My restoration and build of #1444/2000 - lots of pics and video!

[MellowVR4]

One question, how much was the hood insulation? and was that the only one left in the planet? I so want one /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[G]

Looks awesome. Fyi on those battery hold downs. Once you remove the zinc coating they will rust. I would powder coat them or spray some clear on them. The same goes for any bolts you may have done the same to. Looks like a clean rust free vr4.

 

[pot]

I'm starting to feel like I'm watching "Breaking Bad" as I wait for each new video you post Tom.

 

[turbowop]

I can't believe you hand cleaned that whole engine bay. You're crazy! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif It's chemicals and pressure washing for me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Looks great though. Nice work! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[coyotes]

I'm terrified to pressure wash, just feel like my car would never run again after that.

 

[EHmotorsports]

as long as you start the car right after you wash. most will steam off. but you want to make sure to avoid any major electronics

 

[89Mirageman]

I always use a pressure washer/purple stuff and only had one issue, that was when a little moisture got in the distributor cap. After wiping it out all was good again. Also I choose to do this when it's in the 90's here and leave the hood raised all day afterwards. I will say that the pressure blows nearly all of the oem decals off though. Like the ones on the radiator or wiring harness. Something I didn't really care about since they were daily drivers. Tom has the right idea if you're looking to preserve everything though.

Also this is just another way of doing the valvecover that I've found to be easier. Clean and polish the raised letters first. Then prime the VC and take a rag with a little thinner on it and wipe the primer off the letters carefully, then repeat the same procedure with the paint. After the VC has fully cured take a gray scotchbrite and go over them one last time. Doing it this way guarantees you don't nick the paint or anything. Not saying your way is wrong because I have done it that way many times. Just saying this is what I do now and it seems easier for me.

 

[turbowop]

During the summer I "rinse" my engine bay bi-weekly with a pressure washer. Been doing this since '98. Never had a problem. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

 

[fuel]

I usually just use some engine degreaser either in the aerosol cans or in a garden pressure sprayer and just spray quite liberally everywhere after the engine is a little warm. I let it sit for about 10 mins then get the garden hose and rinse it all off. Sometimes it may take a few goes in the real dirty spots but usually 99% of all the oil, dirt and grease comes off anyway. The if you really want the engine bay to 'pop' I take a rag soaked in gasoline and clean up any bits of the engine bay bodywork that pressure spraying missed, and give the plastic/rubber parts a quick dressing of silicone spray.

 

[the_underdog]

Quoting bobdole:
Nice video Tom. Reminds me when I did mine. You are doing a great job.



Thank you sir! I know I've said this before, but I studied your build thread pics and found them very helpful during this process. I hope someday to go to the level of detail that you did with the chassis, subframes, etc. Your work in that thread is just incredible!

 

[the_underdog]

Quoting MellowVR4:
One question, how much was the hood insulation? and was that the only one left in the planet? I so want one /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif



I can't recall the price, but it wasn't bad at all. If it wasn't the last one, I'm sure it's one of just a few left!

 

[the_underdog]

Quoting G:
Looks awesome. Fyi on those battery hold downs. Once you remove the zinc coating they will rust. I would powder coat them or spray some clear on them. The same goes for any bolts you may have done the same to. Looks like a clean rust free vr4.



Thank you and yes, that's a good tip. I only wire wheel hardware that is rusty, since that zinc coating will come right off in that instance. I plan to have these and a bunch of other small parts powder coated soon.

 

[the_underdog]

Quoting Pot:
I'm starting to feel like I'm watching "Breaking Bad" as I wait for each new video you post Tom.



Haha, thanks man! Stay tuned for the final results coming next week! Well, nothing is ever "final" or "done" when it comes to cars, but you know what I mean. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[the_underdog]

Quoting turbowop:
I can't believe you hand cleaned that whole engine bay. You're crazy! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif It's chemicals and pressure washing for me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Looks great though. Nice work! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif



Thank you Mark! I bet I've looked at pictures and videos of your car at least a hundred times for inspiration and motivation. As for hand cleaning the engine bay- yes, I am a lunatic! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[the_underdog]

Quoting EHmotorsports:
as long as you start the car right after you wash. most will steam off. but you want to make sure to avoid any major electronics



Yes, pressure washing is absolutely fine with good preparation. As long as you don't do anything crazy it's fast and works well.

 

[the_underdog]

Quoting 89Mirageman:
I always use a pressure washer/purple stuff and only had one issue, that was when a little moisture got in the distributor cap. After wiping it out all was good again. Also I choose to do this when it's in the 90's here and leave the hood raised all day afterwards. I will say that the pressure blows nearly all of the oem decals off though. Like the ones on the radiator or wiring harness. Something I didn't really care about since they were daily drivers. Tom has the right idea if you're looking to preserve everything though.

Also this is just another way of doing the valvecover that I've found to be easier. Clean and polish the raised letters first. Then prime the VC and take a rag with a little thinner on it and wipe the primer off the letters carefully, then repeat the same procedure with the paint. After the VC has fully cured take a gray scotchbrite and go over them one last time. Doing it this way guarantees you don't nick the paint or anything. Not saying your way is wrong because I have done it that way many times. Just saying this is what I do now and it seems easier for me.



Yes, that's exactly why I like to do it by hand. I've pressure washed lots of engine bays, but I wanted to carefully go through everything and what this video doesn't show is that I was doing various maintenance work throughout the process as well. I'll be sure to post the maintenance video later, it's just not as interesting as the clean up/results in my opinion.

Thanks for the valve cover tip, that's another good method.

 

[turbohf]

maybe i missed it, but are you plans to leave her stock? or is there a couple build stages coming?

 

[EHmotorsports]

Quoting the_underdog:
Quoting EHmotorsports:
as long as you start the car right after you wash. most will steam off. but you want to make sure to avoid any major electronics



Yes, pressure washing is absolutely fine with good preparation. As long as you don't do anything crazy it's fast and works well.



yes and I completely understand why you didn't. You needed to get every last crack and pressure washing wont get everything.

 

[GSTwithPSI]

Looking really good Tom! So what's next for the Galant now?

 

[the_underdog]

Quoting turbohf:
maybe i missed it, but are you plans to leave her stock? or is there a couple build stages coming?



You'll have to stay tuned /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif