Guide to Polishing your VTS/GTI Cam Covers ////////// clean your bay
 

Right,

So i was browsing through my pictures just now and saw the difference between my engine bay when i got the car and now, i am abit anal in that sense and as soon as i get a car i detail it and make sure i clean up the engine bay always.

Firstly, i started with this, a daunting task an absolute mess.

Most people do not care about their engine bays which is a shame as i think having a clean bay helps in three ways.

1. To spot oddities as dirt hides these, for instance rust
2. When working you dont get as dirty
3. A clean engine is nicer to look at, and can be helpful at resale as it looks like you have cared for the car by maintaining it a little more than the average Joe.

Picture 1, the beggining


As you may or may not agree this has the potential to put off a small margin of buyers, luckily not me:)

I began with, Taking off removable covers and placing them in my sink with hot water and snow foam with some all purpose cleaner.

I then set about agitating areas of the bay with lots of muck with Meguairs all purpose cleaner and a little snow foam then wiping the muck from everything.

After leaving covers to soak and washing them down i place them to one side to dry, So thats all platics looking clean(ish) then refitted.

Now the bit the guide is aimed at really.


That rocker cover was quite a state, i firsty got a brilo pad to it with Autosol on and kept rubbing for hrs which brings me to this stage.



You can clearly see this is working but its a long way from done, it took a good 4hrs to get to this stage;



Still not too great but a big improvement from the original state, at this point im unable to get anymore rubbish off as the muck is gone what isnt is the metal corrosion. For this i used 1200 grit Sand paper firstly by dry sanding, and then finally 600 grit wet and dry to gain a smooth finish to the covers.

This brought me to this point, not the same day and with an addition in the form of a CAIS.



Much better, im sure you will agree. Sanding gives a very smooth finish but not that mirror finish i was hoping for. It was then time for the wire buff on a bench grinder, you can achieve a good finish without the use of this but it will take alot longer.

I would just like to say it is paramount to sand the covers down as the metal has a bumpy texture to it.


Again another change in the Air flow.



Now to complete the rocker covers and the bay, i bought a 3.5" backing plate and Lake Country CCS Orange
Light Cutting Pad 4" for my Meguairs G220 polishing machineand applied at speed 6 lots of Autosol in which i got this result. You if you do not have a machine polisher fear not its still achievable just takes alot longer by hand, a mircrofibre (box of) and lots and lots of autosol.

You are now left with this;



To complete the bay, dust everywhere as the sanding ruins everything, i use Meguairs high gloss gel on all black plastics.

Finally new custom coilpack sticker on and FIN




The more you prep it, sand it down and check the finish the better it will turn out. So as always the more you put in to it the better the result.

top notch mate love it, nicely done. you must be a very patient lad :y:

Class job mate :y:

wow can you do mine. i hate doing the engine bay takes ages

great work :)

Thanks guys, I have one more pic to come now, with the dust off and new coil pack sticker

Nice result :y:

New pic added

cracking job mate, just mind and keep on top the rocker cover cleaning/polishing as they will start to tarnish again after a while i believe. seeing your bay makes me want to get mine finished... the last silicone bend i was needing arrived last night so may get cracking tonight :D

where does your air intake come from now?

Thanks mate, how do you mean where does it come from?

Do you mean where is it getting a constant cold air feed or where did i buy it?

Might be worth making this guide a sticky?

i win. Fiesta engine bay is all plastic.

Wipe clean ftw!

That looks lovely dude! Great work!

I think that guy is asking where the cold air feed ducts from, headlight, front bumper?

Looks great, i know what you are saying as some people will argue that an engine is an engine and should be left alone as such, but im with you on this one i personally cant see the point in having an immaculate car when your engine bay is a complete mess!

yep, meant where is the feed coming from? though im guessing the passenger fog light since you have oe headlights and not morettes :y:

good guide mate :)

You loose for having the easy option tbh:P

Thanks matey, will answer below

Thanks yep maybe its just us haha

Its going down towards that area yeh, ive used K+N ducting and the scoop from the standard S system facing directly underneith the stainless feed.

Thank you:y:

Quality guide :y: Cant agree more about having a tidy engine bay:p Jamie if you dont mind here are a couple of my pics;), the bay started off like this:



After using some of the above techniques it now looks like this:



Much better:y:

Good work. A lot of effort there mate hats off to you.

Just one question with your oil breather pipe. I take it the air doesnt need filtered then as your connects before the filter

Good jop...