MEA..pretty on the outside..

[rob.hardy1]

But under the bonnet much pretification is required. ( i was once advised to stick up a picture of a nice engine bay on the underside of the bonnet so that every time i lift the lid, hey presto, i see a nice engine bay but, sadly, not mine)
After watching the transformation of Ash's (polo2k) engine bay i have been inspired to start work on mine.

Before

During


I will be taking the engine out tomorrow ( with the help of Ash and an engine hoist) leaving the area clear for work.

The bottom of the engine bay looks like its been coated with black bitumen type stuff so if anyone has any tips for removing the hard black shtuff please advise away.
This is pretty well the first time i have picked up a spanner but with Ashes help i will get the job done. So far so good but i am girding my loins for the hassles i have read so much about.
i will update as i go further

[bigginger]

Hot air gun and a scraper, I find. Why do people insist on doing it?

[polo2k]

After watching the transformation of Ash's (polo2k) engine bay i have been inspired to start work on mine.

Dont blame me

Progress is good mate and i assure you it will be all shiney soon

ill think up some new swear words while im wet sanding today

[ndevans]

Hot air gun and a scraper, I find. Why do people insist on doing it?

Personally I am very wary of people with too clean an engine bay. In much the same way as I am wary of people with clean tidy desks at work-I think it's unhealthy.......

[rob.hardy1]

Well the big lump of black is out of the bay and we have begun.

here we see ash giving the engine the treatment with oven cleaner,cillit bang and anything else my wife would allow me to get out of the kitchen cupboard.

the engine bay gets the same treatment.

thats better.

ITS GREEN......

but the green looks a litle on the light side.
Anybody have any idea if the light green is typical.

[MGFmad]

The green looks about right. Well in comparison to mine! The photo below is with the engine repainted but it matches very well with the original (paint bought from Bull Motif)

[Kevin]

So what shifted the dirt best Oven cleaner or Cillit bang

[rob.hardy1]

i think it was the sparkle washing up liquid in the air powered oil sprayer actually, combined with the other mixture being well brushed in with a stubby old paint brush.
This, as you can see, is NOT the appliance of science

[paulhumphries]

I find any over cleaner that says "do not use on aluminium" works wonders for cleaning up corroded alloy
Just leave it on for a few minutes, not 30 minutes or what ever the instructions say, and rinse off with loads of water.

Paul Humphries

[polo2k]

the oven cleaner worked a charm but careful breathing when your spraying the stuff!!!

must say though, not the most endeering photo!

the plan of action is to get the bay all rubbed down to somthing solid and then squirt some paint over the whole engine:)

[rob.hardy1]

and this is what that looks like


before



and after priming

and count the holes in the bottom...I NOW HAVE 8



I am like dog with two tails

[rob.hardy1]

Well, Mea is coming on in leaps and bounds. Ash andapplied some more paint yesterday and we have started put the engine bay back togther. Ive cleaned and painted lots of bits and it looking so much better.

This is before top coat


I have also cleaned up the top of ther radiator..
MY QUEST NOW>>>>>

on some MM's i have seen on some radiators some writing in big print saying ' remove this lid when hot and you will blow your fingers off' or something like it
Has any got a source for this 'decal'

hope to get the engine back in on tuesday

more photos to follow.

[minor_hickup]

Oh please make your own with that wording, that would be brilliant!

[rob.hardy1]

MEA is coming on , hope to refit the engine on tuesday night, cant wait to get her back on the road

[ASL642]

All the stickers etc are available from BM.

[rob.hardy1]

Thanks for that Lou but i think what i am looking is a stencil to do this

on the top of the rad

[rob.hardy1]

Nearly there

[ASL642]

I know exactly what you're after rob, sorry I would have thought BM would have done them, can't even find one on fleabay at the mo. Suggest you post on the wanted section and borrow one.

[aupickup]

the club spares were selling them at the national for £2.00
i bought 1

[rob.hardy1]

I've only bin an gorn and done it!!
This is the final before and after under MEA's bonnet. I know its a bit sad to some but i feel so much better knowing that things look nice and i can tell if i have any leaks going on.

I also took the oppertunity to reverse a big time bad decision on my part. I took off the servo. It looked so out of place and i can honestly say that to me, the difference in brake efficiency is not significant so i will put a note on the free to a good home section.






BIG THANKS To Ash. (polo2k)
As i said in the beginning, i have had very little experience in spanner type work and without Ash i would not have got very far. I learned very quickly that it is easy taking bits off, its easy to think 'i will remember where that goes or which way round it is'.
I also learned the value of proper nut and bolt labelling and storage during the work.
Ash has been a legend, helping me, supporting me and giving me huge amounts of physical and moral support, not to mention he did the ALL spraying.I also came to realise that getting stuck in is the best way of moving forward,. Sitting back and saying yer but no but doesnt get you very far.
I feel so much more confident about working on MEA in the future.
Thanks again Ash

Thought you also may like to see a pic of Ash, my brother Steve and myself on a get together celebrating MEAs return to the road.