Under the hood (bonnet) appearance

[TJMart]

My 69 280SE 111 after lots of cleaning(oven cleaner works great on the cast aluminum), spray painting gold cad and replacing the plastic parts. Before and after photos.

Can you give some instructions on how you used oven cleaner on the cast aluminum? Your intake manifold looks great!

Tony

[mdsalemi]

Can you give some instructions on how you used oven cleaner on the cast aluminum? Your intake manifold looks great!

Tony

Hi TJ—Sam’s Club sells a gallon of concentrated degreaser, similar to ZEP Purple. That does a good job too. There’s also a variety of wheel cleaners you can get at local auto parts stores. Pay attention; you want the kind that says “Do not use on aluminum”—that’s the kind that will work the surface and get it really clean. “HotRims” is one. You can also search online for “aluminum brighteners” as they are really the best. They work pretty fast…

The oven cleaner, and the degreasers, are caustic with a high pH. The aluminum brighteners  and the wheel cleaners are acidic with a low pH. So they both work in different ways, but achieve the same goal.

[TJMart]

Hey Michael!

Thanks for that info! Mine is not real bad but I had my Valve cover vapor blasted and now the intake manifold needs some sprucing up!

Hope all is well.

Tony

[rwmastel]

Why not use the same treatment on the intake manifold?

[TJMart]

Do not want to remove the manifold just some minor cleaning.

[BOTIGER1970]

Tony,
Curious where you had the vapor blast done and how expensive was it to have it done?  Are you satisfied with the results?
Happy holidays,
Mark

[TJMart]

Hello Mark,

I had LMS Blasting Innovations in Gastonia do it about a year and a half ago. Patrick is a motorcycle guy but is one of the few that I could find near me that was reasonable. He charged me $75 and I was pleased with his work. He does have his own hours. My valve cover looked pretty bad but came out looking real good. I don't have his number must have lost it.

Hope all is well.

Tony 

[mdsalemi]

I had LMS Blasting Innovations in Gastonia do it about a year and a half ago. Patrick is a motorcycle guy but is one of the few that I could find near me that was reasonable. He charged me $75 and I was pleased with his work. He does have his own hours. My valve cover looked pretty bad but came out looking real good. I don't have his number must have lost it.

https://lmsblastinginnovations.com