Merlin's 1993 BA8 Si - Because Race Car

[Drax]

how have i missed this excellent, i'll be looking forward to more updates on the swap over

[wurlycorner]

Condition of the car looks amazingly good. Fantastic buy.
What's happened with the front passenger wing, I wonder? Inner arch liner not correctly sat inside the front bumper/inner arch lip at the front and the mudflap top mount/wing lip at that point is bent outwards (all very minor stuff though!!!)

[Merlin]

The car is scheduled to be loaded on the 21st and take almost two months to arrive on the 11th of November

New pieces of equipment for this build, a 30 litre ultrasonic cleaning bath. Fill this with degreaser and it will clean up most items.






Also, since my BB4 cant take a jack on its rear jacking points any more (rust yo!) a 2 tonne pivot lift.



Not my exact one like in the pic above, but it's the same

[Scott560]

I have exactly the same cleaner. It is OK but its not perfect for car parts necessarily.

Most car parts are either oily/greasy, or have surface corrosion. The oily/greasy parts tend to emulsify with water and this creates a barrier that prevents the waves impacting the surface. The end result tends to be slightly slimy parts that you need to clean by hand and put back in.

Be careful with detergent and aluminium parts. I have had a few where the surface was marked by the ultrasonic bubbles, or where strong detergents have discoloured/etched the metal. I find a squirt of normal washing up liquid is sufficient (you will need to mix it in), nothing stronger. Since the water is not circulated, the detergent doesn't really do much more than putting it in a hot bath. It's not really a parts washer. For its size, I find the ultrasonic power is not high enough.

Heating will also take an age as the heating element is only a few hundred watts - 2 or 3 kettles worth of boiling water is a good way to get started otherwise you will be waiting for a few hours. Using the ultrasonic at the same time as the heater will help heat it quicker and degas the solution.

You can fit a B16 engine block into one of these (sticking up, not laying flat). It probably helped shift some dirt, but I wouldn't say it came out beautiful like a proper hot dip at a machine shop. A few 15minute sessions in this + a strong jet wash after is probably a bit better than just the jetwash on it's own. It really struggles with grease/oils. What does get removed ends up floating at the surface, so when you pull the item out it just ends up covered in gunk again sometimes.

I suspect plastic parts or smaller/lighter items will work perfectly fine. But stick a hub, throttle body, vtec solenoid in here and it just doesn't really come out that brill.

I have the tiny 1litre one also, which is much more useful for electronics and jewellery. I last used the large one to clean a massive graphics card PCB, there is no power setting, only time - it might be too vigour for delicate items/surfaces.

Some practical tips:

1) When its full of water, its bloody heavy. Make sure you have the device on a bench, with the drain pointing somewhere you can place a bucket. Do not put it on the floor
2) Start it off with hot water from a kettle otherwise you will wait a long time. The temperature gauge has a lag also.
3) My lid handle was only spot welded on with a tiny battery spot welder and came off. Put a new handle on it to aid removal. The recess is small, and you will soon burn your knuckles or end up dripping scalding water all down your self as it runs off the lid.

[Merlin]

I have had a few where the surface was marked by the ultrasonic bubbles, or where strong detergents have discoloured/etched the metal.

Yeah, I have seen what it can do to sheet foil.

I got it for a great price, if it saves some time it will be worth it. My plan is to use it for nuts and bolts, the fiddly bits that take forever to do by hand, like in guy in the below vid (he has the exact same brand as my one). Maybe some larger stuff like PS brackets etc..

[Merlin]

Overnight parts from Japan!

A brand new Cusco rear brace which I got for only £67! (before shipping) from RHDJapan.








And a Works Bell steering wheel boss. Much nicer than the generic one on my BB4.

[wurlycorner]

Sexy stuff

[vanzep]

some nice stuff there Merlin.
got to say the cusco rear brace has a very good design and looks epic quality
very rare part

[nalla]

Very nice parts indeed.

Looks like your cleaner may double up as a chip fryer.

Happy eating!

[Merlin]

chip fryer

mmmmmm garage chips

Shipping update! The car was loaded onto the boat at Kobe yesterday, and It's currently still in Japanese waters as it visits other Japanese ports.