this could be an odd question. I recently purchased my white civic 2001 sedan. I am looking to clean under the hood. the engine bay, the party, basically make the inside of the hood look new. What products can i use? Brand of cleaning product. I figured some amoreall will work and some basic car cleaning products would do..

Am I wrong?

 

Gunk helps...
but i dont think you could ever get a fully clean bay without pulling the engine.

 

I used simple green, followed by some water because its bad to let simple green sit on painted areas, and then you can use some armor all spray if you want to make the color more shiny. Also the Meguirs quick interior spray wokrs good on any plastic, like the intake, and box. Worked for me and i never pulled the motor. Not to thread jack but this is how it came out. Before:

After

 

WOW! Super clean! Looks like you pulled the motor and repainted. Must have taken some time. Did you paint your valve cover or powder coat?

 

The VC is just rattle canned, yeah it takes some work, but its well worth it.

 

This is exactly what i am looking to do. You hit it right in the spot, nohomo.


Is there a way you can tell me the exact products you used to bring back shine to your engine?

I am assuming the body will need different cleaning material then the engine parts.

Please help me out. I am looking to do this this weekend.

 

Alright, well first i tucked the headlight harness's, i got rid of the washer fluid, for all the small brackets and such, i just unbolted them and cleaned them up with soap and water, or some Simple Green. Whatever i used simple green on, i used some water afterwards because its not good to let the simple green sit on pained surfaces. The whole bay i used simple green/water and a rag. For the airbox/arm i took them out, sprayed down with the hose (remember to take the filter out) and then i used this Meguiars spray, it was some kind of interior/trim stuff, it works for plastics,rubber etc.. I also used this on the spark plug wires, any hoses, stuff like that, only use a little bit. I re-painted some brackets, and the heat shield. Took the battery out and cleaned under it, pretty much unbolted anything possible to get underneath areas, it just takes some time and work, but its worth it. And i did not use a hose or anything like that to spray down the bay, im just not a fan of that. Any other questions just ask.

 

You can also try using a small amount of Armor All to make it more shiny, if you want to.

 

Thanks, looks like the cleaning project will be scheduled for this weekend. I will send some pics before and after let you know how it turned out.

Also, im fine with using green/water for cleaning most areas. Any tips on areas I should not just touch. Im pretty sure the engine areas will be pretty sensitive and unresponsive if water touches it, No? Basically will mess it up

I mean i wana do this myself but in the process if i do clean an area, unblot it and blot it back in, i dont wana mess up any engine performance in my car.

Any ideas

 

The water part don't gotta worry too much, i mean don't get it near the distributor, and try to keep it out of wires and such, but some people hose down their whole engine bay, with only covering a few things, so just be careful i guess. And if you come across any parts that your not sure about unbolting, then just don't unbolt them and wait and figure out what they are. Most of the stuff i unbolted was just little brackets and such. I would just say before starting take out the battery and intake, so you have some more room to work around.

 

Great advice, I will send pics of the car before and after the clean up..