Car Porn

[growler_south]

I'm wondering if I could handle an obsessive-compulsive cleaning disorder. I seem to be cultivating one as I clean and polish small sections of the engine bay, and I am rather enjoying myself. Clean, immaculate engine bays make me hard. A clean undercarriage does too, but I'm not *that* obsessed. Yet.

More porn behind the cut.




Oh look, there's paint under this coating of greasy mud. Shiny, glaming, green paint. Mmmm....



This is the engine bay heater, now all clean and shiny too. With all the fins straightened, the oil rinsed out, and a new coat of matte black paint it should keep the engine bay warmer than ever.

Comments

[beastbriskett.livejournal.com]

You are sick, sick cub, Growler.

Wanna come detail my bike? :D

[growler-south.livejournal.com]

Yes SIR!

[sinnabor.livejournal.com]

Engine bay heater? Huh? What's that for?

That is an awfully good job of cleaning. Obsessions can be so rewarding.

[growler-south.livejournal.com]

It uses the hot air from the supercharger and transfers the heat to the engine bay. Otherwise known as an intercooler ;-) (I deliberately removed the 'intercooler' sticker... heh heh)

[sinnabor.livejournal.com]

Ooooo, THAT sort of engine bay heater.

I've never had a car with one o' them thangs. I wasn't willing to wait a year to get a Cooper S when I had my MINI mania.

Couldn't you get some big air scoops to ram some cool air into it? I'm sure I've seen that sort of thing lurking on the rooftops of MR2's before. You could make it out of dryer ductwork...

[growler-south.livejournal.com]

It works well enough at speed- the vacuum behind the rear window sucks cold air through the engine bay and through the intercooler, its the slow around-town stuff that gets it all hot and bothered, especially when the car's been parked for 10 minutes or so- the intercooler gets heat soak and becomes an interwarmer. Ick.

There's a simple solution though, the engine bay has its own cooling fan which sucks air in through that big side vent and out the top. It's designed to work whenever the engine bay air temperature gets over 90C, but by moving the sensor into the intercooler, turning the trigger temperature down, and installing a timer so it stays on for a few minutes when the engine is turned off, you end up with a handy intercooler cooler.

Now there's a thought- there's a timer which keeps the power windows running for 5 minutes, if I just link that to the engine bay cooler circuit... yes. Excellent.

[sinnabor.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a grotty hack. Now, what about just sticking a proper fan right onto the intercooler, and giving it its own temperature sensor and shut-off timer?

Or am I just desperately searching for a use for hobby-grade embedded processors because I have a couple of them sitting in my closet?

Actually, you could get by with just a temp sensor (cheap, mechanical) and a fan. Presumably the intercooler will cool off and shut the fan down after a short time. I think that's what my motorbike has. (Yes, my wee 500cc bike has liquid cooling and a radiator fan. It's such overkill. I prefer oil radiators.)

[mikeybill.livejournal.com]

If you really feel the need for more OCD cleaning, come on over! You could have somuch fun in this house, I promise!

[growler-south.livejournal.com]

I've heard about the kind of fun that goes on in your house... I'll be there in 5 minutes, ok?

;-)

[mikeybill.livejournal.com]

*blush* I don't know what you mean...

[smellykaka.livejournal.com]

On the subject of engine bay heaters, there was once a company that did drop-in replacement higher-capacity ones for the AW11SC. Same mounts and connectors and everything, just better engine bay heating.

[growler-south.livejournal.com]

I might actually be tempted- the standard one gets heat soak something chronic. (I'm not sure, but it may have something to do with the 12psi of boost I'm getting.) The drop in power when it's hot is quite noticeable- when cold, acceleration is uparound the "holy fuck" end of the scale, but when hot it drops to "Yeehaw".

Now there's a thought...

[mutleyjames.livejournal.com]

Hard and moist now.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

Okay, now I dont feel so bad for obsessing over similar details.

[growler-south.livejournal.com]

I love having an engine bay that looks like it just came from the factory. And dont you absolutely *hate* the black grease/dirt buildup that coats your forearms and takes forever to wash off?

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

The skin on my hands is dry cracked and calloused, so anything greasy like that stays there for the long haul. I've had to use strong hand cleaner on my arms, legs, chest and face at times when I got a little bit too much into my work. I gotta keep my engines clean or it bothers me.