Pool, Additives, Rocking... LOL

[biscuitsrcool]

hey all

you know the above the bonnet there is that grill that takes the water runoff from the windscreen, yer well mines rusty... has anyone got a way of keeping it looking the same from the outside but making the water not pool in that area near the jack

like a water channel or something
im not particularly fond of rust so any way of preventing it is good

also

i put some stuff into the petrol tank, namely octane booster/cleanser and now my car is smoking alot.... any ideas??

LAST THING

do u have to put sealant on the gasket when you put the rocker cover back on??

[Al_Zhiemer]

What color smoke is it blowing??

Blue means oil.

If its blue, not good. Does it only do this at first start up or continuously?? if it is only happening on start up, at a rough guess i would say it has cleaned all the carbon deposits from around the valve stems and is allowing the oil to flow from the head to the cylinder bore (also possible reason for continuous smoke but unlikely).

Black is fuel.

If its black (which i'm presuming it is), i would check all your carby settings. you may find that it has cleaned crap out of your carby and is now over fueling. check your mixture is still set correctly, you may need to sit down and re-do all the timing, mixture and idle all at the same time to rectify.

As for sealant, i like to use a light smearing of a high quality sealant between the gasket and the rocker cover. i personally don't like sealant between the gasket and the head, but thats personal choice. with saying that though, i have come across a couple of motors that just will not seal without sealant on both sides.

If you have the time to spare, i find it easier and better results to allow the silicon to set between the gasket and rocker cover befor fitting. this helps prevent the gasket falling out of position when fitting. also one of the biggest killers of rubber and cork gaskets is over tightening, just slightly tension the bolts down until they are firm. after the motor has been run for a while and has got heat through it, check the tension of the bolts again. then do a final tension check at your next service and make sure all bolts are tensioned down evenly and firmly.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

[Brayden]

The rocker cover should have a cork or rubber gasket between it and the head.

The reason the grille is rusty is because the paint is particularly thin in that area. It would be worth cleaning up and giving a quick lick of paint.
I've never had a problem with water pooling in that area though, it should just run off to the sides and down into the guards. The amount of dirt and leaves that collect in the guards is something to keep a close eye on though, as rust starts there very easily.

P.S. The grill you're talking about is there to funnel air into the cabin, not water from the windscreen - that's just a design flaw more than anything!

[Al_Zhiemer]

I have fitted mesh that they use on the front air dams of vehicles, placed it around the hole where the moisture runs down in to the gaurds. am hoping that this will help keep out some of the larger materials like leaves and twigs from getting down inside the gaurds, hopefully allowing the finer dirt particles to run out of the bottom of the gaurd rather than the larger leaves and things blocking the water from draining.

It will mean i have to keep any eye on those areas and keep the build up around there free but i am hoping the long term benfits will be worth it.

Cheers

[Brayden]

I find it pretty easy to undo the single philips-head screw in the bottom of the guard and let the debris fall out, and give it a quick blast with the hose.

The mesh idea is a good one so long as you keep an eye out for leaf build-up.

[biscuitsrcool]

YAY it only leaks oil when the car is on
thats good cus it means its from the rocker cover which is the only thing i have a spare gasket for
job # 1 for the weekend
not game to start it up till then either, i dont like the look of smoke coming from my precious car

thanks for the suggestions in the front grille thingy.. mesh sounds the go to get rid of the pesky leaves

paint.... hmmmmmmmm
i got some but its not a very close match, does using a cutting agent after painting help make it shinier?

rust how to get rid of it effectivley..... there are other spots on it aswell like the bottom of the doors and the boot lip are these common spots?
also there is a huge rust spot near the windscreen in the corner of the panel with the grille right next to the window seal, ITS HUGE is that common?

is there an easier way to clean the engine out of 25 years worth of gunk without taking the engine out again. what about performance boosting on the whole, are there any simple ways of doing that??

[Al_Zhiemer]

Using a fine (extremely fine) cutting compund and then waxing over the top can bring a shine to it but then you may be left with the fact that it still doesn't match the rest of the vehicle.

Getting rid of rust effectively, for me it means sandblasting the area and bring the metal back to clean raw steal. and using a good rust proofing where you can after it has been repaired and painted.

There are a couple of ways of giving your engine a clean, but with the engine already blowing smoke, especially if it is blue smoke i wouldn't recommend any as it will probably do it more damage than good.

Cheers

[mightyboy]

there is pretty much only 2 ways to treat rust properly on cars.

1) SURFACE RUST- i would not sugest sandblasting unless its a very very small blaster using proper abrasive grit, it will damage the metal and possilbly wrap the panel. the rust should be sanded back then a metal conditioner used to clean it. a sealant will need to be appied within 15 mins of using the conditioner other wise its will have started rusting again. a sealant in this case is etch primer. etch primer will need to be layed before paint can be put on. this a a perminant solution to the surface rust. if you want a quick fix, then just rub it back and etch prime it and paint it, but it will rust again in a few months.

2) MAJOR RUST- if rust holes are present, then the rust needs to be cut out and a new patch welded in, then the treatment process again.

if the the paint is very rough and has bad orange peel, (looks like the skin of an orange) then you can rub it very lightly with p2000 grit wet sand paper. keep alot of water up to it other wise it will scratch badly, the scratches from the 2000 paper will polish out.

As for polish. if you dont have a buff, then a soft rag and a decent buffin compound and alot of elbow grease should bring up the shine. be careful it is very easy to rub through, even on professional jobs i cut through an edge with a rag and compound. buy a bit of polish and that, applied the same way will bring the finish up even better.