Appearances in and around the engine area

[micmak]

Hi Guys,   My car is probably like most Triumphs here, in that it gets rare outings.  Today was an exception.  It was a sunny Spring-like day and I went for a short drive.  My little Vitesse performed perfectly.  I opened the bonnet upon my return, just to look at things and to get that glorious smell that modern cars just don’t have.  It’s magic!!!  As I looked around, I wondered what is the best solution to surface rust on and around the engine and its components.  I don’t particularly want to paint it a color.  I just want to remove the rust-looking bits in some areas.  So, is there some sort of colorless paint or varnish that I could put on the effected areas? Or will a wipe of an oily rag clean these areas up enough?

 

Thanks.

 

.....Mick.....

 

 

 

[Josef]

I’m afraid there’s no quick and easy solution to rusty looking bits… You could give the water pump there a coat of hammerite or similar direct to rust paint which’d hide the rust for a few years, easiest done with it removed though at which point it’d be easy enough to clean it and paint it properly! The edge of the head there maybe you could improve with a wire brush/wire wool and a bit of oil. Demonstrates you’re not leaking oil from the rocker cover though!

My personal opinion is just drive it! Then when you have to remove something take the chance to give it a good clean up and paint. Otherwise you might find you’ve suddenly got a pile of car parts in boxes rather than a car you can enjoy driving around  My Herald’s engine bay looks quite pretty now, but that’s happened incrementally over 16ish years of ownership. 

[mcevedy]

I agree that rusty bits rather spoil things - I changed bits for alloy parts from SC parts.