured black surface. It had gotten dusty over the years so I took a carpet brush to it. Big mistake--the first couple swipes took off the texture, which appears to be sprayed or glued on. I stopped immediately, but now I have a "bald" area. :frown: I then tried using a household tack cloth (Pledge "Grab-It") to clean it but it just left gobs of lint--even worse than the dust. I could try a vacuum cleaner but I'm afraid that that will just wind up scraping off the coating as well. How do you all clean your engine covers? Also, any ideas for repairing the damage?

--Bob

Wow, bad deal for you.
There should have been cleaning instructions somewhere on that piece right from the factory.
I used a roller lint brush only on that, lightly with nice results.
I think I read a post by another dude doing the same thing as you first though.
Can't imagine a way to fix your situation though unless you stripped it all and then painted it.
Hope you find a way though.
Always though that some old time gold shag and a dog with a bouncing head would look good back there!


Trev.

This is a word of warning to anyone with an older model NSX, especially if you just bought it and haven't been told: if your engine cover is in good shape, DON’T TOUCH THE FUZZ! You can just assume that over time, heat has broken down the adhesives and if you touch the fuzz in the middle of the cover(where it stays hotter), it will come off and leave an unsightly bald spot. If you try to vacuum the cover, the fuzz will come off.
The same EXACT thing happened to me, only I had additional help from the guys at the garage putting auto parts on it. It’s the only ugly part of my car. I’ve thought about it for awhile and have considered the following fixes aside from shelling out for an expensive new one:
1. Buy a used one: lots of guys are lightening their cars. You see them selling engine covers in the $125 range occasionally here and on eBay.
2. Finding some way of stripping the cover (heat gun? Paint stripper? Belt sander? Scraper? Pressure washer or sand blaster?) and then either covering it with some sort of fabric, painting, or buying one of those “Flocking” kits from Woodcraft to put the fuzz back on.
3. Take the opportunity to go light and get another kind of engine cover. I’m really liking the mesh ones.
4. Go without an engine cover.
Surely someone has successfully grappled with the refinishing problem a long time ago, though I haven’t seen anything useful in searching.
The lint roller is the best idea I've heard yet as a way clean safely.

Yeah I did the same thing and ended up with an ugly bald spot smack in the middle of the engine cover. The more I attempted to fix it, the worse it continued to shed. Ended up buying a CF Mesh cover after a couple years of staring at it's baldness. :tongue:

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. And the empathy :redface:. I'll keep my eyes open for a used cover and will also check out a couple stereo and upholstery shops. I'm wondering if they could stretch a piece of speaker fabric over the whole cover, or do something along those lines, like you suggested, gdae. I wasn't aware of the aftermarket covers (http://www.scienceofspeed.com/produ...SX/Cantrell_Concepts/engine_cover/default.asp) --thanks for the heads-up, NSXrunner. I'll report again if I come up with some solution short of just living with it. No matter what, I'll get a lint roller and use THAT for cleaning from now on! (Big thumbs up for that one, Fanman.)

--Bob

I use painters tape and dab it lightly...same idea as the lint roller.

Just wanted to provide a very late update to this: An auto upholstery shop suggested covering it with carpeting. I was skeptical that it would survive the heat, but they said it would be fine. So I did that, and it looked good--looked stock to anyone but an NSX aficionado. But now about eight years later the carpeting has finally started tearing and pulling up so I need to work on this again. May just put carpeting on it again, but I'll ask the upholstery shop about "flocking" (spray-on textured material--which is I think what was originally on the cover) as mentioned in another thread.

--Bob

I had this problem and sorta handled it. See this post from 2008:
http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/105190-Engine-Cover-Refurb?highlight=cover

Looking at the photo again, this is rare instance where it actually looks better in person than in the photo. Still, if I had to do it all over again, I'd use a spray gun rather than rattle cans.

I'll give a 3rd vote for the lint roller (after you have refurbished or purchased a new cover).

If it has bare spots why not use spray flocking and re-apply?

Here's my solution - I had the same issue and could not resolve. I took it to my upholstery/tinting guru and had the cover wrapped in carbon fibre. The little marks have mostly disappeared after everything settled. It looks great!


View attachment 148700

I don't understand the obsession with carbon fiber in the NSX community.

My console is wrapped as well. I don't know who started it.

On the engine cover it is not that noticeable. it looks very clean compared to the shedding fuzz.

I had a similar mild balding issue and I just removed my cover altogether. Previous owner just limo tinted the rear glass to hide it. I'm keeping mine in case I get an offer I can't refuse and decide to sell in the future My targa top fits snuggly in my trunk with a couple of pillows for support.
My question is, if any of you were in the market for an NSX would you choose one with a tastefully reupholstered engine cover like Kenwould's over an OEM one with a couple of bald spots? Would the condition of the engine cover really come into play at all?

Bald spots. I'd be concerned that the heat from the engine would affect the long-term durability of the vinyl.