So I decided that since I was going to be waiting for a couple months until I can drive my car again I'd clean it up abit. My intake is showing signs of corrosion and I was wondering how do I go about cleaning it? Sand blast? old fashion hand sand it? And also would it be a good idea to paint it afterwards? I really don't like chrome and that all I've seen anyone do to them, so is there some way to paint it but not make it a heatsink? Then we have to valve cover, after resting wrenches and sockets on it all winter she's taken some damage, just some minor paint scrathes, but I wouldn't mind opening it up so I can see my cam gears and painting it black, whats the best way to do this? Again sand blast? Another thing when I pulled my intake off I noticed abit of built up sludge/grime, I sprayed it with carb cleaner and cleaned it all out but now I noticed that inside the inatke manifold its self is grimey...how should I get this cleaned out? I was thinking about getting the intake honed out a bit just to smooth it out alittle (I know the intake should be left rough and not polished like the exhaust side when porting/polishing) but ya I thought it might help alittle, what do you guys think? Well that was alot of questions so thanks for the replies guys, -Dean

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437whp @17psi GT35R S2k
144whp/132wtq ITB Miata

anyone....?

As for the intake manifold, it takes lots of carb cleaner and cleaning quickly. The carb cleaner will loosen/soften all the gunk, but if you don't wipe it out quickly, it gets stuck again. I know that there is a writeup on m.net for cleaning out the 1.8 intake with carb cleaner b/c it is a two piece unlike the one piece 1.6 intake manifold. I'm not sure which you have.

As for the valve cover, I'd say get it powercoated as it's not that expensive compared to all the labor you'd put into it yourself. I went to the powercoat shop and there they put the parts in a huge parts washer 1st go get most of the gunk off, and then they sandblast it prior to actually powercoating so if you want to DIY, I guess a good wash then sandblasting (if you have access to one) would be a pretty good prep. I know you said that you're not a big fan of polishing, but PopVII has a nice writeup on his website about polishing his engine parts.

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91 widebody brg - built 1.63L engine, worked head (MS solid lifters/shim under bucket/Supertech valvetrain/Integral cams), Flipside custom GT2871 turbo setup, Flipside custom IM w/65mm TB, 6-speed trans, 3.63 Rx7 diff, FM front sway, Tein Flex 9/7

Just remember not to use carb cleaner on the inside of the throttle body. carb cleaner will strip off the protective coating. (use throttle body cleaner)

Well I was thinking about powder coating the valve cover, but what about the intake mani, it looks like crap (so does my fuel rail actually) and I think that if I got it painted/coated the same color as my valve cover it would look good. I'm gonna paint my cam gears to (just same matching black as the other parts)

buy extras, get them powdercoated, sell the others when you get them back.

here's mine:

So paintingg/coating the intake mani won't have any effects on performance, heat wise?? I don't want a heat sink in my system. Kung fu jesus looking good! I won't bother with extras as I won't have a new diff in and turbo comlete for a couple months its looking like now so I'm playing around with dress-up stuff. And I've started my racecar 323 project

Alrite so powder coated black is what I'm gonna try and get done, thanks guys.

no, no ill effects from powdercoating. makes cleanup soooo much easier too.


something to keep on mind about powdercoating:

some coaters have better automotive experience than others. they know which parts to tape off or plug, and what to leave exposed.

coaters generally do things in batches. it's a bit of downtime to clean a booth and switch powders so they keep parts until they feel they have enough to coat and keep the labor down. if you want to use a rare color, expect to wait...weeks. this is why i recommend buying the extra pieces. black and silver are generally quick turnarounds.

talk to your coater so you can get an estimate of time and cost. also find out if they clean the parts or if it is an extra cost. most clean as a part of the price.

when you get the parts back, check the parts before paying. if there are flaws, point it out. if it is thin in places, point that out too. even if they tape off all the the mating surfaces, you we be well advised to sand the edges where they taped. small ridges form at the tape borders that can wreck havoc with gaskets and cause air/vacuum leaks.

here's a jrsc outlet i had powdercoated to match (i still might use it if i find a decent 1.6 kit used):





it's red crinkle, btw.

thank you for your help kung fu jesus! I have heard of a good local shop that all the guys around here use so I'll call em and find ot some details. And if I had acess to replacement parts I would get them incase but up here there are no wrecked miatas and ordering parts for down there is too pricey for things that I doin't nessecarily need. Thanks,

-Dean

Aside from the polishing page can also look at this one. http://bellsouthpwp.net/P/o/PopVII/Cam%20Cover.htm

For the cost and time involved still suggest plain old $1.29 aluminum rattle can from Wal-Mart, a couple of Brillo steel soap pads, and a little wad of fine steel wool. Will hold up extremely well for 3-4 years if you don't scar it up with tools.

polish and painting are a way to go, but they tend not to hold up to chemicals and time so well.

check out e-bay there was a vendor selling the intake manifold and valve cover powder-coated for $199.00. Beats spending all the time doing the prep and painting yourself.
Mark

I cleaned up my valve cover and intake manifold with a handheld sander. The valve cover is pretty easy. It took a while because I was being careful. It looks 1000 times better than stock. Its nice and smooth now which makes it easier to clean. I had some paint left over from when my car was getting fixed and I used that paint to fill in the "mazda" "dohc". Looks sharp.

Sanding the intake is a pita