Soldato
Agreed! Mechanically this one had been cared for really well - but it'd just been used, otherwise. Good to 'reset' it and start afresh.
What have you done to your car today?
- Thread starter mattyprice4004
- Start date
Agreed! Mechanically this one had been cared for really well - but it'd just been used, otherwise. Good to 'reset' it and start afresh.
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Caporegime
It isn't difficult... 
Man of Honour
Have done a few bits to the Forester recently. First up, the headlights had gone cloudy - so I bought an Autoglym headlight restoration kit, which was dead easy to use. The process didn't take long, and the results were remarkable. I also sealed the freshly polished lenses with C.Quartz DLUX afterwards, which should prevent against oxidation and UV damage for a while (as that protective coating is what I'd effectively ground away). Does feel very odd sanding down plastic lenses...
Before:
First passes:
During polishing:
After:
Here's the other headlamp, prior to any work. It's the more damaged of the two:
After:
A vast improvement, in any case, and it has made a difference to the light output.
Flashed over the rest of it, just to bring it up to scratch.
You see so many old cars about with those cloudy headlights. It's amazing how much more modern they look when they're restored.
Associate
Think you may have convinced me to finally try sorting my headlights out with that kit. Could try it out on the LXXX Turbo first just so I don't mess up the M's ones.
Very tidy, love the older style Evos.
Soldato
I did it with my first Z4 - be very careful with the drill type sanding kits as the headlights are a tight fit against the 90° bit of bumper below and it's insanely easy for the drill to slip and mark the paint. When I did my M5's facelift lights, I did them off the car. Unfortunately I seem to recall that the headlights on the Z4 are a pain to remove (although I've never done it, IIRC replacing the bulbs is done through the wheel arch liner).
If it's an elbow grease type job then you'll be fine. Alternatively I guess taping some cereal box card around the lights should be enough to reinforce - masking tape just isn't sufficient against the side of the disc.
Associate
Yeh I would tape something a bit stronger then normal tape around the edges and then tape some more.
Soldato
Poor starting recently so tested the glow plugs, 1 dead and the rest reading 8-10a when they're supposed to be 15 or 16a. That's a job for when I get back later.
Those headlights look great lashout, what did you use to clean the engine bay?
Those headlights look great lashout, what did you use to clean the engine bay?
Soldato
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- 29 Jul 2013
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Soldato
Cheers! Engine bay was cleaned with a spray-on foaming de-greaser, then I wiped it down with a mix of hot water and some general surface cleaner (and scrubbed off some of the loose and built-up stuff). I then pressure washed it, having covered the alternator, fuse box and a few other bits with plastic. To finish, I soaked all the hoses in a rubber-protecting spray, then I doused the entire bay in ACF-50 - a military-spec anti-corrosion fluid that also protects electrical components and more.
Cheers! Engine bay was cleaned with a spray-on foaming de-greaser, then I wiped it down with a mix of hot water and some general surface cleaner (and scrubbed off some of the loose and built-up stuff). I then pressure washed it, having covered the alternator, fuse box and a few other bits with plastic. To finish, I soaked all the hoses in a rubber-protecting spray, then I doused the entire bay in ACF-50 - a military-spec anti-corrosion fluid that also protects electrical components and more.
Braver man than me! Don't think I'd go anywhere near my engine with a pressure washer.
That being said, I do want to clean the engine bay out. Got a bottle of engine and machine degreaser, a lot of microfibre rags and paintbrushes to get stuck in with, but never the motivation! The new power steering reservoir I installed is significantly blacker and shinier than all the other plastics, so it looks worse now
Soldato
You've really little to worry about - just don't point it at prominent electronics, use a sensible pressure setting and don't go over the top (and don't point it directly at air intakes, pulleys and the like).
I only ran mine over the suspension turrets, bulkhead and little else. Made a world of difference.
Soldato
(Oh, and don't do it when the engine's hot, either. Warm is okay, but not hot.)
Might stick with the garden hose, gives a decent spray without the pressure behind it. I wasn't planning on hitting it straight at the engine regardless. Either way, I doubt this weekend will be the time. I think I have air trapped in the coolant to sort out! That, or the level sensor is dying. Had random warning light flash on and off over the last day, yet checking the coolant when cold this morning and it's still at maximum. Also engine temperature is always just short of 12 o'clock on the dials
Serviced the Alhambra today. That's about 2 years and 25-30k I've done in it. And in that time I've done a complete refresh of the rear brakes, front springs, rear shocks, head gasket, timing belt, clutch and flywheel. So almost all the big, expensive jobs are done at least. Driving ok, but thinking of chopping it for a T6 Transporter.
I watched a YT vid that recommended you only pressure wash the engine while it's running, the heat helping dry any components.
The whole idea seems daft anyway. You can get your engine bay steam cleaned which is a safer option and will probably do a better job removing oil.
Soldato
I see no reason whatsoever to do it while running. You're asking for trouble, as you might inadvertently dump a load of water into an intake and lock the motor. Bad idea.
I'd already got degreaser everywhere, so it just needed washing off. Not going to harm the motor, at any rate. Only if you set about asking for trouble do you get it (i.e. point-blank blasting a fuse block or control module for minutes on end).
*Edit*
And, of course, if you're running the engine it will likely be hot - which is the worst possible condition, if you're going to dump cold/colder water on it. Bad idea. You don't need it running to 'dry' components, they'll dry naturally - and most electronic components are already shielded against moisture and water ingress.
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Caporegime
I just use a jet wash on mine. Spray lots of G101 and work it in with a brush, jet wash with a fine mist setting and dress the plastic with Aerospace 303. My car being Swedish all the electronics have plastic covers so I didn't even mask up just small short bursts in the areas that needed water. I did mine cold and ran the engine for a few minutes when it was dry.
This was nearly 3 months ago and still looks good for a 13 year old car.
This was nearly 3 months ago and still looks good for a 13 year old car.
Soldato
Looks great!