How do I get my engine as clean as it was when I first bought it? The winter has done hell to it and when I first bought it, it looked like new!! I want to go back to the dealer but I just got in a HUGE fight with them because they welded my cat heatshield instead of replacing it. So can I get some help here please? Heres my car when I first got it... Check out how clean the engine was!!
Thanks guys! http://www.vwbaja.8m.com/test1.html

 

here is mine and it's 9 yrs old

 

What's your method of cleaning?

 

simple green, tooth brush, synthetic steel wool, small wire brush, mothers aluminum polish.

 

Took the words right out of my mouth!

Anyway, thats when I FIRST bought the car! A few months later the engine is dirty and needs cleaned. Thats what I was asking... How do you clean it so well?

 

Crrrraap! I was hoping that someone told me there was a spray I could just put on there and was it off Alright alright... I guess I'll take a whole day out to clean it when it gets warm again. Thanks!

 

Believe it or not carb cleaner or brake cleaner sprays on and dissolves the oil and grease

carb cleaner has a shitload of uses... and most of us dont even have carbs! LOL

 

i was thinkin of doing this, besides the obvious (distributor, wires, electrical...) what do i need to cover before i hose my engine bay down? thanks

 

make sure you dont get water in the sparkplug holes.

i did this one time, i thought i fried the distributor. i ran it for a week on 2 or 3 cylinders. then i took the boots off and there was water down in there. my sparkplug cover was on and everything, thats why i didnt think it was possible.

 

My engine was pretty dirty when I got it (one of the valve cover nuts was snapped, oil was leaking out ). My friend went w/ me to the coin-op carwash and he cleaned my engine off for me. He sprayed a bit of degrease on there and went to town w/ the pressure washer. We didn't cover anything, he was just careful to not spray DIRECTLY onto the distributor. I've never had any problems. Here it is after cleaning.

 

Very clean!

-Thayne

 

Thanks Here is was it lookied like after i painted and swaped valvecovers.
It went from this

to this

to this

to this

Painting your valve cover and heat sheild make a huge difference.

 

Yeah I need to paint my heat shield, too.

 

My bugs have carbs so yea I have the carb cleaner... BUT THAT STUFF IS STRONG! Are you guys sure I can spary it on my engine? I'm kinda worried about the paint around it!

 

blast it at the carwash with hot water and then you can spray Tire shine foaming spray.....my friend does it and it works really well.......makes all the hoses look like they've been armor-all'd

 

Patrick, did you guys cover the distributor and the battery when you sprayed it down with the high pressure stream? What degreaser did you guys use?

 

Yes you need to cover your distributor and air filter it it's exposed, i also cover my alternator. Use simple green for your degreaser. It's non toxic and will not discolor hoses and parts. Only use the high pressure on the engine tranny and block if needed. I've never used high pressure just a good ol water hose works for me.

 

what kind of paint did you use for the heatshield??

 

Dupli-Color 500 degree ceramic engine enamel in low gloss black. It was only like that for a month so i don't know if the 500 degree paint will hold up over time. I'm sure that thing gets hotter then 500 degrees. You may want to use 1200 degree paint. The 500 degree is good on the valve cover i used the same paint for both. Here is a how to i wrote a while back. The only thing i need to add is that you need to put a few coats of clear coat on your finnal color. http://www.geocities.com/mysihb/HowTo.html

 

Here's my brother's 93 Civic Engine Bay. And just to add how proud I am of my bro's car, it ran a 14.9 quarter @ 93mph on street tires (16" Yok A520s). All motor D16Z6.



To see the full size image of this picture, copy and paste this link to your browser...
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...a.jpg.orig.jpg

I detailed it for him using the methods found on this link.....

http://www.g2ic.com/tegtips/engine/#cleanengine

 

yeah, that 500 degree paint wont hold up on the heat shield...it will eventually crack off...but it does take soem time...and re-painting your valve cover did wonders for your car. one thing no one has mentioned, but is important, after washing out your engine bay, its a good idea to start your car up, close the hood, and let it run for a few minutes to get some of the water dried up from certain areas...

 

Yeah i take mine for a short spin after i'm done washing it.

 

there should be shops that allow u guys to STEAM CLEAN. which will look just like that for only 40-50 bucks.