A code for a knock sensor prompted me to embark on this project and, while I'm in there, I decided to get a few things taken care of. Among these, I wanted to reduce the risk of having to remove the supercharge soon again, so, I decided to replace my 5 year old valley hoses, and the octopus hose as well. I bought the silicone octopus, valley hoses Swallows-Racing. Because the blower is already out, it just reached 100k miles, and it started to make some noise (like a bag of marbles), it's time to service the snout with new bearings and coupler. I then figured, this also the best time for a small power upgrade. So I'm bought a smaller upper pulley for the supercharger. I have now sent the supercharger to a machine shop to have them press out the pulley, and machine the snout to fit the smaller upper pulley (Eurotoys 2.5 pound pulley). Knowing that this upgrade will result in an increase in IAT, I bought the Bosch 010 to replace the anemic Hella pump, as well as the connector and plugs to connect it to the car. With these parts I created a new pigtail that is plug and play from the Bosch 010 auxiliary water pump to the car's wiring loom.

So, while I'm waiting for the machine shop to work on my supercharger another "while I'm in there" came up. I want to add some life to my engine bay. I want to paint the charge coolers, the part that says V8, and the coil covers with engine enamel, but I have not made up my mind regarding what color to paint it with.

My car's exterior is platinum and my interior is charcoal. I have always hated the muted and dirty color of the charge coolers. I was thinking of painting them a darker red, and trying to keep the lettering polished aluminum, but I am open to suggestions. What color do you think would work best with my car?

Is it possible to paint with the charge coolers in situ, or is it recommended that I remove the charge coolers before painting? When prepping the parts for paint, at what grit should I start sanding and at what grit is it ready for engine enamel?

These pictures are where I'm at at the moment.


You can tell that I cleaned up the valley and one of the charge coolers.


Has anyone seen a knock sensor fail like this before?



This is the silicone octopus hose. It does away with Norma connectors and with the plastic three way connector. It should last longer than the rubber and plastic parts. I just hope that nothing back there cuts through it.

The silicone valley hoses. The thick elbow that goes from the engine block to the water outlet is also silicone.

The right valley hose connects directly to the pipe with a clamp instead of via a Norma connector. Btw, those clamps came with the hoses and are not perforated.


The left side valley hose connects to the metal-three way connector and the octopus hose.

Is it ok to get rid of this thing that was beneath the supercharger? It's disintegrating and I cannot find it in the parts catalogue. Not sure what it's purpose really is either.



Bosch 010 pump install
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This damn stud to the EGR pipe broke off. If I could just remove the bolt on the other side, I could remove the EGR pipe and then work on removing that stud. However, I can't get ANY purchase on this damn bolt on the other side of that flange to be able to remove the EGR pipe. Does anyone have any idea what tool and what angle would best help here? I have tried socket-wrenches, spanners, off-set spanners, and none seem to work for me. Either they collide with the damn pipe an

 

Thanks for the detailed write-up. I will be doing this soon as well. I really appreciate the time/effort you have put into documenting this.

I don't have much advice for the inaccessible bolt other than asking if you can snake a small dremel tool or fiber disc in there and cut enough meat of the nut off to remove it.

If the first stud broke, there's a good chance the second one will too.

You might consider using some penetrating oil: Machinist's Workshop Penetrating Oils - Comparison Test

Summary:

 

Gain, that's a lot of work, proud of you for taking it on. Sorry about the one nut, looks really stuck in place.
Can you get to it with a small cutting bit on a Dremel at a angle and cut it in half, down to the threads? Doesn't look like a nut splitter will get in there.
The stud may be the attack area. Is that a 5 or 6 point head, 5 is harder to find, but lots of penetrating oil and heat would at least give you a chance.
As for the paintwork, 400 should clean it up and 800 before the paint, not a bright red but watch what you can find in high heat, might be a caliber paint.
Great job on the hoses.

 

The pulsation dampers on my fuel rails started leaking two years ago (yes, both of them, at the same time!), which of course forced a removal of the supercharger. I don't think that's a very common problem, but from posts I've seen here, it has happened to others too. After some research, I decided to have mine welded up to eliminate the risk of dealing with that hassle in the future. Maybe something you want to consider.

 

Thank you, I've left it soaking overnight in the penetrating oil. Let's hope I can remove it tomorrow.

Thank you Wayne! Yeah, that one nut is so uncomfortable to tackle. I'm going to try a swivel joint with a socket but I'll let the penetrating oil do its job first. I agree, a darker shade of red should look nice. Thanks for the tip on the 400 and 800 grit. I've decided to remove the charge coolers to get the job done right. I also realized I have the charge air cooler/intake manifold gaskets unopened lying around from years ago that I bought them for my previous XK8 and then never got around to using them. I confirmed that the part numbers match.

Thanks for the tip on the pulsation dampers. Do you remember the mileage at which they leaked?

 

Yeah, it was right around 57,000 miles.

 

This brittle connector broke off. It plugs to a sensor on the right hand charge cooler. Does anyone know the part number?


The it connects to this.

Lots more room for activities.