Underhood Cleaning

KillNThrill24 · Sep 4, 2012

cleaning is no expertise of mine and i need some advice on it... when i got it it was far dirtier than this but i just cant seem to do much better.. do i need to tear the whole thing down or is there an easier way that im just not doing?

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i know i know... but thats why im asking for some cleaning advice LOL

greenscobie86 · Sep 4, 2012

I had lots of luck with an Orange degreaser concentrate cut 4:1(or 3:1 in rough places.) You need to get into the small crevices with a toothbrush and get cracking. No real skill, just LOTS of time and elbow grease. Might want to remove things like the airbox or battery to really get in there and make things shine.

I tend to use cheaper OTC products for engine dressing so I recommend Gunk Engine Degreaser or CD2 Engine Degreaser/Detailer, both work for me.

Set aside lots of time for this, and expect to redo greasy areas a few times to get the grime off.

KillNThrill24 · Sep 4, 2012

thanks man thats kinda what i was thinking... lots of elbow grease lol. i might go out and start on it soon, i really wanted to get the valve covers off and painted and i saw how much dirt was on the tops of them and it really made me wonder how to get every other small spot clean. ill hav to see if i have an old toothbrush, but i think i have small brushes of the sort in one of my tool boxes.

and yeah i mean to get it to look like that even, took me about 2hrs. i wish i would have taken an inital pic of it man was it dirty

Justang · Sep 4, 2012

greenscobie86 said:
I had lots of luck with an Orange degreaser concentrate cut 4:1(or 3:1 in rough places.) You need to get into the small crevices with a toothbrush and get cracking. No real skill, just LOTS of time and elbow grease. Might want to remove things like the airbox or battery to really get in there and make things shine.

I tend to use cheaper OTC products for engine dressing so I recommend Gunk Engine Degreaser or CD2 Engine Degreaser/Detailer, both work for me.

Set aside lots of time for this, and expect to redo greasy areas a few times to get the grime off.

I was more or less going to offer the exact same advice. Only thing I would change is perhaps to carefully cover important components with plastic bags (or in some cases aluminum foil will work) because removing them might be overkill. Of course, the more you remove, the more you have access to, and the more you can clean, so it's really up to you!

KillNThrill24 · Sep 4, 2012

thanks. so pretty much general consensus is... its all a matter of how much time and effort i wanna put into it lol. its dd so its gonnna be hard to keep clean but shoot i gotta make it look better than it does right now, i dont even wanna pop my hood at car shows LOL

Tony · Sep 4, 2012

i use wheel cleaner on all metal, degreaser everywhere, nice cone shaped brush, and spray it with pressure/car wash.

1)spray degreaser everywhere ya think it needs it

2)spray wheel cleaner on throttle body, front of motor, everywhere all the metal looks dingy and dirty.

3)after letting the products work for a couple mins. i take a cone shaped brush and start scrubbing.

4)rinse and towel dry with lint free towel.

5)dressing on hoses and plastic.

KillNThrill24 · Sep 4, 2012

tony thanks buddy. im pretty sure iv got the right brush for the job. and you make it sound really easy not gonna lie lol. can i sub the degreaser for some brakleen or carb cleaner? im not sure if i have any straight degreaser but i know i got some brakleen and carb cleaner sittin around. and so its pretty safe then just using a hose to rinse everything off? i was literally gonna take the hose to it the first day i got it but was afraid it would do some sort of damage

slow90coupe · Sep 4, 2012

I wouldn't use brake/carb cleaner on any areas except maybe the front of the engine and around the front of the intake. Don't want to get any brake cleaner on any painted parts! Pretty much, I do exactly what the rest of these guys do. Just get in there with a toothbrush and a few bottles of degreaser!!! Be ready to spend some time on it to get the engine bay spotless!

KillNThrill24 · Sep 5, 2012

i got in there a little bit tonight with some tire cleaner and a rag for the most part and got a little bit done on it. im taking it step by step becuase i just dont have the motivation to do the whole bay lol.. so i just moved onto clay barring and waxing about half of the car. and ill do the other half tomorrow.

i dunno i just start cleaning it then its like wow i feel like im getting nowhere so i get bored and start cleaning something else haha

ttocs · Sep 5, 2012

what ever you do then do not start polishing the metal..... Talk about feeling like you will never finish wait till you get to 400 grit and realize you have a looooooong way to go.

Tony · Sep 5, 2012

i wouldnt use any brake cleaner on any painted or plastic parts. just simple degeaser. and wheel cleaner on all your what used to be light grey/silver metal, lol.

KillNThrill24 · Sep 5, 2012

ttocs said:
what ever you do then do not start polishing the metal..... Talk about feeling like you will never finish wait till you get to 400 grit and realize you have a looooooong way to go.

dont you start at about a 120 or something? iv never done it myself i just read somewhere about someone using 120. but even at a 120 nooo thanks i dont have the patience for that. id have to be 100% out of gas and money in order to sit down and polish something, much less the whole engine bay lol.. props to you guys that have the patience for all that sanding on ONE piece!

tony said:
i wouldnt use any brake cleaner on any painted or plastic parts. just simple degeaser. and wheel cleaner on all your what used to be light grey/silver metal, lol.

yeah i ended up using a little on the outside of the throttle body and decided i didnt like how it worked (or didnt rather) so i just went to a rag and tire cleaner. mad e a little progress, but not much lol. i did remove the crankcase line for the intake and put a filter on the crankcase and plugged up the intake after cleaning all the damned oil puddles out of the intake lol...... and i also removed the other vacuum line on the intake and replaced it. and it smoothed out my idle!

i dont think i could ever be a pro detailer....