4A-GE Overhaul Week Part 2

Since my engine is being disassembled, i took the chance to cleanup some parts of it. These are the parts i took and cleaned up at home:
I also bought a can of red spray paint, Brasso metal polishing liquid and few sheets of sandpaper. Not sure if i'll still be using some of these parts when i install the engine (for example, i might have to use the old engine's starter motor) but i cleaned them anyway. Besides, i got a help from one of my best friend..
That's Utun, asking me to play with her. She always does that, scrubbing her dirty paws to your otherwise clean pants, asking for some loving. Haha.. She's a Labrador Retriever. Cute, isn't she? I raised her since she was a few weeks old. If you're considering a pet dog, get a Lab. They're very playful and smart.

The first thing i did was wash those stuff with soap water and scrub them with old toothbrush and wire brush. Well not all actually, alternator, starter motor and the distributor skipped their bath. Wouldn't want to have a squeaky clean yet non-functional alternator, now would we? "Electronics hate water", repeat that 5 times before start doing something similar to what i did.
I also got help from mom.. Thanks mom!
It was quite tiring cleaning those stuff up especially getting to those gunks on tight spots. It took me almost an hour just to wash and brush the intake plenum. It took me the whole afternoon to clean these stuff. Luckily the sun was still shining brightly and it helped me to dry them quickly.
Next comes the hardest part.. polishing.
To reach difficult spots, i disassemble each part as best as i could. The intake plenum, for example, was stripped off its extra injector, vacuum ports, hose and gas cable holder. 10, 12mm spanners and an adjustable wrench should be enough. I didn't dare unbolting the throttle body so i left it attached.
Here's the extra injector.
and here's me.. Haha it was so hot so excuse me for being naked. On the back you can see Utun, bored after trying to ask me to play with her. You can also see my Dad's Toyota Kijang Innova and the old cub motorcycle that faithfully accompany me during university, a Honda Grand Astrea. It's now very old but still can outrun bicycles.. lol.
After a few hours of work, here are the results..
I admit it could shine better if i take the parts to a sandblasting machine but for the cheap price of Brasso and some detergent, i think the results are good enough, don't you agree?

Meanwhile, i just realized that i have enough tires to last me a couple of drifts! They're 13 inches so i won't be able to fit them to my Globeline rims. You'll see The Dog use different set of rims if i am drifting in the future.
I was planning to repaint the valve cover red but i postponed the plan since i have to strip off the old paint first. The old paint was too thick and i need some caustic soda to help me strip it off. Since it was holiday, no shop was open so i can't get a hold of the soda. Hence, i have to delay the valve cover repainting until next time.

As for the alternator, i decided to paint the rear cover black. Below you can see the painting process. First i took the rear cover off.
Then scrub it using sandpaper to allow the paint to firmly attach to the surface. Then i hang it.
Spray a few thin layers of paint. As can be read from the instruction, a few thin layers are better than one thick layer.
Allow 15 minutes for the paint to dry.
Finally, reassemble..
After two days, i've finished polishing the parts. Mom took them back to the autostation this Tuesday because it was holiday yesterday. Here's the end result with the parts loaded on the trunk.