Engine Bay - Throttle body thingy...

[Pabs]

peeps

There is one area of my engine bay that really p*sses me off when it comes to cleaning my car - the throttle body..... (long bar bit that goes horizontal across the engine at the front lol )

Mine has a kind-of pitted/rough finish to it, and I can never get it clean when oil gets on it.....

Whats best to do? I know some people have changed them for polished/chromed versions, but I just want to clean it up to make it look better than it does now.

What do others use?
Cheers

 

[cordobabrendy]

you can actually sand and polish that one. takes time tho.
you could always colour code it.

 

[Pabs]

sand and polish? With it in situ? I dont fancy removing it......

What kinda grit sandpaper do u use, or would wet-n-dry be better as its less abrasive?

 

[cordobabrendy]

it needs to be abraseve to start with mate otherwise youll be there days!

 

[Pabs]

lol i meant to finish with - sorry i wasnt very explanatory there.....

Can u do it with it in place? Is it just sand it down then polish? What would you suggest polishing with?
Sorry - total n00b when it comes to things like this..

 

[DPJ]

Pabs - see Laf's(from Croatia) thread in the Seat Pictures thread. He did his own.

 

[Fl@pper]

depends how rough it is

i usually buzz em down with a small air powered disc of 120 grit then get the the wet/dry paper from 300/600/900/1200 and then 1500/2000 and rouge/paste the rest up

i find the better the first stages are the better the finish so if you slack on an earlier one itll show more up on the next - can take forever though - be warned

try summat smaller first

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=547333

 

[Pabs]

ok so what can i do to clean it?
People must clean theres, surely? I just find no matter what i try it still stays a naff colour and dirty marks on it..

 

[stoneyfordNI]

did robdon not do this

 

[DPJ]

did robdon not do this

Sent his away to be done professionally.

 

[stoneyfordNI]

i see

 

[C3 LJG]

This place looks good and they would charge £50 to do it when i asked

http://www.customcarpolishers.co.uk/photo4.htm

 

[Pabs]

i just wanted to clean it tbh, it was only brendy who said it could be sanded and polished.

 

[cordobabrendy]

ohhh sorreeeeyy!
hehe have you tried a little neat bleach and scrubbing brush? keep it away from rubbers just in case though.

 

[techie]

The rough surface increases the surface area of the manifold and keeps it cooler. Or at least thats the theory behind the finish anyhow.

 

[RobDon]

"the throttle body..... (long bar bit that goes horizontal across the engine at the front lol )
" You mean the intake manifold?

Since having mine smoothed and polished I have noticed ZERO difference in power, intake temps, etc. etc.

 

[Pabs]

thats what i meant rob! sorry - the throttle body attaches to it so i just called it all the same name - but yeh, the intake manifold bit! lol

 

[dannyk]

GUNK is good for cleaning oil etc of metal, can get it an any automotive store.

 

[RobDon]

Because it's rough you'd need something like Autoglym engine cleaner and a stiff brush, but the finish is nigh on impossible to get looking good.

 

[Icecavern]

Just got a new intake maifold and turbo pipe from a BAM engine so I can polish them up... I think I'm gonna have many an evening with the wet and dry...

Pete