Do's/Don'ts of Engine Cleaning (Tell us your experiences...)

[383Ram]

Originally Posted by piecesparts

That beats putting shoe polish in the cracks on the tires.

I have never heard of that one before.

The hand cleaner will help to soften the rubber some, but it will not heal any cracks. But if the items a good and sound and not detorating, it will definatly bring them back to life.

As a little side note, i did this years ago on some underhood bumpers that were on a Dart i had, the wife was starting to get mad at me because she thought i bought brand new stuff (things were rather tight moneywise then). Needless to say when i showed her what i did, she was amazed at the transformation.

[piecesparts]

Watch the movie "The Fastest Indian". I also know of someone that has done that to make the tires look better at a car lot ----Many years ago.

[ej69c10]

I use baby oil and wd40 to shine things up and wd40 is a great cleaner and makes aluminum like alternators look prety cool. They dont realy attract and dust either.

[pilzy1]

Simple green is great, I use it all the time and even pressure wash the underside of my bigrig with it and it works! I dont dilute it if I'm cleaning something dirty but will 50/50 it if I'm wiping off grease off the paint/front end before I actually wash that way the grease doesnt get in the microfiber wash mit and streak the whole vehicle. I also use it @ 100% on billet or polished alum wheels etc and DO NOT use soap since soap puts a white film on aluminum and dulls it. Simple green sprayed on your wheels will make the brake dust dribble down and simply spray them off and your shine will last longer and make sure to wash them when their cool, not after a 100 mile drive or whatever you wash them with will dry right onto the finish in seconds. I also wash my vehicles with spot free water start to finish and it helps not spot anything, washing a whole bigrig by myself is a chore but has just a few spots with the spot free water and it DOES make a difference. I have a 50 gallon plastic tank I throw in the bed of the truck, go get spot free at the local water store (about $10) use it thru my pressure washer and it saves alot of work in drying and polishing. Hope it helps.

[72BlckButy]

Great post pilzy1!

Definitely a good idea about using the spot free water, and I'm glad to hear that simple green works well for you. What do you think about simple green under the hood (on the motor/firewall/...)?

[pilzy1]

I've used Simple Green under the hood many times, I use it on alot of stuff actually. Oven cleaner does work pretty good for slimey valve covers or small oil leaks as long as you hose it all off, I try not to use Gunk but do when necessary. I try not to simple green belts though, it makes them squeek if you get them ..squeeky clean.. but a black crayon or a little bit of wax will quiet a squeek. Soap and water work best on regular dirt if you can get to the places you want to wash, if not spray Simple Green on it and hose it off.

I ned to do under the hood of my current project so I'll do before/after pics and post what all I use to make it shine.

[Speedracer77]

$10 electric toothbrush is the best thing I have found for scrubbing off grease. saves so much time and energy. I used to work at a machine shop that did engine re and re's and got pretty quick at stripping motors and such, so I cheat and pull the motor, scrub with the brush and solvent, rinse with a hose, then change all the gaskets and oil. paint with fast dry engine enamel and reinstall. only takes a weekend and looks like new. engine compartment I start with a pressure wash, scrub greasy areas with the toothbrush and solvent, pressure wash again, blow dry with clean air and paint with fast dry engine enamal. Not having the engine in while I do it saves my back and joints, and taking it in and out comes so easy I find it quicker to take it in and out rather then try to work around it.

[72BlckButy]

pilzy1... definitely post some before/during/after shots of your cleanup. I hope to jump on my engine cleanup in the next few weeks, thanks to everyones posts.

Speedracer77.... now that's usin' your nogin'! A $10 electric toothbruch would work great on most areas. That's as good as using Mr. Clean Eraser's for other car related projects.

[Vernski]

I like the simple green also but if I have some tuff stuff to get off I use WD-40 and a xxxx fine steel wool and it scrubs most stubborn stains off then rinse it with the simple green. The WD-40 seems to remove rust well. Also not to nit-pick but in the before picture looks like the heater hose is laying on the exhaust maniflold I just wonder how long it will last there? Thanks for all the tips they helped me out as I was a Armor-all man for sometime. ---Vernski

[UltraBlue71]

I bought a 50 gallon drum of simple green the other day for work, we use it for everything from wiping off the footprints on the F-15's and cleaning out the engine bays (big job) to mopping the floors to cleaning the latrines! Great Product earth friendly too!

[UltraBlue71]

Originally Posted by C-10 simplex

i'm sorry i can't too much to the discussion----i do know that oven cleaner works well on stock exhaust manifolds as far as getting rid of the grease.

What i mainly wanted was to add another question to the original question:

What can we do if grease/oil gets on wires?

Get on some rubber gloves, douse a rag in Laquer Thinner and pull the plug wires through it, dont soak them in it, it'll eat em, but if you run them through a rag with Laquer thinner on it they'll come clean, In my experience there aint much laquer thinner wont break through, harsh stuff, be careful!

[72BlckButy]

Thanks for the tips! I was able to get a head start on the engine bay cleanup a week or so ago, and simple green has played a great role in making it easier to do.

[vegaschevy]

Originally Posted by dammitmitchell

just a heads up... in my opinion.. "purple power" i sthe best dang stuff ever made...
just my opinion.. i use it even to wash my truck (cause it has a 100 dollar paint job)
but yes.. it's mroe aressive then simple green but soent eat stuff like oven cleaner..
and if you mix it into a pressure washer it'll get everything off your driveway..

I would not touch Purple power or Castrol Super CLean. It will eat right through etch and oxidize aluminum in a matter of seconds. Maybe dilluting it does not make it as bad btu i would never take the chance.

[vegaschevy]

Originally Posted by UltraBlue71

Get on some rubber gloves, douse a rag in Laquer Thinner and pull the plug wires through it, dont soak them in it, it'll eat em, but if you run them through a rag with Laquer thinner on it they'll come clean, In my experience there aint much laquer thinner wont break through, harsh stuff, be careful!

WD40 works great for this too

[MylilBowTie]

GoJo hand cleaner in the white tub works as well.

[72BlckButy]

So far during my engine bay cleanup, Simple Green has been the best product for breaking through the grease. I haven't diluted it in any way, and haven't ran into any issues.

One tip: If you are using any type of cleaner and have stickers in the engine bay (air cleaner, radiator support...) besure to cover them in some fashion so the cleaner isn't able to discolor the sticker itself.

[Rhoff2009]

In the Navy, we use simple green and fast orange for EVERRRYYYTHING.. Especially degreasing the bilges. I use it on every vehicle I own, or owned, I just spray it on, scrub and rinse with a garden hose. Pressure washers work great for the k-member, wouldn't use it on the firewalls or on the engine though.

[Benelli]

So you're saying a bucket of simple green and an electric toothbrush and a 24 pack of Energizers and a few years in the garage and I'll have this ol' guy looking clean?

I bought a different air cleaner. So I have that much less to do.

[seldomseen65]

guys i see a lot of nice; ,really built good,, high or low they all come in the category of just great,,i love these trucks,,but i must say that the guys that live from the Midwest,,and northwest catch hell with the rust problem,, some are really terrible looking and some can survive the clean up,, i know that as a 1970 Chevy 1/2'er owner I'm OK and don't have any rust on my truck, the desert won't let you get near any if it can help it.. but for me i have used navel jelly for the rust and motor shine to clean most of the engine and compartment . it amazes me how many guys just love to work on their truck and make them come out like jewels and i applaud you for that ,, it takes a lot of work and a long time is involved in the work.. so for my final statement i say" keep ON TRUCKIN"

[72BlckButy]

Benelli... break out the Simple Green and get that thing shined up!

[seldomseen65]

Originally Posted by Benelli

So you're saying a bucket of simple green and an electric toothbrush and a 24 pack of Energizers and a few years in the garage and I'll have this ol' guy looking clean?

I bought a different air cleaner. So I have that much less to do.

Benelli
the air cleaner isn't going to clean up the rest of the motor ,,you have got to put some elbow grease into that work,,,,,LOL ,,,I'll bet you love dirty engines huh? get'er done , looks good cleaned up on this truck site..ddoooooooooo-iiittttttt

[NONHOG]

Got to give thumbs up for this product......http://www.pigspit.com/

Used it on my bike engine, worked great. For after your de greasing.

[cdowns]

i'd take the wiper washer hose get a longer one if needed and run it inback of the inner fender lip piggybacked to the wire harness like they did from the factory
i use gojo on my hoses and wires to clean them up
soaking the exhaust manifolds for a couple of days in a tub of vineager would amaze you

i'd spend a saturday with a can of carb cleaner on the manifold and the front of the block then spray with engine enamel
after painting i'd take out one bolt at a time and replace with stainless,dont forget thread sealer on the manifold bolts
as it is now it looks alot lot better than what you started with//glad you got rid of the rubber fuel line

[Dudewith4x4]

Well Im doing this to this engine

-Cleaning the engine wells.
-Removing The wheel wells and repainting them.
-Removing the headers, sandblast them, and Paint black.
-Getting a new manifold( Holley) and A chrome carb(Edelbrock)
-New Chrome Valve Covers (Edelbrock) (already bought)
-Painting fire wall.
-Buying new Chrome Air cleaner(EdelBrock)

Heres the before. Please visit my Build thread (http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=377155) to watch the progress in coming weeks. Thanks Ross.

[72BlckButy]

Can't wait to see your progress on the engine cleanup!