Bit off more than I could chew?

[Zentelis]

5 or 6 years ago, I liberated the engine from my Stealth with the intent on finally building it the way I wanted it (turbos were whining..figured it'd be a good time for forced upgrades). Not long after I got the engine out, Kate and I decided to buy a house...(It wasn't just her idea ;) It was mine, too).

Well, obviously I didn't want to waste the time putting a not-so-great engine back into the stealth, so I let it sit..

years later (after finally selling that other freakin' house) my stealth is in _our_ garage. I had it flat-bedded over.

Tonight for the first time in years I decided to tinker around with it a little bit. I got this notion in my head of stripping the engine bay and re-painting it.

So, I started the process tonight and very quickly got overwhelmed. Everything in these engine bays seems to be bolted, strapped, tied, through, or clamped to everything else. Everytime I loosened one thing, 5 more things got in the way!

I've seen pictures of guys who have stripped the bays down and repainted them...how the flying hell is it done? I mean, the sheer mess of wires/tubes/etc made my brain lock up. I stared at it saying to myself "there's no way in hell I can do this...I won't even be able to put it back together!"

You guys who pull these things apart...how the hell do you know where everything goes when you put it back together?
I have plenty of pictures and another vr4 that I can use as a model when putting it back together..but still...it's just scary looking.
I'm actually scared to try and strip the engine bay..I'm afraid I'd get into worse shape than if I just left it the way it is.

If I had the money, at this point, I honestly think I'd just ship it to GZP or DR to build it..but I don't have the money..so one way or another, I gotta get the parts and put this thing back together..whether the engine bay looks pretty or not. (But I really want to restore that engine bay..a couple bad oil leaks completely ruined it).

Who has experience stripping these things down? Should I even bother? Or just clean what I can reach then drop the engine in when it's ready?

[UTRacerX9]

LOL... there's a bit of that going around... must be contagious with this being a new site, as I am preparing to start some work on mine soon for the first time in ages.

Does the bay really need painting? As far as most of these cars are concerned, a good cleaning is really all the engine bay needs, unless you have a lot of rust damage. Mitsu did a pretty good job painting these cars, so you could probably just get by with cleaning it and then reassembly. Post some pics so we can see what you're dealing with.

[Greg E]

Who has experience stripping these things down? Should I even bother? Or just clean what I can reach then drop the engine in when it's ready?

Organization, pen & paper and labeled baggies are what I use to keep it all straight. It's also good having a "spare" car to compare things to if you're stuck as to how something goes back in there.

Need a hand from someone who's done it a few times?

[Granny]

My car is a 91 and when we went to probably one of the best body shops in the area about painting the car he said "DO NOT PAINT THE ENGINE BAY"
It is painted the way it should be...unless of couse you have damage.
I think it came out fine.
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/pp10/R3KGT/003.jpg

[blindmist]

My car is a 91 and when we went to probably one of the best body shops in the area about painting the car he said "DO NOT PAINT THE ENGINE BAY"
It is painted the way it should be...unless of couse you have damage.
I think it came out fine.
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/pp10/R3KGT/003.jpg

OH SNAP!! She just showed you!

[OhioSpyderman]

Woot!!!

Hi Aaron :)

If I were you, I'd take Greg's offer of help....

Bob.

[GTOJOE]

My car is a 91 and when we went to probably one of the best body shops in the area about painting the car he said "DO NOT PAINT THE ENGINE BAY"
It is painted the way it should be...unless of couse you have damage.
I think it came out fine.
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/pp10/R3KGT/003.jpg

Fuck me Granny. That's a nice setup. Now you just need a nice chrome strut brace and it would be perfect. Also from the headlights I assume you have also done a 99 conversion?

[Zentelis]

There is some rust damage, yeah..around the battery area (leaking battery fluid will do that do ya). And some other areas are pitting/starting to rust/etc.
I suppose I could try to clean up a lot of it..but to get around all those pipes and hoses and wires..yeesh =)
Thanks Greg.. when I get the parts together, I'll letcha know =)

[Emilie@GZP]

How many do you have now? I can't keep track. LOL Use the Spyder as a reference if you get stuck. Or just shoot me/Hans a message. we'll help you out the best we can :)

If you want to browse through my album, I have a step-by-step with how we cleared out the clutter, cleaned, sanded, prepped, and painted the engine bay in my Spyder, without REMOVING a lot, just moving them out of the way enough to paint.

http://s34.photobucket.com/albums/d111/3Scar/95%20SL/restoration/Summer%202009%20Overhaul/?start=all

[Emilie@GZP]

Step-by-step really starts around here... just scroll through you can see we just pulled everything into the middle, taped it, covered in paper, and strung it to a screw-jack in the middle to pull it away from the sides of the engine bay.

http://s34.photobucket.com/albums/d111/3Scar/95%20SL/restoration/Summer%202009%20Overhaul/?action=view&current=096.jpg

[blindmist]

Once you start taking shit apart, you will recognize it as you start to put it back together. Well, at least thats how it works for me. I have always lucked out. :P Good photographic memory I guess.

[Zentelis]

Once you start taking shit apart, you will recognize it as you start to put it back together. Well, at least thats how it works for me. I have always lucked out. :P Good photographic memory I guess.

I wasn't too worried when I was taking it apart..but since it's been 5 years since I did that, nothing looks familiar anymore :p And taking it apart even more now doesn't help since it's all a jumble to begin with hehe.

Em, thanks for those pics. Except for the missing body panels, that's about what mine looks like now *shudder*. I'll look through them..maybe i can just get away with painting the sections that are damaged :)

[vr3.9]

I did mine. Looking back I definitely think it was worth the effort. Plan on doing it to my green one eventually too. First remember not everything needs to go back. Good time do the vacuum delete and clean up the firewall. Got rid of the clutch assist tank too. Really don't think it does much. Bundle the wiring up wrap it and hang it. The break lines are a pain but if you unbolt them from everything you can pull them far enough way to wrap them and paint around them. You don't have to disconnect them. Take lots of pictures and keep parts organized in baggies. Having a spare car to look at when putting it back together makes it a piece of cake too. I found it wasn't so much a problem of where does this go, but which part has to go first.

[green-lantern]

Sup dude! Like sir wrench-a-not said paper and pen, pictures, bag and tag is the way to go. There is nothing you cant do if you do that because it is impossible to forget with the right documentation. Good luck! and I'm glad to see you posting here.

[Austin@STM]

Its just a big puzzle, all you have to do is find a corner piece, or an edge that you know and work from there.

For example our wiring harnesses, dont have 2 of the same clips next to each other, so if you have 1 clip that you know goes to the ABS pump lets say, clip it in, then you know roughly how far away the next one should plug in, once you find that, go to the next one, and so on.

Its the same thing with everything else, piping for your intercoolers, start with the y-pipe that can only go in one spot, from there just fit the pieces.

I know it seems like a lot, but once you get that first piece things will start moving along, and it will all start to fall into place.

[Granny]

Fuck me Granny. That's a nice setup. Now you just need a nice chrome strut brace and it would be perfect. Also from the headlights I assume you have also done a 99 conversion?

Already done!
It also has a nice shiney TiAL blow off now but I can't get it back together and clean long enough to get new pics. :runaway:

Correct on the 99 conversion.