Very nice, Andy!


I'm about to pull the trigger on a couple of 2-3/4" clamps in red to try them and see how they work. Just not sure if the $7.50 is per clamp or per pair?

 

Gotta agree with you, those red clamps are definitely a no go with your engine cover.

 

Per clamp.

 

Thanks so much, John! Almost ordered only one. That would've looked odd. LOL

 

As climate change introduces things like a long stretch of 60* weather in Western NY in February, for crying out loud... I actually washed my car by hand the other day. It might be the only moment in my life when I hand washed a car in February in my driveway. So weird.

Anyway, "first wash" always reveals things. Any while I've no dings or chips, there is the ever-present collection of road tar, and little orange specs of oxidizing brake dust. God how I hate those little orange specs. Naturally, that stuff is along the sides of the car, but if you're a G Sedan owner, you know how bad the flat of the trunk and rear bumper get. Also weird how that happens. Some kind of aerodynamic principle at work here.

So... claybar! As I get old(er), I've found a pair of reading glasses, and one of those head-band lights works great. Really lets you eyeball every square inch.

 

I cant even think of handwashing my car after this doodoo weather... gives me shivers. BLACK PAINT SHOWS ALL!!!

 

The light helps a lot, I started using one I bought from home depot and it's awesome. Even then installing car parts under the hood and etc.

 

No doubt! nothing like a proper "head" light. I use mine for car stuff, house stuff, etc etc. I'll be using it when I clay bar mine... SO not looking forward to it

 

Right now, I've got about half the car clayed and waxed (in February! LOL) Still need to tackle the passenger side, and not bothering with the roof and hood. The priority right now is to clean off the tar and orange specs, which means focusing on the sides and back-end.

I'm thinking while I still have the OEM rims on the car, I might run the back end up on ramps and clean the mufflers. Those Fast Intentions cans and tips are so damn pretty, it hurts to see them covered in three months of road salt.

[edit]

I did exactly that thing today... ran the back end up on ramps for easier access to the mufflers and tips. They look a whole let better now. That being said, two years and two winters will take their toll on polished aluminum, not that anyone else would notice. Meh, it's a car and it's driven, even of it's only 5k miles a year.

Passenger side is clayed and waxed. Tomorrow I buff out the wax.

Think maybe this weekend I'll take down the R2C intakes and do a thorough engine bay cleaning. Maybe getting ahead of myself, though. February.

 

You should not use a claybar to get those iron containment out of the paint. You can actually cause some marring that way.

Use a product called Iron-X. After you wash the car, spray the affected area with Iron-X, let it do it's magic for 3-5 minutes. Next, agitate it with a wash mit and wash off.

 

Did some spring cleaning on the engine bay this weekend. Took down the intakes, disassembled and repainted the heat shields, cleaned the mid-pipes, and reassembled with a full set of P2M hose clamps, in black.

 

Nice work John, was this before or after shoveling snow??

 

No snow. Like I've said in the last few comments, it's been 30*F to 40*F above normal temps for almost a week now. At first, it's really nice, having near 70* weather in the middle of February. But after a few days, it just feels wrong.

 

Engine bay's lookin' good, John.


Incidentally, I got myself a pair of the red clamps in the 2-3/4" size. I've only installed one so far, but it looks great. Unfortunately though it's just slightly too small and doesn't clamp tightly enough on the throttle body connection. It loose enough that it's causing a slight intake leak there and throwing a CEL. I'm guessing my silicone couplers must be just very slightly thinner than yours, which is causing the clamp to bottom out just before it can really squeeze the coupler. I think I might try picking up a set of 2-1/2" clamps and see if those will open up enough to fit the throttle body connection.

 

The EXACT issue I was having. Got some of the smaller size clamps to see if I could make them work, but not enough thread catching inside the clamp. Just ordered some HPS couplers to beef things up.