I was reading the "Who has the cleanest engine" thread and realized that my engine, for being low mileage, looks pretty dirty. I've had my fuel rail apart a few times and the cam cover and manifold and block are alot easier to clean then, but it's still difficult to get in the small spaces. So I want to remove my exhaust manifold for easier cleaning.

What is involved in removing the exhaust manifold and cam cover? Are there any gaskets or parts needed to be replaced once it is off? What about any work that should be done when these parts are off?

I was thinking of even polishing it with various grades of sandpaper to get a nice shiny look, and or painting the cam cover, like many have done.

 

exhaust manifold is not too hard to remove, especially if you have the right tools. it's just held on by a bunch of 13mm nuts (at least they were in my 16 valve S). my 16v head had round rings fitted into a ridge that served as gaskets between the exhaust manifold and head. no need to replace them for what you're doing. i'm not sure about the 8 valve cars, though.

don't use high temp paint on the exhaust manifold like i did. that stuff smoked and burnt off pretty quick and smelled really bad until it all finally burnt off.

 

send it in to jet-hot instead.

 

Yeah, I don't think I would use paint on the manifold, but I might on the cam cover as there's not heat emitted from it.

I'd rather not send it off right now as I need my car. Anyone had success polishing their manifold at home? And would I discover the same round rings on my 8v that joseph mentioned?