What products have you found to work? What methods have you used to clean you engine bay? I am considering doing this and would like some insight....

 

Cheap degreaser and pressure washer for bulk areas, then elbow grease, dish washing brush and degreaser for smaller more delicate areas

 

Any good way to keep the water from entering the engine? I thought about leaving it running but my degreaser says it works best on cold engines..... So I am confused...

 

I keep the engine running, and avoid hitting any of the ignition parts, as for cold engine just wash it off before it dries. Heat just makes it dry quicker for those that want to soak the parts, I just do multiple coats if required washing it each time so it doesn't dry out.

Clean the oil cooler, crossmember, around the rats nest area, engine core, firewall, inner fenders, with the pressure washer or by hand with a brush, then get a smaller softer brush as you get into tighter areas, down to a tooth brush for delicate areas.

 

well i took my carb out and just taped over the intake manifold. other than that try not to get your alternator too wet.

 

Thats what I was thinking, Any kind of concentrates you guys have used? I have seen some pressure washer concentrates, I think I have some from when I cleaned out the garage.

 

Ok I don't mean to thread jack but, it has to do with the engine bay. I cleaned the bay and I want to paint it. Do I really need to tape all the wires and **** up because that will take forever ina day.

 

No just used spray on degreaser and water through the pressure washer. It did a good job on two 7s so far.

 

The only way I have EVER painted an engine bay, is to pull the motor. So much easier that way. But nowadays I just send my cars to a booth to be painted, much easier, and your paint job gets a warranty!

 

Well see I have no engine, so getting it to the booth would be a bitch, since I live in bum **** michigan.

 

Better preparation means a better job......

 

get a pump up sprayer & use Castrol Super Clean on a warm engine, then spray down with a garden hose

 

Disconnect the harness and pull it through the firewall... Take pictures of where everything went and put all the small pieces in baggies and label them. It sounds like a bitch of a project, but you will thank yourself in the end.
You can also use saran wrap and some tape for things that you don't remove.

 

I think that Simple Green is one of the best degreasers on the market. And amazingly it is non-toxic

 

if you have some really stubborn grease, use a superfine steel wool or steel wool substitute, and lightly pass it over the stubborn stuff with a degreaser. DON"T SCRUB HARD!! it should come right off.

 

Well I cleaned my '81 with Greased Lightning Degreaser a few years ago, looks Awesome! (as you can see) But the '85 I have was originally silver, and the bay is painted black, and the black is peeling badly. I dont know if I should bother cleaning it it will still look horrible..... But I was just wondering if there was a miracle product you guys were you using that actually worked...





Oh yeah, CLEAN!

 

^ I had to leave the car off and take the air filter off. I also had to cap the carb off, Mikuni sidedraft with an open filter makes it harder to clean if it is running....

 

i had a car with a front main seal leak that coated the entire engine bay with sludge.
after using many products to clean it i found that gasoline and a rag worked best.

 

You can use aluminum foil to cover the stuff you dont want painted. Its fast easy and cheap and easily removed.

 

I never thought about that.lol

 

Aircraft painters trick. You dont dissamble an airplane to paint it. Works great on wire harnessess and hoses., and pretty much anything else.

 

Thanks, I will try it and tell you how it goes.

 

viper told me simple green causes a white powder that is hard to come off on aluminum.. i could be wrong tho.

edit - for my i bought engine brite heavy duty degreaser original spray. works well.. but smells... didnt rinse with water although it said to.. im just gonna burn it off kuz i was cleanin oil/grease off the exh manifold kuz i had a long time omp leak that never got taken care of which i just fixed. so i figured that since im burning the remaining oil/grease off and let that crystalize i will leave the engine brite on.. smokes A LOT like a fire was goin on and smells almost sweet but still bad to smell.

 

 

Yeah, I know from experience that you have to be careful not to use something that isn't aluminum friendly. Simple green and another degreaser I had in an aresol can (with a picture of an engine on it) left the aluminum with a white residue on it that had to be removed with a wire brush. Not fun. Made my brand new Rx7Carl/Sterling carb look like it had white "chicken pox"! (they weren't powdercoating them at the time)

I still have to do more work on mine, but I used Simple Green for everything that wasn't aluminum, because it just eats right through the 20yrs of grime that everything else has built up. Walls of the engine bay, firewall, etc... Simple Green + Shop Towels on a Roll + Rinse = Good Results

Jon