Cleaning the engine bay secrets!

[Tony Radford]

Tom, does Mirachem effect polished aluminum finishes?

[speed220mph]

No, doesn't hurt it a bit. I use Mirachem on my Trigos with no ill affect.

[FUNFER2]

A WORD OF CAUTION !!!
I'm a body man so be very carefull using degreasers or other harsh chemicals like, armoral ect... on painted surfaces. It can, eat & dull paint, even todays clearcoats ! I only use good "old baking", wax and "CAR" soap, not laundry detergent. I'm sure you guys know that but, you would be amazed of how many people are still, using, dish soap, "Tide" ect... And PLEASE.... don't use "Snuggles" fabric softner...it doensn't make our type of "BABY".....soft ! hehe!
Just a painters point of view,
Kev

[Mark Atkins]

After I clean with a simple green I use compressed air to blow all the water off the intake,valve covers and ect.
Then polish.

Mark...

[Dan Semko]

Mark,
NEVER spray your engine with water when it's hot!
Sorry, couldn't pass it up buddy.

[Mark Atkins]

Very Funny!!!!

[foothills gary]

How about good old mineral spirits? It's very inexpensive,is a petroleum distillate similar to kerosene,and in all my years of detailing my cars,have never found it damage my paint.I usually use it to take tar and road grime off the coachwork.I found a really slick, narrow shop cleaning brush like we used to use in the garage I worked at,only this one has a short lenth of hose attached to it that flows water through the bristles as you brush.It was originally designed to clean mountain bikes,and I ordered it from the Colorado Cyclist.Amazingly it was designed in Nevada City,Ca.,only a few miles from my house.You can very gently clean only those areas that need it ,without using the" shotgun approach" to engine detailing.I have been unable to locate them in any current calalogs for bicycles,but your local bike shop may still have one in stock.

[BT SNAKE]

Now here's one for the books...A buddy of mine is a die hard street rodder waxer. He has a system that really says it all. When he gets to a show he cleans any dirt or grime he may have picked up on the way to the show. That's not unusual in itself but it's how he does it. He carries two of these large pump up soaker guns. One is filled with a washing soap & water and the other is rinsing water. Works too.
For cleaning the engine in hard to reach areas it's hard to beat the WD40. The stuff really makes a difference. I have used the vacuum idea. I found a metal cap that fit the end of the vacuum hose. I drilled a hole in the center of it and stuck a brass barb fitting in the hole and screwed a nut onto it. Then I used a piece gas line about 4ft long and slipped it over the barb. Boy ! you talk about suction!!

Hersh

[Tony Radford]

Tom, I've got my Mirachem on order. My old engine had a leaky rear main seal and made a mess. I need to get underneath and do a serious cleaning job before the new engine goes in next week. Thanks for the tip.

[speed220mph]

Tony,
Sounds like a job for a pressure washer underneath. Engine oil leaks can really mess up the underside of a car. But you'll find that the Mirachem works. For example, an area I had a hard time with was the white fiberglass on the footboxes on my ERA. Surprised me how quickly the stuff cleaned it up. Same applied to the cast-aluminum rocker covers. Made them look new.

Waiting to hear how it works for you.

[Lowell W]

Harley Davidson markets a cleaner called Harley Spray Cleaner and Polish. It comes in a brown aerosol can and costs about 5 or 6 bucks. It's an oil-based cleaner as opposed to the water-based detailers and I've found it to work great: spray it on and polish it off. After all, what is your motorcycle but an engine bay on two wheels? The stuff has some sort of perfume in it, and my guess is that HD buys it somewhere for about a buck a can as bathroom cleaner or furniture cleaner/polish, relabels it and markets it as their own product. In any case, it's handy, safe, readily available and works great

[Alex Donghi]

Lowell
thanks for that tip theres a Harley place around the corner from my office

[rdorman]

Like all things with me related to my car, there is a constant state of change as I continuously strive for the perfection that I will never achieve!

Here is my current state of imperfection (but it looks pretty good):
- cool motor, lots of time, beer, rags, towels various brushes from nice soft one to brass wire.
- open beer. take a big sip. use visualization to see the process and the final product since by the end you may not be able to see the final product
- check and top off all fluids, don't forget your own fluids!
- spray everything down with Griots engine cleaner
- while that is soaking in, aggitate any heavy dirt with the appropriate brush. I have tried harsh lanquage to aggitate the cleaner but the brush seems to work better.
- with a bucket full of warm water with car wash, I give it the sweet sponge bath it deserves
- open beer
- remove sprayer from hose, rinse thoroughly from the top down. do not clean the carb this way. bad idea. various electrical items are not crazy about this either but I have found that they tend to dry out during nap time
- get out leaf blower, fire that baby up and have at it! Blow all that water out of there
- close hood and wash car that you just made a mess of
- open hood
- towel dry where you can
- open beer
- use WD40 and a scothbrite pad on all non polished bare metal surfaces
- use Griots engine detailer on all plastic, rubber type parts (this does not need done a lot since the stuff lasts)
- use mother, simichrome, what ever is at hand at the moment for the polishes bits
- Griots chassis detailer for the bits of chassis that show that you did not get clean (only use this if its show time, so hardly ever!)
- treat painted surfaces like you would the out side of the car, I like Griots speed shine
- spay corrosion protection on all exposed wiring connections (solenoids, juntion blocks, etc)
- open another beer and sit while all this stuff sort of soaks in
- wipe the whole darn thing back down again using various rags on different bits
- step back and admire all the things I want to change
- close hood and wipe down out side of car again because of all the damn over spray
- finish beer, smoke, take nap
- take it out, run the pi$$ out of it, get caught in a rain storm, repeat process.

The tire foam idea is sounding better and better and better..........

Rick

[BLACKJACK]

HEY, RICK - - -

THAT'S MY KIND OF CLEANING OPERATION !!!

OF COURSE - I DON'T DO A LOT OF THE "WIPING AND BRUSHING AND POLISHING". I'M REALLY BIG ON THE "BEER OPENING", "NAPPING", AND "SMOKING", THOUGH. A LOT OF "RINSING" AS IS IN DRIVING IN THE RAIN AND A FAIR AMOUNT OF CUSSING HELPS (AT LEAST PSYCHOLOGICALY).

WHEN GOD WANTS MY CARS CLEAN - - HE MAKES IT RAIN - - OR AT LEAST THAT'S THE WAY IT LOOKS.

Y'ALL HAVE A REALLY GREAT DAY,

BLACKJACK

PS: SOME REALLY GOOD IDEAS HERE - - I THINK I'LL TRY A FEW AS SOON AS I FINISH MY BEER AND TAKE A NAP.

BJ

[rdorman]

Just got up from my nap. How far is Leesburg from Alexandria? You are part of the whole Capital City rabble aren't you? My father is in Alexandria and has flown in for the last two DVSFs and was wondering if you guys ever do some local events.
Thanks
Rick

[BLACKJACK]

HI, RICK - - -

YES - - I CONFESS - - I'M ONE OF THE CACC "CAPITAL GANG".

LEESBURG IS ABOUT 35 MILES FROM ALEXANDRIA BUT WE MEET IN VIENNA EVERY SATURDAY MORNING FOR THE "GREASE-UP" BREAKFAST AT THE VIENNA INN. VIENNA IS ABOUT 17 MILES FROM ALEXANDRIA.

WE'VE ALWAYS GOT SOME LOCAL CHICANERY ON THE SCHEDULE.

ASK YOUR DAD TO CHECK US OUT AT www.capitalareacobraclub.com.

ALSO, ASK HIM TO CALL ME AT 703-777-7442 - HOME OR, 703-281-7400 - OFFICE.

WE'D LOVE TO HAVE HIM COME OUT TO OUR EVENTS. IF HE CAN COME TO A GREASE-UP HE'LL SEE US AT OUR WORST (WELL - ALMOST - - THEY WON'T LET ME BRING ANY RAKI INTO THE INN - SOMETHING ABOUT THE FIRE CODE).

BY THE WAY - HE WON'T HAVE TO FLY IN FOR ANY MORE SPRING FLINGS - - SOMEBODY ALWAYS HAS AN EMPTY SEAT IN A COBRA AND WE ALL "CONVOY" OUT TO THE FLING TOGETHER.

I'LL LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM HIM.

Y'ALL HAVE A REALLY GREAT DAY.

BLACKJACK (AKA: JACK MOGUS)

[misfit41]

I'm telling ya guys,try the tire foam,,do it the hard way once to get it all shined and polished,then use the tire foam on every thing,,wipe it off the chrome after it dries,then next time all you have to do is wipe or rinse and refoam,no more elbow grease,I used to do it all the hard way until I had more bikes and cars to clean,this takes the work out of it and actually keeps it looking nicer.Tk