1St Step To Tidy Up An Engine Bay What Would You Do 1St? 32Gtr

[Purchase]

Got a 32 Gtr bought it with a crap looking engine bay what are some things i could start to do to make it look neater ? Cheers

[Truffles]

What i've found is the cleanest engine bays have re-painted engine covers and an actual clean engine bay itself. Usually scrubbed and repainted when the engine is out of the car.

Best basic things to do would be to look at just re-doing any old vacuum lines and clamps that are worn. Give everything within reason a degrease and a clean. Maybe relocate your battery and throw a decent oil cooler/relocation setup and an oil catch can.

If you're willing to go for it, do the rocker and cam cover. The R32 RB26 covers tend to be quite ratty these days (mine certainly are) and are often missing chips of paint. I think the R34 GTR RB26 covers are a sharp colour.

[sydking]

Like the majority of things, all depends on your budget. You could spend $20 or $2000 making your engine bay look to how you want.

[Purchase]

Moneys not a big issue it's just knowing what the most important things are and learning how to do most of it myself

[NYTSKY]

Engine out, respray the engine bay, replace all rubbers and hoses, new bolts and washers with shiny ones, get plenum and cam/timing cover powdercoated, any metal components media blasted or re-plated.

A decent job can be done for under $1000.

[Purchase]

That's not a bad price really is there any vids etc how to pull an rb26 out?

[Truffles]

That's not a bad price really is there any vids etc how to pull an rb26 out?

Not sure about any vids, but i'd recommend downloading a copy of the R32 GT-R workshop manaul. Given it was sold locally, there's a full english copy available (about 500 pages in a PDF) online. Handy resource to have and will tell you were every bolt/nut/screw it located on your car.

[34GeeTeeTee]

If you havent done it before then only attempt pulling an engine out if you are pretty handy on the tools and have a good system or memory lol

Even with the engine in you can do a lot, do what dave said in terms of hoses etc, maybe get some nice shiny bits and hard pipe kits etc?

Keep it legal though, you dont want to spend all that time getting it right and then get slapped with a defect!

[Purchase]

Engine out, respray the engine bay, replace all rubbers and hoses, new bolts and washers with shiny ones, get plenum and cam/timing cover powdercoated, any metal components media blasted or re-plated.

A decent job can be done for under $1000.

can you get the plenum out with out taking the engine out haven't had the best chance to give it a look

[Ants]

Ok,

I would pay attention to the engine covers. Why? Because when you open a bonnet whats the first thing you look at??? Yep, the engine.

Old and worn out oem paint on an R32 GTR looks like sh!t.

I know that you mentioned money is not an issue but in fact its always an issue, some are just better at managing it than others that's all

That aside, here is what I think you could do.

Go to the Autobarn and get some paint stripper - $50 for 4 litres (get your money worth that way)

also purchase some VHT wrinkle plus black / red (red if the car is white) - cost approx $15-$22 depending where you get it (Autobarn is the cheapest) get two cans

Get some all-purpose primer - cost like $13 bucks from Bunnings

Remove your plug and engine cam covers and paint strip them

Clean them up with some degreaser or prep wash and sand where appropriate (if required, I didn't)

Tape up the necessary parts i.e. breather holes, screw holes, engine ornament, etc...(this is the longest bit)

Then on nice hot sunny day - use your VHT wrinkle plus spray can - make sure you follow instructions (must be sprayed in a cross patch pattern i.e. horizontal, vertical and then sideways)

More importantly - buy or borrow a heat gun - set it to 300 deg C immediately after spray painting - once at temperature, apply it to the plug cover and cam covers

It will wrinkle up very quickly and once finished, leave it to dry somewhere dry i.e. in the sunlight for a few days

so going from the boring and grubby engine bay

to

this....

besides your time - total approximate cost is $120 (if you don't buy a heat gun)

your choice mate

[Purchase]

I got the top ornament plate powder coated and sand blasted already as I used to work at one cost me $10 for that part I just need to get the rest of the covers off without f**king the timing or anything else lol

[Ants]

Yep, be careful when taking the front cam cover off. I did that once and despite my efforts with markings I still managed to stuff up the timing + screw up the CAS. I think if you take it off you will need a timing light to reset it correctly.

Edited March 7, 2013 by Ants

[Purchase]

Yeah thats what I'm scared of ha it's worth paying someone to at least get that on and off for me