Engine Cleaning

[Dynomite]

Originally Posted by ZR1ROB

mmm shiny good!

If you have to pull the plenum, you might as well enlarge the drain hole in the back of the starter valley. Thats the problem child. 3/8" drill is what I remember opening it out to. Not a problem since. Now I'm going out to get some gunk engine bright. mmm shiny

I have my engine top end parts, radiator, water pump, starter, front brakes, exhaust system laying on benches all around my 91 Z

Tell me a bit more about enlarging that drain hole...There is a steel tube (maybe 3/16) at right angle to the rear about 1/2 inch down in that hole. The hole is dead ended down further. The steel tube drains fluids to the rear from that hole and down in front of the fly wheel out just behind the oil pan. I do not want to dump oily fluid onto the flywheel from that hole so prefer using the steel tube. There is no way to enlarge that steel tube without getting inside the bell housing. I will study this further and try to invent a way to more effectively drain that area

[Hammer]

Originally Posted by Dynomite

There is no way to enlarge that steel tube without getting inside the bell housing. I will study this further and try to invent a way to more effectively drain that area

No inventing or studying needed. The ZR-1 Net Registry has you covered.
http://www.bcvettes.org/howto/zr-1/starter/print.html

[Hammer]

Originally Posted by ZR1ROB

mmm shiny good!

If you have to pull the plenum, you might as well enlarge the drain hole in the back of the starter valley. Thats the problem child. 3/8" drill is what I remember opening it out to. Not a problem since. Now I'm going out to get some gunk engine bright. mmm shiny

Well, you hit it with Engine Brite yet? Post up as most people think you can't do this. If not be sure to take some before and afters.

[Dynomite]

Originally Posted by Hammer

No inventing or studying needed. The ZR-1 Net Registry has you covered.
http://www.bcvettes.org/howto/zr-1/starter/print.html

That will work but it dumps the debree into the bell housing in front of the fly wheel. When the hole was being drilled they could have just as well put in a larger tube since they had the fly wheel removed

That will work ......just drilling a larger hole and dumping into the flywheel area is prolly better than drowning out your starter when washing the engine

[ZR1ROB]

Originally Posted by Hammer

Well, you hit it with Engine Brite yet? Post up as most people think you can't do this. If not be sure to take some before and afters.

I've been working on the whole enchilada, so theyre all off - cam covers, injector housings, etc. You know, repainting, cleaning, and so on. Its been 10 years since I've had everything out. The injectors went to Mr. Injector in Idaho (excellent work, and reasonable too). The TBody went to Mr. Haibeck (idem eadem idem). So while everything was off (cams and manifold openings covered of course) I did spray a full can of Engine Brite orange (its on sale 2 for $5 at Autozone right now), scrubbed a bit, then washed it off with water. It cleans things up very nicely and leaves a noticable shine to things. The connectors were then hit with the air hose, and STP wire dryer sprayed into them.

The cam covers are back on, and the whole thing should be done this weekend. Its freezing in my shop, so I cant work out there too long.

I found a mouse nest in the starter valley. That's been there since I dont know when. But even with that crap in there, the larger drain hole did its job and drained the starter valley. I dont want to pull the starter so I can measure the hole, but the hole isnt much bigger than it originally was. I dont think that drain tube is still there though. It may have been "Lost" when I did this back in the day. However, I remember doing the big hole thing because it wouldnt start once and I wasnt going to go thru that again. Especially after a GM bulletin went out regarding making the damn thing larger. They should have done this at the factory!!!!

[Dynomite]

Originally Posted by ZR1ROB

the larger drain hole did its job and drained the starter valley. I dont want to pull the starter so I can measure the hole, but the hole isnt much bigger than it originally was. I dont think that drain tube is still there though. It may have been "Lost" when I did this back in the day. However, I remember doing the big hole thing because it wouldnt start once and I wasnt going to go thru that again. Especially after a GM bulletin went out regarding making the damn thing larger. They should have done this at the factory!!!!

Does the GM bulletin suggest make the original hole larger or does the bulletin suggest make a new hole beside the original hole? Did the GM bulletin say anything about the steel drain tube?

[ZR1ROB]

Originally Posted by Dynomite

Does the GM bulletin suggest make the original hole larger or does the bulletin suggest make a new hole beside the original hole? Did the GM bulletin say anything about the steel drain tube?

here is the bad boy himself:

[Dynomite]

Originally Posted by ZR1ROB

here is the bad boy himself:

Now....that is what I really like about this forum

You guys and gals waste no time and GET ER DONE
But then again....that is what ZR1 owners do

Thanks ZR1ROB

[4DSZR1]

Good stuff in the Service Bulletin. Thanks for posting

[RedRiderZR1]

Originally Posted by Dylan@Adams

and thus the reason I stated this in the quote:



I've been professionally detailing for over 13 years now, but any LT1/LT5 vettes I have had the privilege of touching have either been pristine under the hood and required no work or were only dirty enough to require a little detail spray and microfiber to come clean, then controlled APC for any areas that needed degreasing.

As with any "sensitive paint" it will be susceptible to staining, discoloration, or worse if harsh chemicals are used for cleaning. This is the reason I suggested that even if the engine compartment were VERY dirty he use a highly diluted mixture of APC in a spray in order to control what got wet and what didn't. Trust me, I don't go around telling people with potentially problematic areas of their car to grab the hose and the harshest chemical they can find and apply with an SOS pad... if I had no clue what I was talking about I'd have been run out of business a loooooong time ago.

. Says your in SoCal. I have a dirty stained engine that you can try to clean. Good test for your products.