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NA Engine Dressups... Show me your stuff..

jagtiger said:
Hey Doc,

I drive my nsx as much as I can..as long as there's no salt on the road..rain is fine but I make sure I dry it off after ...Would you believe I rarely clean my engine bay...I'd say about only twice last year...usually I store the car during winter time using "the bubble" and I think it really helps preserve the car..keeping away from humidity and dust...
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Regarding the parts..

1.Alternator and bar - polished it myself ..(10 hr job)
2."A" center piece and silver grey injector cover off from 2002 nsx
3.Dali Polished Coolant tank (1.5 hr )
4. Polished Oil Cap - got it from fellow member here
5. Polished fuse box cover - " " "

I use a little lexol vynlex for the rubber and plastic parts to protect it from UV rays...I think thats about it...nothing really out of the ordinary.. :smile:

All of the "how to" and instructions you can easily find in the DIY section. "Search" is also a big help...Good luck on the project and just let me know if I could be of any help. Regards!!! :smile:
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What exactly were your steps to polishing those components yourself?? Not that I have the time, but it might be a cool winter project if I can fit between the car and the wall. :tongue:
 
dnyhof said:
What exactly were your steps to polishing those components yourself?? Not that I have the time, but it might be a cool winter project if I can fit between the car and the wall. :tongue:
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It should be an easy DIY project...first step to is to remove that wall out of the way... :biggrin:



"I bought the aircraft Aluminum Paint stripper ( can spray). Very easy to use, spray all over the strut bar - wait 20 minutes then hose off. Apply Aluminum/metal polish ( i use BlueMagic liquid metal polish) buff off with a clean cloth.

On the vinyls, plastics and hoses I use Lexol vinylex - Its better than Armor-All in my opinion.

On the alternator, It would be easier if you take it out the car before sanding. I started using 300 grit sandpaper to get rid of all the oxidations and tarnishes. Next is 600 grit. Work section to section. Then I finished it up by applying the metal polish and wet sanding it with a 2000 grit sandpaper for a smooth, shiny finish. Finally apply several coats of Alum./metal polish and buff until it's shiny like chrome...that's it..you're done!

Hope this helps! "
 
jagtiger makes the alternator sound easy, it is FAR from it. search around the forum for more specific posts on how to do this. i removed mine and used a dremel tool with various bits and spent hours at it before giving up and buying one from SoS. it's not for the faint of heart.
 
I tried using the dremel too and it was tough so I ended up using the good old sand paper..starting from 300 grit and finishing up with the 2000 grit..it took me approx. 10 hours to finished it..I really had fun doing it...maybe it's just me but I find it really easy... :smile:


robr said:
jagtiger makes the alternator sound easy, it is FAR from it. search around the forum for more specific posts on how to do this. i removed mine and used a dremel tool with various bits and spent hours at it before giving up and buying one from SoS. it's not for the faint of heart.
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Wow, I love some of the looks. I'm planning to polish up the strut bar and the alternator next, if I can ever get some time at home with the car.

Also thinking about painting my coolant tank black. I saw a post a while back where this was done with a small stripe masked off to see the coolant level. Seemed pretty cool. I assume you use regular plastic paint? :confused:

Injector covers? a few of you seemed to have painted those as well. Looks good. Same plastic paint? or is there a special type you recommend? anyone try the Chrome Paint? Does it really look chrome? or more just like silver paint?

I would be interested in feedback, advice, and more ideas...

jagtiger, I sure like your bay. Very clean and classy. Where did you get your acura emblem cover? I've not seen that before?

Thanks and keep em coming....!!!!
 
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Hey NSXmas, good point. I'll check out the ratings on the plastic paint. There are some paints that are made for painting plastic, but may not have heat resistance. I'll make sure to check.

I'll also look into the SOS unit. The only concern I have is that I was told the stock unit the best performing unit. Don't totally know what that means, but I believe the stock unit is the only one with an "in your face" indication of the level of fluid. that may be the main advantage. Is there an aftermarket unit with an openly visible fluid indicator?

Got some energy early this morning (I don't get it, M-F, I struggle with getting up with my alarm. Weekends, I can't sleep!!! :rolleyes: ). I pulled my strut bar (bar across the engine bay). I am stripping the paint off as we type. It's just after 7:00 am and I have almost all of the paint stripped. Maybe one or two more coats and it should be clean. Then I'm going for the polishing... Unless I can find a cheap way to get it chromed...

Thanks for the advice... :biggrin:
Rick
 
ok, Step one complete! I finished the strut bar polish!!! Boy, thiss really was pretty easy for those who want to save the $$$ and have a fun DIY project.

As recomended by JagTiger, I went out to purchase some paint stripper. ended up getting a marine quality version that was available at the local Lowe's. Cost about $5-10. Stuff is really cool. Just brush it on and wait for about 5-10 minutes. the pain just peels up! I've never used thsi stuff before, but it worked pretty well. I then used one of those stipper/scrubby things that many folks use on their pans to wipe off the paint. It took me 3-4 cycles to get ALL the pain off. the scrubby even did a good job of first pass sanding...

After that, I just used my AutoGleam metal pilosh and WOW, it is not quite a Chrome finish, but defnitely a polished Aluminum finish. I like it a lot. Thanks JagTigier!!! Saved me some $$$ and had fun doing it! not I'm looking into the next part in the bay... Alternator? Alt. Belt cover? Coolant tank? MMMM :rolleyes:

this is great. Please keep em comming. Love the ideas... BTW, for those of you with that cool chrome cover for the throttle body. Wherre did you find it? Or did you make it? seems nice.

Also, I saw some nice injector covers. Please share the source for some of these nice pieces if you would be so kind.

Thanks!
 
Here is a pic of the polished bar...

Step 1 complete. Next? :rolleyes:
 

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Hey, I still have a long way to get even close to some of these nice dress-ups, but wanted to share this weekends piece. I decided the little metal deal that is located just behind the passenger in the engine compartment looked bad in its pot metal state. I saw one of you had painted it, but didn't see anyone go for shining it up. So I spend a few hours with sand paper, scrubbies and metal polish to get it looking like brushed aluminium. I think it came out well and I'm going to get some attachements for my dremmel to finish it up extra nice next weekend.

Here is a pick. let me know what you think...
 

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pt91 said:
Norm is right. You can add one piece at a time. Norm's car is the one that prompted me to dress up my engine.
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Is that carbon airbox a cover, or the entire unit? I would like to replace ONLY my cover with CF, but don't want to spendf $1K for the entire setup.

I thought I saw it on line somewhere, but now I can't find it. :frown:

Sam
 
Good JOB! Rick!


Now take that alternator off and polish it! :biggrin:

rherschberg said:
Here is a pic of the polished bar...

Step 1 complete. Next? :rolleyes:
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Thanks Jagtigier! That is my plan, but I keep loosing my weekends (Kids vs. Car :rolleyes: ). Sneaking little projects here and there. BTW, got a fuse box cover from Dali. Looks great! After the alternator, I'll post another pic... I think I'm going to try to polish the Alternator with a buffer.... We'll see...

Thanks for the motivating words....

Sambel, that looks really nice too!!! very good...

Rick
 
jagtiger said:
Good JOB! Rick!


Now take that alternator off and polish it! :biggrin:
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OK... Here is the engine with the polished bar, polished realy deally and polished Alternator. Looking better.. any suggestions for the next steps???
 

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OK, here was my next step. I bought some CF pieces from someone here on Prime a short time back. Finally got around to drilling and modifying so they would fit. Here is the latest pic....

Looking for ideas for the next change...

I know I need to do something with that coolant tank. Maybe paint? but I'm still debating...
 

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forget painting, it'll still be a big ugly monstrosity. its a cheap mod, just replace it with a dali or sos tank.
 
10 hrs?? I dismantled the alternator, I gave the outsides to some shop, picked it up again next day after paying about 60.00$ That's not worth 10 hrs of work in my opinion.


looks like I forgot the quote.... this is about the polished alternator look.
 

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