Possibly a dumb **** question. And yes I did search.
Whats the best thing to clean a valve cover? I really dont know what works best and was wanting some hints

thanks

 

Depends on how clean you want it. Just to make it look good? Or do you plan to paint it? I usually use a paper towel with a little oil on it to clean up mine. If you want to paint it, sand it down, then clean it with rubbing alcohol, then a dry cloth

 

Also, after degreasing and washing my engine I like to spray armor all everywhere and then turn on the car and let it sink in. Comes out pretty nice. I did notice the other day though when I was racing without an oil cap (dont ask) oil does indeed make it looks nice and shiny too.

 

paper towel with oil on it? hmm, never tried that. Wouldnt that do the opposite?

I definetly dont want to paint it

 

 

Dude you gotta be crazy using oil to clean the car. You ever see a motor that leaks oil and then get dirt on it, it turns into scum.

Here's what I do and most people has never even thought about but I'll share some info.

Clean your valve cover however you want it and then for the finishing touch use some "Foam" tire cleaners. They will eat up all the little dust and dirt and make you valve cover bling bling. One important thing is your motor/valve cover cannot be hot.......keep that in mind.

I also use this on the whole engine bay, makes hoses and little things that are black bling bling. Give it a shot, it won't hurt.

 

wow i woulda never thought of the tire foam stuff to clean the engine bay......that is awesome!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MNsnowdaboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Dude you gotta be crazy using oil to clean the car. You ever see a motor that leaks oil and then get dirt on it, it turns into scum.

Here's what I do and most people has never even thought about but I'll share some info.

Clean your valve cover however you want it and then for the finishing touch use some "Foam" tire cleaners. They will eat up all the little dust and dirt and make you valve cover bling bling. One important thing is your motor/valve cover cannot be hot.......keep that in mind.

I also use this on the whole engine bay, makes hoses and little things that are black bling bling. Give it a shot, it won't hurt.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

im'a give that a shot haha

 

Haha like I said not a lot of people even thougt about this stuff. One day I was bored and kept thinking how come the engine bays at the dealers are so bling bling. I kept thinking of what I can use to is similar to what they have, which I don't know what they use though.

Then I thought about this tire foam and how it cleans tires. At first I was scared that it'll be to strong and eat the valve cover away but after a while thinking, that "GUNK" degreaser is pretty strong itself, so it shouldn't be a problem and used it. Well the rest is history, you gotta use it and look at a black valve cover with the sunlight shining on it. It's just like at the dealers I tell you.

Just remember to not use it when the motor is hot, I found that out that it'll just eat the foam right away. You actually kind of get a little stain from the foam melting away if the engines hot.

To people that is doing this for the first time, let me know if it works for you guys too. Also let me know if you guys already know this trick or did you hear it from me first. I just want to know because I'm hoping that my stupid mind actually helped some people out and it wasn't wasted on day dreaming about a nice valve cover..... I'm not trying to brag or anything but if anyone else have been doing this already I'm curious to know how they came up with it. I've been doing this since 1999 when I had my B16a CRX.

 

I clean mine with spit and a toothbrush.

to all the lazy ricers.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LudeyKrus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
to all the lazy ricers.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Care to elaborate on what that ment?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LudeyKrus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I clean mine with spit and a toothbrush.

to all the lazy ricers.</TD></TR></TABLE>

rofl.......hardass

 

damn i gotta try that my type s valve cover all ways gives me hell tryin to clean it i keep thinking its goin to take the paint off

 

i use soap and water on my type s

 

howd it turn out?

 

A while back I had two hoses bust on me one after the other. my cai got doused with water and antifreeze mixture. At the time, I was too worried about my car turning to crap to worry about my wet dirty cai tube. now, it has water spots that wont go away, so I was wondering if that tire foam cleaner might work, or will it ruin it?

 

a powerwasher and a quick grind on the raised letters will clean up the outside nicely

the inside can be cleaned with gas and a brush

 

I've been doing this for 6 years with no problems but this is with the stock black. Not sure about the red type s but shouldn't be any difference.

 

Just resprayed my engine bay with the Tire Foam and it's still bling bling.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MNsnowdaboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just resprayed my engine bay with the Tire Foam and it's still bling bling.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Which tire foam do you use?

While we're on this subject, my engine block and the outside of my cylinder head have stains and whatnot ( not grease or dirt, but th emetal is stained ) all over it. Anyone have any tips to make my rough aluminum look clean and new again?

 

yeah engine shops do the same thing before shipping out motors, a steam cleaning, then a spray over with degreaser, really shines everything up....well the good ones do that at least....

 

Any tire foam will work but just get a good quality one. As for the engine being stained, your only hope if to get it steamed clean if you really want that brand new shiny aluminum look.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by johnca &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">A while back I had two hoses bust on me one after the other. my cai got doused with water and antifreeze mixture. At the time, I was too worried about my car turning to crap to worry about my wet dirty cai tube. now, it has water spots that wont go away, so I was wondering if that tire foam cleaner might work, or will it ruin it?</TD></TR></TABLE>

about the cai u can use neverdull u can purchase at pepboy or ur local automtive shop its works mint cleans all metal !