As some of you may know I have my engine out, so I figure I will take a little extra time to clean things up a bit and what needs cleaning on most of these cars more than the intake manifolds. So I cleaned all the cosmoline off of one intake and then after seeing a post of Tom's intake and asking him what he did, I proceeded do do the same. Took a course brass wire brush and my trusty drill, then a fine brass wire brush and the same old drill, after a few battery recharges that is. Here is how it cleaned up :alright. Was it worth the three hours it took me do do just the one, and the three hours I will spend doing the other one...well since I have the motor out and two other cars I can drive, I say yes :redspot

So I was installing my new water pump and it is all nice and shiny, then I put the thermostat housing on and it was not so nice and shiny. Out comes the drill and fine wire brush for a little polishing on it and now the water pump looks good with the cleaned and polished thermostat housing attached.

Then I noticed the water jacket that connects the two heads, the one that is almost not possible to take off with the motor installed. Well, that is made of the same material as the manifold so I figure it will clean up kind of nice too, and it did.....:buttrock

Looks good mate

Now put a polishing wheel on your trusty drill and some Aluminum Polish and make'em gleam!!:D

Now put a polishing wheel on your trusty drill and some Aluminum Polish and make'em gleam!!:D

I kind of like the way it looks with the brushed instead of polished look. The same thread Tom put a pic of his on had a highly polished manifold and it just wasn't for me. Besides, that is probably another 3 hours worth of polishing :D

Very nice.

My first job slated for the coming spring.

I kind of like the way it looks with the brushed instead of polished look. The same thread Tom put a pic of his on had a highly polished manifold and it just wasn't for me. Besides, that is probably another 3 hours worth of polishing :DOh it looks nice the way it is..I think if you polished it a bit it would be easier to keep clean tho.

I wasn't feeling the high polish either.. So I finished mine off after doing the intake manifold gaskets just by cleaning too..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/250Freerider/DSC07678.jpg

I think iv'e got the dirtyest engine bay on the planet, the engine has been laquered with some kind of clear flaky substance, I think from the valeters, a trend from years gone by. The central cover has been mat blaked, I'm not taking a picture of that to post.
A future project no doubt. nitromorse the mat black of first and a dull brushed finish is the way to go for me.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE......... 8
..............................................:but trock
.. livelongandprosper

I think iv'e got the dirtyest engine bay on the planet, the engine has been laquered with some kind of clear flaky substance, I think from the valeters, a trend from years gone by. The central cover has been mat blaked, I'm not taking a picture of that to post.
A future project no doubt. nitromorse the mat black of first and a dull brushed finish is the way to go for me.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE 8
:buttrock
.............................. livelongandprosper

Here is the final product, getting ready to go install them in a few minutes. All cleaned/polished, but not too polished, up. The painting of the top between the lines and around the raised BMW make a world of difference :redspot

Definitely a lot of work but I think the results are well worth it :alright I probably have at least six hours of labor in them just to get these results. That does not include any remove or install time for the intakes themselves.

Great job!

Looks good - you are getting there. The key thing to remember is not to "rush", take your time and make sure everything is 100%.
Hopefully when you are done it will look like this------>


http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp25/TxGr8White/Esmerelda/image_6478.jpg

Looks like that bleed screw has been over tightned, That's gonna cost 2.4 Concourse points, Sorry! I don't make the rules...)

good eye, actually the retainer plate broke on the re-install (have already installed the new one...), and the bleeder screw is a metal M10 bolt with the hex head shaved off and 2 slits cut into it - far better than the original plastic-snaps-off-when-you-don't-want-it bleeder screw.

i remember that feature from mt dora last year

Looks good - you are getting there. The key thing to remember is not to "rush", take your time and make sure everything is 100%.
Hopefully when you are done it will look like this------>


I don't know if it will look that good :D

I will just be very pleased if everything works when I am done :eyecrazy

Got them installed and it looks like and engine again. Today I will get the motor back in the air and change me some oil pan gaskets, then it will be ready to go back in the car :redspot

Here are some other things that clean up pretty good on our engines.

Thermostat housing and timing covers
Rear Water Jacket, not that it will ever be seen again :D
Oil Filter Bowl
Those things the distributor caps mount to

I might have gone a little overboard on all this, and even though these other pieces did not get as much attention as the intake manifolds, they do look nicer after hitting them with the polishing wheel :buttrock

First thing those intakes look great. I did mine black then polished the bmw and the lines. My question is I see lots of photos with the sheilds off the distributor caps. It looks better but is ther any problems by doing that?

Taking my filter housing off for polishing next oil change, Gotta have it, Nice job.

First thing those intakes look great. I did mine black then polished the bmw and the lines. My question is I see lots of photos with the sheilds off the distributor caps. It looks better but is ther any problems by doing that?

steffen did that so i doubt there would be any problems

Taking my filter housing off for polishing next oil change, Gotta have it, Nice job.

but how do you take the canister off?

Remove the 2 nuts from the rubber mount thingies #14's and the lines, and she comes right out.

cool...i have a polished oil canister for sale

Come on guys, bead blasting is the best to clean those intakes and valve covers! I did it on my V8 valve covers at the local machine shop for $20 bucks and they went from this:

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/100_0174.jpg

To this: (with some black paint of course)

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/100_0184.jpg

I hope you did a darn good job of cleaning those beads off it after, as that stuff would destroy you engine. But nice job it looks good.

i don't know, to me that job looks like 20,- bucks too much

soda blasting is the way to go actually, if you have to.
otherwise, if the parts are not cleaned right, you can kiss
the engine block good bye. i've seen a few wrecked engines
from someone sandblasting the intakes and then not cleaning them thoroughly.

if i would have prepped that thing i would have leveled the voids a little bit.
or would have coated it in a wrinkle finish , so the imperfections don't show this bad.

Man, that before picture is scary looking. Were the valve covers from a wrecking yard? I used a soda blast on another car and other than a lot of residue the surface was pristine.

I hope you did a darn good job of cleaning those beads off it after, as that stuff would destroy you engine. But nice job it looks good.

Yep it is a must to hose off the parts so those beads are gone. I watched a buddy of mine blew up his Chevy 350 after building it because he didn't get one bead out of the intake.

Man, that before picture is scary looking. Were the valve covers from a wrecking yard? I used a soda blast on another car and other than a lot of residue the surface was pristine.

No that was off my car and the gaskets had been leaking for about six months. Which ate away most of the factory gold paint and ruined two sets of plugs. This is also a good time to go out and check that the gaskets are not leaking your cars because they will ruin the plugs/coils on a V8 and the V12s should have a nice meaty wiring harness behind the engine which is good at setting on fire.

For what it's worth, glass beading intakes cost me a V12 - but made a nice winerack.

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u305/Wuffer44/Winerack.jpg

For what it's worth, glass beading intakes cost me a V12 - but made a nice winerack.

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u305/Wuffer44/Winerack.jpg
that winerack looks like after new years eve

:) So, if you want to have a stylish winerack or ashtrays made of destroyed pistons keep on glass beading!

If not, use soda- or walnutshell-blasting, 2nd will only cause a nice smell of an open fire out of the exhaust tipps... :D

here is the canister i was talking about.
http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo208/bmdoublesyou/cleansupnicely001.jpg
it's from my 91 parts car. if someone is interested in it.
PM me.
i would put it in my 93 otherwise. but i don't know if it will fit.

oh and here i found a pic of how nicely my engine bay cleaned up.
it's nothing compared to steffens immaculate bay.
but you could buy my car
for the funds, he invested in his restoration.

before
http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo208/bmdoublesyou/enginenewpics002.jpg
after
http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo208/bmdoublesyou/cleansupnicely002.jpg

The oil filter canisters will work across all years.

The actual "out of pocket' expense on the fire-resto was around $4500 (including the paint). If you had to purchase all of the parts, harnesses, engine, etc new from BMW that would have easily surpassed the $25,000 mark. Now add the 550 or so man hours (@$125/hr.), the labor would be around $68,750. Basically, that would be a brand new 850 in today's dollars.

Ah, the price of being exclusively insane!!

i really like the way , the engine bay changed over the time.
but what i really like to have next is an engine cover of a m73,
if it fits.
http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo208/bmdoublesyou/engine002.jpg

you will need the mounting bridge as well. The fasteners are also somewhat different....

You can make it fit with no real problems.
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u305/Wuffer44/R1engine1.jpg

But you are missing #8 in this drawing:
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u305/Wuffer44/EngineCover.jpg

i knooooooo... i an going to order it from gault monday

attaboy...

attaboy...

:)
you mean Dinozzo got a promotion?

you used to hit me on the head all the time...hehe remember?

You can make it fit with no real problems.
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u305/Wuffer44/R1engine1.jpg


You got a part number for that Tom? I can add it to my list of things to order from Charlie :D

part # 11 12 1 723 620 about $15 at GAULT

$15 for an M73 engine cover!!! That's pretty cheap!

$15 for an M73 engine cover!!! That's pretty cheap!

it's not the m73 cover. it is the rubber- plastic part that sits between the two dk and MAF's
the m73 cover is like $351.50 at pelican parts

I've seen some pictures of highly polished manifolds and I like them. It's a nice burst of light when you open up the hood. I've got my mainfolds off right now and was thinking of getting them super-polished, but I don't know where to look for that type of service.

I am not quite sure either but maybe there is something in the phone book that will lead you or maybe someone in the phone book would know. To get them highly polished is just a matter of time and effort. I am sure that it is not cheap to have done. I wonder if you could just send them out to be chromed? Still would probably need to have them sanded to smooth the surface before chroming.

I am not quite sure either but maybe there is something in the phone book that will lead you or maybe someone in the phone book would know. To get them highly polished is just a matter of time and effort. I am sure that it is not cheap to have done. I wonder if you could just send them out to be chromed? Still would probably need to have them sanded to smooth the surface before chroming.


...just had a set priced at a bit over $2200 for a high polish. The guy told me he thinks it will take close to a week to do both. Personally, I think they look great - for the first few minutes, but after that you need to keep up with the polish to keep them that way. I would think going with a silver ceramic coating would acheive almost the same result, but without all the maintenance.

That is pretty pricey for something that you have to open the hood to see and doesn't add a ton of performance! Silver ceramic coating sounds interesting, though I am happy with the state of mine right now, wonder how much that coating costs.

$50 - $75 last time I asked....

...just had a set priced at a bit over $2200 for a high polish. The guy told me he thinks it will take close to a week to do both. Personally, I think they look great - for the first few minutes, but after that you need to keep up with the polish to keep them that way. I would think going with a silver ceramic coating would acheive almost the same result, but without all the maintenance.The maintnance is minimum, 2 to 3 hand polishes a year with mothers or a good polish, I get my polish from the Truck/Stops/Shows and commercial parts stores, I lov'em polished, The only thing i don't like is the questions when i open the hood, In these parts there anywhere from $600 to $800 for both including the distributor housings, I paid $400.00 It takes 2 days, Once he starts you can pick them up that evening, I say make more phone calls, Give me $2,200 and i will supply manifolds and polishing, I'd even throw in a extra set, That's right! 2 sets fully polished!