S14b23 Drivetrain overhaul and concours restoration.

[Jordan]

A whole lot of aluminum got vapor blasted over at Jon's house today. Like 6 hours straight. I've about had my fill of that activity for awhile but man does everything look scrumptious.

[Jokester]

yeah, I gotta go change my shorts now.

[Jordan]

Closeup of the throttles to really show the finish.

[Powling]

I'm curious to how much the vapour blasting generally costs? I'm not expecting you to share exact numbers but cost wise how does it compare to other methods?

[Jordan]

My friend Jon actually bought a vapor honing cabinet for his garage after seeing the results I got for my own build and all for these S14 components were finished there. I did the glass bead blasting prior at my shop.

There are several places here in Houston that we know of that charge $75/hr to process anything you bring them.

First thoroughly degreasing and cleaning surface corrosion or discoloration with fine glass bead is CRITICAL. The vapor hone process is very gentle and will not remove such deposits, or at very least takes as excessively long time to do so.

[Jordan]

I spent about $1k having my own M42 build components vapor honed.

[e30austin]

Genuinely curious, as I will be doing something similar in the future - the vapor blasting/honing leaves a beautiful finish, but I'm curious how long the finish will keep, particularly if the car lives outdoors. I would almost be afraid to touch the finish with my bare hands!

[Jordan]

You can handle the finish all you want, it doesn't leave fingerprints or smudges. Oil or dirt wipe off cleanly. Its not like glass bead blasted surface finish...

The M42 stuff I did nearly a year ago now and sits in a non-climate controlled garage still looks like the day I got it done. In a decent climate the finish should last indefinitely. You can also go a step further and seal the surface if you wanted to. There are aluminum sealants on the market, but I'm willing to bet ceramic paint sealant would work as well.

If you drive it in snowy saltslush state well you know what is going to happen.

[TimeMachinE30]

First, thank you for these photos. Excellent insight in excellence.

And yes, it looks stellar now... What about the moment humidity strikes, it gets fuel on it, heat cycles, etc?

[e30austin]

You can handle the finish all you want, it doesn't leave fingerprints or smudges. Oil or dirt wipe off cleanly. Its not like glass bead blasted surface finish...

The M42 stuff I did nearly a year ago now and sits in a non-climate controlled garage still looks like the day I got it done. In a decent climate the finish should last indefinitely. You can also go a step further and seal the surface if you wanted to. There are aluminum sealants on the market, but I'm willing to bet ceramic paint sealant would work as well.

If you drive it in snowy saltslush state well you know what is going to happen.

Thanks for the info. How about resistance to acid or alkaline based cleaners? I'm sure it would wreck the finish instantly. Moisture and water are things we deal with most (as you know) and none in the salt department. I rarely drive any of my e30s during the shit months anymore, but they do get the occasional leg stretch. Just would suck to go all that way with it, to have the finish get ruined the first time it saw water or solvent or something.

[Jordan]

Solvent or fuel doesn't bother the finish. Cleaners with PH to either extreme will I'm sure tarnish the finish as it would any other aluminum. Houston's average humidity is 90% nearly 8 months of the year.

Periodic maintenance cleaning of an engine bay should not require anything more aggressive than car wash soap and a soft brush anyway. If you are going years and 50k between cleanings resulting in hard set soil and grease this finish wasn't for you in the first place.

It would be silly to go through this work just to use the car as a daily beater. I don't get the questions emanating from that use case.

[e30austin]

Those were just questions from customers of mine who saw your work and didn't know anything about any of it. Thanks

[econti]

I will say I had a motorcycle triple clamp vapour blasted, the raw aluminium discoloured as soon as it copped water when I rode. I tried to rectify it but it didn't work.
I'm not sure why, perhaps it was done poorly in the first place.
I had it re-blasted then clear powder coated. Different finish but it obviously lasts.

[Melon]

They can vapor hone sealed units like a transmission whole?

[Ludwig]

That comes out really nice. I'm impressed by how good all of this cleans up.