Oil Pan Surprise and Cleaning Woes

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---UPDATES ARE ON MONDAYS---
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In an attempt to clean the tranny, engine, etc. I wasted an hour Saturday by spraying the engine down with Gunk engine cleaner, I didn't expect the aluminum oxidation to come off but I did think the dirt would loosen up better than it did.  I even hit it with a pressure washer with little improvement.  Of course the parts aren't greasy but there is grime residue I would like gone, I'm after a clean look like from a new engine.  Next I'll try a new product (Lloyd's Aluminum Magic)  recommended to me buy a fellow VTEC Mini driver who is on the same forum that I am (www.vtecmnis.com).
By the way, my handle on that forum is "Mini Type R".  I maintain a build log on that site and have received lots of questions and answers by the group.  The string is: "67 Inno Build" located in the "Build and Work Logs" section.

One nice surprise came when I pulled off the oil pan and found an aftermarket baffle welded in.  And a peek in the engine from the bottom reviled four little oil jets that shoot and cool under each piston, see photo below.  Note: the crack in the casting is only on the surface (I hope).

The bolt is attaching an oil jet that cools the underside of the piston.

Here you can see the welded in extra oil baffle.

Baffle.

Intake Mods

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---UPDATES ARE ON MONDAYS---
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Above is an intake as it starts out (slightly different than mine) with all the areas marked blue for what comes off.  I forgot to take a "before" picture so I stole this picture from Steve Alexander (the guy who built my sub-frame).

Here is the intake after I did a rough cut to hack off most of the big chunks.

Another rough cut view.  Note: in the background you can see the right angle grinder with the 1/8 inch thick metal cutting disk that worked great.  I also used a 4 inch grinding disk to get closer, then finally a flap style sanding disk to finish up.  As you start to see more and more aluminum dust on the workbench I'll take a moment to mention I wore a mask, and had a fan blowing across the area to constantly supply fresh air.

Here is the finished intake.  I plan to sand it with some mini sanding disks and possibly coating it with POR-15 silver gloss.  I also am considering media blasting the entire intake and shooting it with a clear gloss.   On the right side you can see a section on the intake runner that must be ground away for clearance.  I'm so glad I didn't punch through, but Steve said the wall thickness is about 1/4 inch so I guessed on how much I could remove; I just hope it's enough.  I started to use a scraper to remove the intake gasket (seen on left) however, the aluminum is so soft it started to gouge.  So I looked around and found an Exact-O knife (seen on right) with the long, snap-off blade extended out all the way and I used it to slip under the gasket.

Another view.  There is a 1/4 inch hole (not all the way through) that I will fill flush with JB Weld. 

Here is the intake flange that had gasket material stuck on it.  Next I used one of those 3M green abrasive disks (upper left of photo) to clean up the flange.  Notice the band-aid, next pic down shows more about that.

While cutting the big pieces off, I nicked the back of my thumb with the cutting disk.  Yup, right through the glove and skin and nicked the tendon.  Good times.  Cool video here.

Engine Compartment

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---UPDATES ARE ON MONDAYS---
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After using the POR-15 sealer on the engine compartment, I was a bit disappointed with the look of the brush strokes.  So now I sanded the top half in order to provide a smooth base for the top coat.

Sanded firewall

Here's a shot of the glossy painted top and the rubbery undercoated bottom (there is a bit of gloss over spray on the bottom that I have cleaned up since this picture was taken).

Shifter

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---UPDATES ARE ON MONDAYS---
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I picked up a shift linkage from a Civic that I can cut down and mount in place.

Engine Compartment

NEW?  CLICK HERE FOR DAY ONE!

---UPDATES ARE ON MONDAYS---
Click here for a 3 minute video of the entire build.
 

This week I was able to prep and paint the engine compartment with POR-15.  I did the entire thing even though I  put a rubberized under-coating on the bottom half.  After brushing on the POR-15 with two coats, the word on the street is it will self level.  Well that is sorta true, I  was expecting a bit more leveling of the brush strokes so I guess a bit of sanding is in order before I put on the top coat of gloss black.  As for the rubberized undercoating the POR-15 brush strokes are not a problem.

Drying after the "Metal Prep"

POR-15 done.

POR-15 painted on, you can see the brush marks and the gloss black isn't very glossy, it needs to be top coated to look better.  The can said it needs a top coat due to UV issues but over all this is some tough stuff!

Undercoating sprayed on

Floor boards coated.