CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH
Dan’s recently acquired 968 Sport looks great... until you cast your eyes over its engine bay. We head to the Wiltshire base of the dry ice cleaning maestros at JTEK to find out more about the company’s carbon dioxide-based detailing activities and what can be done to bring the presentation of the three-litre coupe’s beating heart back to its best...
Providing everything goes to plan, next month’s issue of 911 & Porsche World will showcase the cars owned and maintained by the very contributors who bring you this magazine each month. One of the things separating this Porsche title from others is the fact we just don’t just write about and photograph Porsches, we live and breathe them, too — almost without exception, every one of us owns at least one Stuttgart-crested speed machine. For my part, I’m the custodian of three Porsches: a 2006 997 Carrera 4S, a 1986 944 Turbo and a 1994 968 Sport, the latter acquired in July 2022 after a chance encounter with the sons of the previous owner, who bought the tidy transaxle in 1997.
As its bulging folder of paperwork proves, the car was sold new by Porsche Centre Exeter (then known as Carr’s) and was kept by its first owner for the standard three-year warranty period before being traded in for a new 911. The 968’s next and only other owner kept the Slate Grey stunner for an impressive twenty-five years before passing the baton to yours truly. To say I was thrilled about getting hold of a 968 Sport would be an understatement (more on the reasons why in our next issue), let alone an example kept in unusually long-term ownership and carrying such impeccable history — whatever the car needed, whenever it needed it, Porsche Centre Silverstone was commissioned to carry out the work.
As you’d expect, on the day I bought the slighty-softened-clubsport, I popped its bonnet to have a good look around the engine bay. This, as I immediately discovered, was new territory for the seller. Imagine my surprise when he told me not once during his quarter-century in charge of the car had he lifted the hood. His rationale was simply that doing so suggested work was required. That as he pointed out, is what he paid Porsche Centre Silverstone for. Though surprised at his admission, I reminded myself not everyone is as hands-on as the 911 & Porsche World faithful and that there was a certain logic to what he was saying.
While the rest of the car was very presentable (a pleasing appearance achieved by way of a recent re-trim of the interior, refurbished wheels, corrective paintwork and new lights), the engine bay had all the hallmarks of an area of the car considered out of sight, out of mind. Don’t get me wrong, there was nothing untoward going on — no leaks, nothing to be concerned about, a result of keenly observed servicing and maintenance schedules — just the look of an engine bay in desperate need of the TLC other areas of the car had benefited from. Think twenty-five years of regular road use and no attempt to wave a polishing cloth at the Variocam-equipped motor and you’ll get the picture.
Ah, yes. Pictures. With the car scheduled to be photographed for its star turn in next month’s magazine, there was no way I could leave the engine bay in the state I found it. There was also no chance I’d ever get it to the level of cleanliness I’d be happy with by employing elbow grease and
ALUMINIUM (AND ITS ALLOYS) HAS AN EXTRAORDINARY ABILITY TO WITHSTAND CORROSION, BUT IT STILL OXIDATES
conventional cleaning products alone. The dirt was too ground in, the grease too thick. Enter JTEK Dry Ice Cleaning ( jtekauto.co.uk), based in Trowbridge, Wiltshire. A young company making a strong name for itself on the Porsche scene, the firm offers dry ice cleaning services for vehicle chassis, wheel arches and engine bays. Bingo!
You may have heard enthusiasts talking about dry ice cleaning in recent times. Indeed, we touched on it a few months back, when we dedicated an issue of 911 & Porsche World to detailing. It’s a relatively new cleaning process in the automotive world — though has been used for military applications since the 1940s — and is superior to traditional cleaning methods, largely thanks to the nature of the media used to remove dirt. Essentially, small pellets of dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) are crushed into granules and fired at the dirty surface through accelerated compressed air. When these pellets hit the surface, the granules immediately sublimate, meaning they switch from their solid state to a gas without first turning into a liquid. The low temperature (-79°C) of the carbon dioxide reduces the contaminant’s adhesion through thermal shock, effectively causing mini explosions, which lift the dirt from the surface. As we reported previously, JTEK founder, Julian Worgan, refers to this process as the ‘popcorn effect’. “The immediate sublimation process causes the carbon dioxide granules to expand up to six hundred times their original size, encouraging the dirt to ‘pop’ off the surface,” he says.
And because no liquid is present at any stage during the cleaning process, the compressed airstream propelling the dry ice blows away removed contaminants leaving nothing but a clean, undamaged surface — no puddles of water or cleaning product are left for you to clean up afterwards.
Julian has invested heavily in JTEK’S dedicated dry ice cleaning facility, effort resulting in the workshop being kittedout with equipment not only affording him the ability to adjust pressure of the compressed air used to propel the carbon dioxide pellets at the dirty surface, but also the size of the pellets themselves. This is an aspect of dry ice cleaning regularly overlooked, even by many of those offering the service, but it’s one Julian was keen for JTEK to address, especially considering the calibre of car rolling in and out of the company’s workshop doors. Forget my
968 Sport — it may be one of only 306 examples of its kind, but when I arrive to meet Julian on a suitably icy day in December, I’m greeted by a true Porsche unicorn in the form of a 993 Carrera RS Clubsport, one of what’s thought be only seven configured in right-hand drive and supplied new to the UK sales market. Also none too shabby is the Carrera RS 2.7 evocation situated a few feet away from the Riviera Blue beauty. Both cars are at JTEK for dry ice treatment of their chassis and wheel arches, as well as industrial-grade ceramic coating of the cleaned surfaces. I’ll come to this part of the process shortly.
ROLE MODEL
Happily perched on an engine stand is the RS 2.7 replica’s flat-six, removed for complete decontamination. Of course, a 911’s engine sits low at the rear, meaning aside from intake equipment, there’s not a lot to see when the unit is in its natural habitat, save for the distinctive cooling fan. Even less is visible on a newer 911, such as my 997, complete with its substantial plastic air box and intake trunking. Much better to demonstrate the ‘before and after’ effect of dry ice cleaning in an engine bay with a frontengined Porsche, its guts more or less in full view when the bonnet is open.
As a direct consequence of dry ice pellets being much softer than sand and other forms of blasting media, they work without damaging the surface beneath. As mentioned earlier, separating JTEK from other companies offering dry ice cleaning services is Julian’s ability to alter the size of carbon dioxide particles for a given application, meaning access to even the smallest and most delicate of surfaces is possible, allowing the work to be applied to all areas of a vehicle. This means JTEK can not only clean the nuts and bolts of your Porsche, but also its electrical components. “The process isn’t abrasive or aggressive,” Julian explains. “With a low-impact setting selected, we can safely clean circuit boards or similarly delicate electronic components. The compressed airstream propelling the dry ice blows away the removed contaminants, leaving you with an undamaged, perfectly clean surface and only fallen dirt to discard.”
Back to the engine bay. I drive my 968 Sport onto JTEK’S four-post lift and present Julian with the problem. It’s not the worst-looking engine bay either of us has seen, but this is a Porsche. A very rare Porsche at that. It’s certainly a car deserving of an engine bay free of the layer of filth we’re both looking at. Grime covers every surface, from fluid reservoirs, to rubber hoses, the throttle linkage, bonnet catch and painted panels. And these are just the bits we can see at first glance! Deep down, below the intake manifold and against the bulkhead, beneath the brake servo and along the steering rack, dirt abound. A spillage around the power steering fluid bottle has also acted like a magnet for muck.
Aluminium (and its alloys), of course, has an extraordinary ability to withstand corrosion, but it still oxidates, creating
hard, unsightly white spots over the material’s surface, as you can see in the photos I took before Julian set to work. Save for painting, powdercoating or anodising, there’s little that can be done to prevent the condition. Moreover, removal of these spots by hand is virtually impossible. Dry ice cleaning, though? Even Julian was amazed at just how effective the process was at returning my car’s inlet manifold to as-new condition — stripes of pure silver were revealed in the dirt before the part was blasted completely clean, after which it represented the proverbial diamond in the rough. The rest of the engine bay looked really filthy now!
Dressed head to toe as if auditioning for a job at NASA, Julian worked his way around every inch of the engine bay. In fairness, depending on the severity of dirt encountered, a fair amount of dust can be created by the effect of blasting compressed air at dirty surfaces, hence the need for protective workwear. The
HIS ATTENTION TO DETAIL IS EXTRAORDINARY — HE DOESN’T WANT TO STOP UNTIL EVERY LAST SPECK OF DIRT IS GONE
caked-on grime doing it best to hide the throttle body vanished, resulting in a mechanism as clean as the now-treated inlet manifold. I hadn’t given much thought to the rubber pipes around the engine bay, but Julian subjected them all to the same treatment, bringing each hose, as well as its fasteners, back to a factory finish. I was genuinely bowled over, but equally, I recognised this was no quick fix — as dirt disappeared, the more we noticed where else it resided.
Julian is very thorough. Scrub that. He’s extremely thorough. Being able to adjust pellet size and airstream velocity to such a great extent means he can work his magic in all the nooks and crannies around an engine bay, his specialist dry ice cleaning nozzle illuminating areas you’d never, ever see without shining a torch boasting the intensity of the sun. Put simply, he doesn’t need to go to this level of detail, but he does, no matter the car, no matter the client. I have no doubt, if time wasn’t getting on and I didn’t have a four-hour journey home ahead of me, he’d have kept going until midnight. “We’re often here very late at night,” he says. I can believe it — not only is demand for JTEK’S services very high (not only among Porsche owners, but also, so I discover, the Aston Martin fraternity, though Julian isn’t shy about admitting he’d rather be working on Porsches all day, every day), his attention to detail is extraordinary — he doesn’t want to stop until every last speck of dirt is gone. This is hugely reassuring for commissioning owners, such as the proud pilot of the genuine Carrera RS 2.7 who booked his car in for full dry ice cleaning and underbody protection during my visit.
It's all very well cleaning an engine bay or chassis to this extent, but what about protecting the finished surface? After all, many of today’s owners want to show off just how clean their cars
are, including the underside. “This is something I was asked repeatedly by Porsche owners approaching the JTEK stand at the recent Porsche Club Great Britain Christmas bash, held at Bicester Heritage,” Julian recalls. “After exhaustive research and much in the way of product testing, JTEK offers two different solutions for protecting cleaned surfaces. The first is an industrial-grade ceramic coating, which we use on any aluminium surface, as well as exhausts. The second product is a silicone hybrid resin, which we use on anything painted, such as a Porsche’s floor pan, as well as bare steel or iron. In terms of surface protection, both products beat anything else on the market. And, because they’re clear, they don’t alter the finish of the treated surface.” The hybrid resin, he tells me, has been salt spray tested and offers resistance for approximately fifteen years. The ceramic coating, meanwhile, is good for temperatures of up to 800°C. Heavy duty stuff, but what else should we expect from a man who spent much of his career as an aerospace engineer?!
I’m at JTEK having my 968 Sport’s engine bay cleaned, but what if you’ve rocked up in, say, an air-cooled 911 and the dry ice cleaning ritual removes dirt, only to reveal corrosion? “It’s a common occurrence, even on much newer cars,” Julian reveals, highlighting the presence of surface rust all over the chassis of an otherwise immaculate-looking Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution taking up residence in his workshop. “We offer surface rust removal and treatment, as well as repainting of chassis and inside wheel arches. We can also apply an application of wax instead of the aforementioned nano coatings, but we don’t get involved with major bodywork repairs.” One of the services JTEK does offer, however, is professional zinc-nickel plating of small metal components, such as bolts, clips and other fasteners, providing enhanced corrosion resistance over regular zinc plating. Perfect for the final stages of a restoration, or to simply refresh the look of tired parts.
Back to my 968’s engine bay, which by now, is looking exceptionally clean.
Julian isn’t done yet, though. Thin plastic parts, such as the throttle cable pulley, are cleaned by hand with a microfibre cloth. A solvent-free protective coating is then applied to all plastics and rubbers, giving them a leaving them with a superb satin shine. Now, when lifting the bonnet, there’s a distinct ‘jewellery box’ effect — gone is the disappointing look of a 968 engine covered in dirt. Instead, I’m presented with a beautifully clean sixteen-valver, the transformation involving no water. “In the past, particularly when dealing with a car’s underbody, you’d have to use a wire brush, perhaps even an angle grinder, to get anywhere near close to what dry ice cleaning can achieve,” Julian stresses. “This is a unique cleaning process. There’s nothing else quite like it. It’s also environmentally sound, unlike chemical cleaning.”
It’s a time-consuming process, too — underbody decontamination, which starts at £1,200, is likely to take a week, though Julian makes clear the degree of work required on an individual car, not to mention its size, might require allocation of further time. Engine bay cleaning can obviously be taken care of in a much
IN SOMETHING AKIN TO ROLE REVERSAL, THE AESTHETIC OF THE NEAR 240BHP POWERPLANT IS NOW ONE OF THE CAR’S BEST FEATURES
quicker timespan, but most owners choose to combine all work, including wheel arch cleaning, in one visit. “Our Ultra Clean package,” as Julian puts it. “Preparation and masking, underbody cleaning, gearbox cleaning, the underside of the engine, a full engine bay detail, wheels off and the arches rendered spotless. It’s our top-level service, where the highest level of finish is required.”
CLEAN SLATE GREY
As the last of the carbon dioxide pellets required to clean my 968’s engine bay exit the nozzle held in Julian’s gloved hand, we take a step back and look at the fruits of his labour. I’m bowled over. I’m seeing colours and components previously hidden by gunk. “We could spend more time bringing the cam cover up to a better finish,” Julian offers, before I make clear my intention to have it powdercoated (colour-coded to the body) at some point in the not-toodistant future. To be honest, though the appearance of the engine bay is what’s delivering real ‘wow factor’, I’m thrilled at the prospect of being able to work in this space without getting covered in sticky residue. A clean machine, indeed.
And what of the cost? JTEK’S engine bay cleaning service starts at £350 (subject to VAT), which is massively reasonable when you consider the amount of time and cleaning product you’d have to make use of in order to come a fraction of the way close to what dry ice cleaning can achieve. Even then, you’d fail to reach parts buried deep down below. The only problem you’ll have is how dirty the rest of your car will look after Julian is done — the long journey to Trowbridge from my home in North Norfolk saw the body of what’s fast becoming my favourite personal Porsche covered in a huge amount of crud, which I concede is unavoidable at this time of year. I can’t begin to imagine how bad it’ll look when I get home. Still, at least the engine bay will glisten — in something akin to role reversal, the aesthetic of the near 240bhp powerplant is now one of the car’s best features.
And then there’s the added value dry ice cleaning brings to a car, in terms of desirability if nothing else. Put it this way, it’s no coincidence premium marque sales specialists have been enlisting JTEK’S services as part of their vehicle preparation process. From zero to hero, so to speak.
Following my visit to JTEK, it’s down to me to keep my pride and joy’s engine bay clean from hereon in. All you need to do is pick up the phone and speak to Julian about your Porsche decontamination and preservation requirements. To to find out how he can bring your car’s engine bay, chassis, suspension components, painted surfaces, metal (bare or coated), plastics, rubber, fuel systems, wiring harnesses and electrical components back to their best, call him on 01225 585217. Believe me, you’ll be pleased you did. ●