cleaning engine compartment? and carpet? how to!

[jdm_eg6]

Hey i was looking at doing my crazy detailing before heading out with my buddys EF and my buddys EG and my EG out for pictures. and interior ive got my ideas and was wondering how i can clean my engine compartment without damaging anything... i hear just spray all those engine degreasers and rinse off.. any ideas??? thanks

PS: what kind of paint can you use on valve cover for good! results!

[88CRX]

Cleaning the engine is easy. Cover your filter (if you have a cone filter) and hose the engine down (must be cold) and then spray on a layer of simple green. Let it sit for a few minutes then give it a quick scrub with a small brush, use a toothbrush for all the hard to reach places. Once your done rinse it all off. If its still dirty do the same a couple more times. Once its done armour all it if you'd like.

The valve cover is also easy... sand the old finish of it, clean it and then spray away, use high temp paint from crappy tire. Do several thin coats to avoid drips and runs. Replace the valve cover gasket if necesary and slap it back on.

[Justing]

what do you use to cover the filter with?

[Tripz]

shopping bag? that's what I use, also instead of armor all...try using 303 Aerospace Protectant.

[Honda_002]

a grocery bag, such as those little ones from IGA, with an elastic band. Works great

[jdm_eg6]

gotcha i currently am not using an intake, i have stocker on yess!!! haha thanks.... i just want a clean compartment before i dont anything more... and yes BOYCOTT armorall!! haha i bought the aerospace stuff yesterday after reading the threas and i have to say MUCH BETTER! then any armor all finish i ever had,lets just hope it doesnt eat away at my engine hoses because i coated all of them with the aerospace stuff.. it looks good now, but i duno!!!

[glennc]

Get 2 plastic bags. One for your filter, one for your distributor. It is VERY important to cover your distributor, you never know when you might get 1 drop of water in there and mess something up. Centex wand wash on centre and 30th has an AMAZING engine cleaner. Its a low-pressure spray, soak it all over, let it sit. Then, take a bucket and use regular water to fill it up and drizzle it over your engine. its important not to use high-pressure spray because you might knock off a vaccume line.

Hand dry with a rag for best results.

[rc2002]

http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.p...hreadid=124113
http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.p...hreadid=131293

This is turning into a "which autobody should I use" thread.

[jdm_eg6]

Sorry Richard...TY for the update, i thought somthing similar was arround Thanks for the help tho guys!!

[GTS Jeff]

Geez you guys all put so much work into your engine bay cleanings! I take of the whole business in like 1 minute, seriously!

Originally posted by 88CRX
[Bhose the engine down (must be cold) and then spray on a layer of simple green. Let it sit for a few minutes then give it a quick scrub with a small brush, use a toothbrush for all the hard to reach places. Once your done rinse it all off. If its still dirty do the same a couple more times.[/B]

I usually just pop the hood, spray on a lot of Simple Green, twiddle my thumbs a bit, then rinse it all off. Done.

Originally posted by Honda_002
a grocery bag, such as those little ones from IGA, with an elastic band. Works great

I just throw anything on top of the filter...an old rag, random glove, whatever...

Originally posted by glennc
It is VERY important to cover your distributor, you never know when you might get 1 drop of water in there and mess something up.

...that is, until the water dries up.

Originally posted by glennc
its important not to use high-pressure spray because you might knock off a vaccume line.

Properly fitted vacuum hoses are on there pretty good.

[glennc]

Have you ever had water in your distributor? If you at a wand wash you dont want to have to wait hours for it to dry, and getting water in there isnt good for it at all.

Go to centex wand wash and put your hand in front of the sprayer. Tell me how much it hurts when it tears off your skin. The power from those hoses is ridiculous.

Why take risks? Take 10 minutes and do it right.

[GTS Jeff]

Originally posted by glennc
Have you ever had water in your distributor? If you at a wand wash you dont want to have to wait hours for it to dry, and getting water in there isnt good for it at all.

Go to centex wand wash and put your hand in front of the sprayer. Tell me how much it hurts when it tears off your skin. The power from those hoses is ridiculous.

Why take risks? Take 10 minutes and do it right.

Your distributor cap is supposed to be water proof, just like your vacuum hoses are supposed to be on securely. Rather than "doing it right" at the carwash, why not "do it right" next time you re+re your dizzy and vacuum lines?

A little water would never hurt a properly functioning engine.

[glennc]

Originally posted by GTS Jeff
Your distributor cap is supposed to be water proof, just like your vacuum hoses are supposed to be on securely. Rather than "doing it right" at the carwash, why not "do it right" next time you re+re your dizzy and vacuum lines?

A little water would never hurt a properly functioning engine.

Your right. Your distributor is SUPPOSED to be water tight, and your vaccume lines are SUPPOSED to be on tight.

But hell, I worked at partsource for a year, and countless people had numerous problems because of engine-cleaning.

Take the risk, and possibly fuck something up or shove a plastic bag over your dizzy, your choice.

[Inzane]

Originally posted by jdm_eg6
and yes BOYCOTT armorall!!

WHY?? Are you just another person spreading ~20 year old outdated propaganda about their products?

I happen to prefer 303 Aerospace protectant myself, but to call for a "boycott" of Armor All is a bit ridiculous and totally unwarranted.

[glennc]

Originally posted by Inzane



WHY?? Are you just another person spreading ~20 year old outdated propaganda about their products?

I happen to prefer 303 Aerospace protectant myself, but to call for a "boycott" of Armor All is a bit ridiculous and totally unwarranted.

Weve all had different experiences with armour all. I personally used it to clean and shine my speaker cover, vinyl.

2 days later it was white, crackly, dry, and I havent been able to restore moisture since.

[GTS Jeff]

Originally posted by glennc


Your right. Your distributor is SUPPOSED to be water tight, and your vaccume lines are SUPPOSED to be on tight.

But hell, I worked at partsource for a year, and countless people had numerous problems because of engine-cleaning.

Take the risk, and possibly fuck something up or shove a plastic bag over your dizzy, your choice.

I'd rather fuck something up at the carwash than while driving through a rainstorm on the highway in Buttfuck, Nowhere.

If something is wrong with your engine, the solution is to fix it, not put baggies and rubberbands all over the place.

[RotaryDrifter]

Originally posted by GTS Jeff
I'd rather fuck something up at the carwash than while driving through a rainstorm on the highway in Buttfuck, Nowhere.

If something is wrong with your engine, the solution is to fix it, not put baggies and rubberbands all over the place.

Hes got a point there.

[glennc]

Originally posted by RotaryDrifter





Hes got a point there.

And unless he rips down his distributor to put a new gasket on before he goes anywhere near water, hes wrong.

A gasket can leak anywhere, anytime. You cant predict when your gaskets will leak.

Say you put a new one on, and you go from cold outside, to a warm garage. Metal on your dist. housing expands and retracts, could cause a leak.

And where are you driving in rain or a car wash where your dizzy gets sprayed with over 40 PSI of water? I went through a 2 foot deep puddle by accident and my dizzy was dry.

40 PSI coming from a PRESSURE HOSE is more likely to cause a leak then a drop of rain that worked its way up your entire engine bay.

And no, he doesnt got me on that one

[Weapon_R]

I just cleaned my interior and it came out literally looking like new.

It was very simple and the results are well worth the effort. I got some hot water, a carpet brush, and tide and scrubbed the carpet for a few minutes. Make sure you use plenty of water/tide and get everything you can.

Then I rented a rug doctor machine and vacuumed up all the water. It comes out incredibly nice and it only took up about a couple hours time. Since I had the rug doctor for a while, I did the carpets in my house too

[glennc]

Rug doctor is the shit.

I rented one awhile back for my carpets in the house, and used it on the car. Using their cleaner the water came out brown from the SEATS and black from the carpets. It was pretty nasty.