i was wondering what is the best way to clean the engine and the bay without destroying anything?

 

Simple Green and a tooth brush Be sure to cover your dizzy and intake when you go to spray it off.

 

3 bux in quaters..

-take it to a self carwash.. arrive there with a nicely warm engine.
-open hood
-drop in like 1.50 in quaters and select degreaser
-wait like 5 mins or so
-drop the remaining 1.50 and select high pressure rinse
-drive off with a nice clean engine bay

dont be afraid to just go crazy with the hose. just spray it side to side really fast and dont concentrate in one stpot for along time.

if you want to do it better.. buy a degreaser spray at ur local autoshop and use that instead of the degresear at the carwash ( since they water it down )

you can detail the engine bay by spraing some armor all all over the place.. makes everything shiney..

 

carb/ laquer thinner with a rag after you sprayed it down with a presssure washer.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 95ProjectEJ1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Simple Green and a tooth brush Be sure to cover your dizzy and intake when you go to spray it off. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Do it this way. I did it like a retard and just used degreaser then sprayed, only to have to fix a bunch of things right after. do it like 95ProjectEJ1 says.

 

Most every detail shop will spray degreaser and use a high pressure hose to clean a car. If you cover the distributor with a bag and tape you shouldn't have any problems and it will be the best and quickest way to get the job done.

 

pressure washer, or you can get some armor all car wash soap and a brush and go at it. Just if you use a pressure washer, don't focuse on electric stuff or your dizzy. hot water will work the best.
later,
robert

 

+1 for simple green

 

What a lot of people don't realize is circuits can get wet as long as they're not powered.

You can probably just take out the battery and spray the **** out of the engine. Just don't start the engine while there's water dripping out of your fuse box. That's only if you're at home and have like a solid sunny day and another car where it can sit in the sun w/ the hood up or if you sit home or whatever .

 

i tried using engine cleaner from kragen and was just scrubing the valve cover. was taking forever. just to scared to get the electrical wet. probably going to wash it agian when i get a wire tuck or change my engine mounts.

thanks guys

 

When I detailed cars for a living, I let the engine run (you want it warm to help with the cleaning, but don't do it while the engine is extremely hot) and sprayed it down while running with a regular hose (not high pressure) and heavy duty spray degreaser (straight Simple Green works well).

Use a paintbrush or toothbrush for stubborn spots - remember to shut off the engine first so you dont lose any fingers in the accessory belts or fan.

You don't need to worry about getting anything important wet if you're not using a high pressure stream. If you're really ****, take off the distributor cap and dry otu any water that may have seeped in before driving it.

Don't be afraid to get anything wet. The engine bay gets thoroughly soaked when you drive in the rain already, otherwise it wouldn't be dirty.