I know you can got to a car wash do-it-yourself place and they have the high-presure system with degreaser in it. Was wondering if that was good for the car or bad. Is there a better way. Should i get a spraybottle of "purple stuff" (type of degreaser) and spray the engine down and then rince off... would it hurt my seals any? 12a with 174k on it.

 

I've never had an issue with the carwash method, just be careful not to spray the alternator, ignition parts, and that blasted oscillator up by the battery (or it will drive you nuts!). But for "really clean", nothing beats good old elbow grease. Here's a link to how I did mine.... https://www.rx7club.com//showthread.php?t=441703 It was a pain to do it, but it still looks great after all this time. Once you get the 20 years of grime off, and some wax on, upkeep is pretty simple (back to the carwash once every couple months).

 

I was just lookng at the pics of yours, and in pic 2 what do I see in the background but a case of CANADIAN beer (Labatts Blue) lol!

 

that looks very very nice kentetsu!!! i usually get my car warmed up and spray it down with engine degreaser and simple green. let it soak and rinse off with low pressure water. i need to get in there as he did tho and scrub it down. WOOOOO!!!

 

I used degreaser and a pressure washer set at about 1200psi. It goes all the way up to 3000psi and for a few parts that where really, really grimy and stubborn and hard to reach with a brush I used the full 3000psi. There are a ton of old parts on my car so even though it's super clean it still doesn't look all that great. But it's clean!!

 

Castrol degreaser, its the best. Oh get some long stiff paint brushes to clean out those small areas.

 

Just like Kentetsu said, plain good old fashioned elbow grease and some patience. Most of the major cleaning was done during in between the engine swap. Once clean it's easier to maintain and keep clean, plus you'll be able to spot any leaks or anything that may become an issue later on.

Here's my SE

 

is it ok if i use a power washer? i tried using "engine brite" but it did absolutely nothing. I mean my 83GSL is pretty nasty under the hood. If i cover the carb,coils, alt, i should be good rite?

 

just be careful when using very high pressure. if anything is brittle then it can easily break from that.

 

damn clean...ask this guy

 

Kentetsu, clean man, Im jealous.

RacerX7FB, I never did get to look under the hood to see that in person. Sorry I didnt get the chance. I mean the outside is sweet, but lord thats a clean engine compartment. for you too! Freakin Socal guys got life by the ***** I tell ya.

 

When I was cleaning mine up, my wife thought I was crazy "you're cleaning what!?!" But it was cool to see her face after I was done. Definitely adds to the value of the car, because anybody who would be so **** as to actually clean the engine and bay probably takes good care of the rest of the car as well.

McGuire's cleaner wax and a wool wash mit were a couple of indispensible items. And like I said, once you get caught up on the cleaning and get a coat of wax on the paint (if you're super **** like me) then any future cleanup is a breeze. Thanks for all the kind words guys, and very sweet ride RacerX7fb!