Thought I would clean up under the bonnet, so sprayed the plastic parts (fuse box cover was done last week that's why it's not in the picture). Ford Azure Blue, the "L" is from a set of White caliper decals that I hadn't used, another one is on the fuse box cover, I touched in the VVT-i with red acrylic paint before the final gloss clear coat......... just waiting for some new stainless steel bolts to finish them off.......Oh and the under bonnet bling from the Group Buy

Does anyone know what size the bolts are? I know they are a 10mm spanner, but what about the threads?



Keith

they are looking really good mate, i hadn't thought about spraying the covers like that it may be something i might have a go at one saturday. thanks for the idea and keep up the good work!

Look fantastic mate. Top job. Be sure to post pics installed. Nice work mate.

That looks awesome, can't wait to see how it all looks under the bonnet! Really tempted to do that myself but it'll never come out looking like that.......

what prep work did you do before painting

Looks great mate,

Like Spikes said what prep work etc?

What spray paint etc?

Stav

Okay, removed from the car and the rubber/metal plugs removed from the holes where the bolts go through. Then scrubbed with washing up liquid and a scourer 3 times, then washed again using a nail brush and old toothbrush on the ackward areas. Once I was satisfied that there were no contaminants/oil/grease inside and out on the parts they were dried. Inside the main fuse box lid (not pictured) I pushed twisted rolled up newspaper into the groove that runs around the edge as this seemed to have a rubber gasket along it's length. I thought it might be a good idea as I didn't want to get paint or lacquer on it.

I rubbed each piece down with wet & dry paper to remove any rough areas or faults in the plastic, then wiped them with white spirit to remove any dust or small particles. When dry, I sprayed them with two coats of Halfords plastic Primer (Grey) 15 mins between coats, left to dry for 24 hours. I then examined them and used 1200 wet & dry to smooth the primer, white spirit again and dried. Two coats of Ford Azure blue metallic, 15 mins between coats, 24 hours to dry and then 1200 wet & dry again to take the shine off. At this point I hand painted the Red VVT-I with arcylic paint and added the "L" decals. Finally two good coats of Halfords Clear Lacquer and left for as long as possible to dry hard (I'll leave mine off to dry hard for probably 5 or 6 days).

Hope this helps you guys, if I can do it anyone can do it, just take your time and make sure the prep work is done thoroughly.........there are no 5 minute jobs as my old man used to say.

Keith

thanks Keith

Very nice work Keith (as usual mate )

Did you not keep the old bolts ?

Wozza, yeah still got the bolts, there's a shop near where I work, I'll take them there to get new ss ones...........need some for when I get the radiator panel as well. Next up I'll take the rad brackets off and do something with them, probably do the same colour.

Oh meant to say, as have already put the main fuse box cover back on, but I used black rubber/fibre washers before fitting the bolts back on, save scratching/cracking the paint. Will do the same with the other covers, maybe add stainless steel washers on top of the rubber/fibre to add bling.

Keith

Hope you coming to the December meet so we can all have a look
(and ask you to do ours lmao )

Very nice mine are a rite mess good idea

hi dunno whether this helps,probably stating the obvious answer to the question but a 10mm spanner is generally for a 6mm bolt.

Yes you were correct......M6 bolts or 6mm, just ordered some stainless steel A4 grade (apparently they are the best.......and shiney....lol). Ordered them in different lengths for the plastic painted covers, 20 & 25 mm and also 12mm domed buttons with allen key fittings for the rad cover when I get it.....Oh and some washers.

Keith

pics when they are fitted mate !!
(plus details of what fits where and costs etc)

any pics yet m8

Still waiting for the stainless steel bolts to arrive................as soon as I have them I'll post some more pics......realised tonight that I missed the really small plastic cover that sits next to the washer filler bottle top, so that'll be painted tomorrow and left to dry over the next few days.

Now looking at taking off the heat sheilds that cover the manifolds and maybe just giving them a clean up and spray with high temp paint, I'll look see what Halfords do tommorrow.

Keith

i did my manafold covers i used BBQ paint from B&Q a nice satin black just looks like a factory finish

Well I thought I'd stay with the blue theme under the bonnett and tried a tin of "Plasti-Kote" Hot Paint, in a mid blue colour. So I removed the heat sheilds (3 x bolts on each), scrubbed them with a scourer and nail brush to remove any dirt/grease etc and then dried them. They were both given two very good coats of the paint and then left to dry (no primer needed with this one).

Now these need to cure to seal the paint properly, and that will be done by putting them both back over the manifolds and going for an hour run to get them nice and hot.

I was thinking that if I can pick up some black hand brushing hot paint, then I would paint the areas where the slots are to kind of define the covers slightly, maybe even do the side bits of the covers? Oh and of course now I need some nice Stainless Steel bolts again in this larger size.

Anyway here's a pic of the manifold heat sheilds:



Keith

looking good Keith

TBH there not mu cup of tea the manifold covers. but if we were all the same it'd be boring.

Stav I know what your saying, I wasn't 100% sure or not.............but the beauty is I can always spray them again if I don't like them. The thing is, having the induction tube with the air filter box taken out, and with no S/C, there is a large kind of "void" on that side of the engine that looks very plain, brightening up that area was my priority. What I would really like is some kind of engine cover that fits with the Prolex induction.............Is there one out there?

Keith

Looking very good Keith, never thought about doing my manifold covers?

I made my own engine cover for mine and just about to have a go at another one due to most of my plastics on top of the engine being very brittle?

Look forward to the engine pic's mate

Good news....got the stainless steel bolts......bad news they sent the wrong size washers Typical!! So even more delay putting those painted parts back on.......however I'm still also waiting for a nice chrome oil filler cap from the US, so hopefully it'll all go back on at the same time.

Fitted the heat sheilds back on today, they look good I think.......but I'm taking them back off to paint the black parts by hand, then when put back, touch the bolt heads in as well.

Keith

almost everything on the IS is about M6.. best range of ones to have are M6 x 12 and M6 x 20... with a handfull of each you can change damn near anything!

Im gonna be doing a stainless heat sheild for my GS... always wanted to make one for my IS but i then got the charger..

Keep up the good work tho!