I was thinking of re painting the valve cover, the stock strut bar, and the piece that covers the headers, to start. What else could I do that's relatively cheap to clean up the engine bay?
Product we used when my brother had his civic was called "simple green". It breaks down the grease and oil and cleans up everything really nicely. Oh and yeah its all natural so it's good for the environment and it smells REALLY good.... :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Simple green is good, or any engine degreaser really, just go to the diy car wash, pop your hood, bag off any sensitive electronics (battery, fuse block, alternator), then spray the shit out of your engine with the degreaser, let it soak, wash your car in the meantime, then give the engine a good rinse. Works like a charm.
though make sure not to get too much water into where the spark plugs reside, granted there are those rubber seals, but people have pressure washed their engine bay and they have got water in there, and well it creates some problems for ya until it evaporates justbe wise and careful
Yep before it snowed I was going to clean my engine bay but that problem where the water would sit where the spark plugs are made me change my mind. BUT, I did notice two holes, one on either end of that area so maybe that is some kind of drain hole?? They look to be drilled out on an angle so imo they must be drain holes.
pressure wash. don't need any of that simple green stuff. be careful though it might take off some stickers if you are too close. thats what i did and works great!
Repainting or polishing up the Exhaust manifold cover is a good way to add some brightness to your bay, they look shit hot when they're polished up nice, to bad i can't use mine anymore with the extractors on. Also grab a can of tire shine and get all your plastic bits and rubber hoses, everything from the air intake to your radiator hoses, they shine up real good. Note: If you do the degreaser and pressure wash, it really is a great way to clean up the bay, but get some hot soapy water too, the degreasers I've used all left white residue covering a lot o paintwork on the fire wall and my plastics. tire shine also covers this up but with the fire wall best to wash it over with hot soapy water to remove the residue.
I was really looking for this thread. My engine bay is pretty dirty and needs to be cleaned. Although I am kind of afraid to use pressure water. Thats funny that I just bought that Simpe Green product and I was cleaning the oven with it Maybe I should change the surface
Don't need to use water. Simple green is GREAT for the firewall, inner fenders, and core support. There is one product I use for the engine for cleaning, and I will never stop using it... This is it, Wurth saBesto Parts Cleaner... :bowdown Spray it on, wait until it turns to white and powdery, then either wipe it off or hit it with an air nozzle... Works FANTASTIC !!!! Finish up with Armor All (or your favorite shine up stuff), and if you feel frisky, cleverly used gloss clear spray paint... :thumbsup:
Will give it a go, Simple Green & Wurth are hella expensive here tho. If you are worried about getting water in the electrics, just start the motor from cold and hose it down quickly. If it starts to splutter you know where your problem lies and avoid that area, let it run and dry itself out.
Simple green was pretty cheap here. I believe I paid $2.75 or $3 for it. Altough Wurth is not available in local stores I will need to buy it online. This cover in the picture is pretty rusty on my car. Is there anyway to replace it and what does it call ?
Try $25 here for s/green, I see Toyota stocks Wurth but I'm sure there's cheaper The cover is alumunium, once it rusts you can't fix it, an alu welder may be able to patch and repair the bolt holes etc Honestly those exhausts sukk bad, try to get some real headers on there, even the GE one is a huge improvement. This one I alu welded and was due for sandblasting and powder coating
Don't take it off though. It's a heat shield so the paint on the bonnet doesn't burn off. Heatproof paint may work on the corrosion maybe.
