As my 85 was owned by a good-for-nothing lazy bum, the paint and underhood is not in very great condition...

Previous Owner: "Yes, I take it to a mechanic for a check-up every month."
I guess that's why when I got it, it coughed out black smoke and ate oil like a freak (if they do)... Not to mention the 1200 RPM idle... Stupid-***...

This is also the owner who "forgot" to secure the battery down under the hood and it ended up cracking and leaking acid everywhere under the hood... My current project is to sand off the rust and touch up under the hood.

Last week, I bought a can o wonderful Gunk, and used the WHOLE bottle... So, now my engine is alot cleaner, but I did miss a couple of spots. I saw this product that would "armor-all" my engine and make it look shiny and "protect" my pipes--it's supposed to be sprayed on and it makes everything look brand-spanking new... Will this stuff just burn right off my engine (since rotaries are hotter than hell)?

AND, finally to the subject of this post, how do YOU clean YOUR engine?

 

Coca-cola! But let me know if that stuff works!

 

use hot soapy water, some simple green and a rag. thats how I did it.

take a look.

Oh yeah if there isn't anything in your engine compartment it makes it a lot easier

 

here's the after

 

Oh yeah I kinda painted some of the stuff under ther also, I figured "hell if your taking the time to swap over a entire -se suspension might as well sand blast and pint it" right?

 

I currently use brake parts cleaner. It does a wonderful job, but you have to be careful it will strip paint. I am going to try simple green next time to see how it compares.

 

The Castrol Super Clean works good. I know it is very bad to wash it down the drain but it works good. Spray it on with an air compresor vacume sucker thing and leave it set for about 10 minutes then spray it down with water. It take the heavy stuff off good.

CJG

 

I use Simple Green and a brush, then hose it down after about 5 minutes, then use car wash fluid, after you dry the engine compartment use some silicone spray to spray the hoses and the rubber. It will make it look like new.. if you want to see how it looks after check my ride at
http://www.rotaryrx7.com

 

I have used several different things over the years. I currently use Castrol Super Clean or one of the "Purple" cleaners. I have used hot soapy water and brillo pads. Don't scrub too hard. Scratches. I have even used Eagle One Mag Cleaner(green label) on my intakes. It works great, just don't use it on painted surfaces. It has acid in it. Regardless of what you use, if the car has been neglected as you said, it will take awhile to get it where you want it. When I used to show, people would freak about how clean my engine was, after they figured out what type of engine it was.

 

Eh? No one uses Gunk? Am I the only one?!
And... Why is it bad to wash that Castrol stuff down the drain?

Thanx... And your engines look friggin great... Wow

 

I use Super Clean and a pressure washer

Spray the electrical with WD40 so it doesn't get FUBAR'd.

 

i get told all the time how good my bay looks. i think a nice new motor helps. Well i go to autozone and get the purple ****. its only @ autozone. you can get it 2 gallons 4 5$ from time to time...i get about 10 gallons then. now this stuff is NASTY. if you dont mix it 50/50 it will streak the paint(i learned the hard way) but this stuff will clean almost anything. When i got my l.e. it had both o.m. line leaking right at the front cover....blowing oil all over the underside of the car. i mean it had it ALL OVER and it was thick with oil and dirt and crap. well i put the car up on stands and sprayed it down really good let it soak about 20 min then washed it down...let dry... did this 3 time and BLAM looks like new on the bottom. the engine bay only needed 1 bath. but DAM it looks good.

 

I guess I need to get some of this Castrol stuff... And where can I find that silicone stuff that's supposed to make hoses look new (brands?)?

 

Silicone stuff is a NO NO NO NO . Man when that stuff gets old it will look like ****, it turns all brown and is a royal pain in the *** to get off. I used it once and it took me forever to get it off. Just spray it down with Castrol or Simple Green let it sit, brush the really nasty areas, and wash it off wityh water. Then spray No Touch or Armor all on it. It will attarct the **** outta dust, but after the intial cleaning it will take you 10 minutes max to reclean it again.

By the way I got the same problem with the battery-acid and the battery and I have been scrubbing and sanding a few hours a night for a week or so. Gonna do a little painting soon, Im gonna have too many $$$'s in this thing to have a rusty nasty looking engine bay..

By the way the pics look nice....

 

I usually run down to the carwash and spray it down with tire cleaner and then blast it with high pressure. Can be a b*#!& to start after dont blast the coils or distributer. Works great.

 

go get it rebuilt and let them do all the work then just KEEP IT CLEAN

 

If only I could run around like Bill Gate$, dress bad, look bad, and throw pocket change around to rebuild an engine...

Micro$oft sux!

 

I use plain old degreaser on the engine bay, but only when the car is COLD! Do it when your engine is hot, don't blame me!

On my housings (the visible sections) is use some Autosol to polish them up nice and shiney. On my intercooler pipes i use methylated spirits to bring them up a treat (they are polished stainless steel).

With my intake (upper and lower) I just give it a wipe down and a touch up with the paint. I painted my intake that colour because a) it looks sweet b) it is very different and c) it is **** easy to keep looking good! Plus I am not a huge fan of polished and/or chrome in huge amounts, just enough to set off the engine bay like in this shot:

 

Wow, you have a fast *** 7, AJC13B...

I only wish my engine bay was cool enuf for me to take a picture of it...
Seems like everyone has a better looking 7 than me

Oh, btw, I looked at my friend's neon (ugh...) cuz it was having some problems and when he opened the hood, it was so funny cuz it was SOOOOO dirty, trees and grass were practically growing under his hood... I laughed so hard because the engine was camouflagued!!! *still laughing*
Two weeks later when i looked under his hood again, it was a little cleaner... pulled out some weeds, etc... i guess he was embarassed

 

i wish i had a picture of my old '84 gs....it would make you feel better, it looked like a block of rust with an air cleaner on top!

 

To all the Simple Green guys: What about the allegations that SG pits aluminum? Any problems with cleaning any of the aluminum parts in the bay, and not just the bay itself?

Inquiring minds want to know!

 

been using simple green for years. i've yet to have any negative results, ie. aluminum pitting. i've used it on the engine, on my aluminum mountain bikes, on all the aluminum on my nitro r/c truck..... no pits!

 

So... I'm guessing there's nothing bad about simple green or the castrol super clean?

BTW--I just finished my latest project in ridding of all the rust in my engine bay It looks ALOT better now
I'd post a pic... but i wouldn't want to be embarassed