How exactly would you go about cleaning an engine bay ?

My bay has some oil residue, dirt and grime... water spots too.... I know of the wonders of brake cleaner, but I don't want to use it on rubber hoses and large sections of paint in the bay. I am also concerened about the electrical connections (engine harness and sensors) Does anyone have a good method to doing this ? I would love to give my bay that 'showroom shine' once more !

X2

 

i spray a bunch of simple green everywhere. Let it sit for a few minutes, then blast it off with my hose. I cover up the battery and the distributor. Looks pretty clean when I'm done.

 

IF I ever would clean my engine I would do it that way , but its a track car so FUQ it

 

I covered the distributor, alternator, and fuse box when I did mine ( be sure to cover the alt. very well) then I hosed it down, sprayed it down w/ SG very well, waited a few minutes and hosed it all back off again. looks alot better now.

Then I did some touchups with a towel and SG by hand, armoralled the hoses 'n plastic parts and rubbed down metal parts with rubbing compound to get back the shine. I'm still working at it little by little but it looks great, and if you just want it cleaned, not shined, it's no work at all

 

what do you do to clean the block behind the header?

 

rubbing compound for metal pieces? thanks, never knew that

 

i detail cars and all i do is purple power the whole bay, but first i cover up any electrical and air intakes, then i p power it, the i power wash the whole thing. let it sit for a while in the sun so it dries out then i tire shine the whole thing, so it all shines, it dont hurt nothing and it looks good. but make sure you dont start it up after you just got done, dont want no water in the motor, itll run funky.

 

clean but i've seen cleaner

 

palmolive soap n wahtah!
not clean but its an engine bay

 

Honda brake cleaner once or twice a month on the dirty areas(and that's it!) keeps it looking like this:
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[Modified by GM2000ITR, 10:52 AM 7/29/2002]

 

I did mine the other day with simple green it came out nice. The only part i would like to get cleaner is the tranny case and the part of the block behind the header. Yours looks kind of shiny what did you use to get all the rust looking grime off.

 

I scrubbed every nook & cranny and every single bolt with parts cleaner (avail. at any autoparts store in gallon form) when I did my motor build and just keep it clean all the time, but I'm sure that some good parts cleaner (or naval jelly) and a wire brush will suit your needs. It would be a good idea to remove your header, clutch slave cylinder, coolant reservior, intake & tranny ground strap. This way, you have more room for the cleaning! Good luck! post some pics when you're done!

 

thats super clean

 

anyone know how to get rid of ever-lasting water spots on anadized red products?

 

So clean