What is a good way to clean out the engine bay?
 

Whats the best way to clean out the engine? Just a rag and some scrubbing strength? are there products that can clean the grease off of everything no problem?

Also, i'm not talking about just the engine bay, but also the other components in the engine.

pb blaster. at auto stores and wal-mart.

Brake cleaner works better than PB. It also dries alot faster than PB. PB actually leaves a residue that will burn off if the part that you sprayed with it gets hot.

Most grease will just disappear if you hit it with brake cleaner.

PB is used as a penetrant and rust inhibitor, its not known for its cleaning ability, although it does work but smells like ass and doesn't evaporate in seconds like brake cleaner.

I think the ass smell helps it work better, and it doesn't wash out of clothes.

What can i get the brake cleaner on as far as engine parts? Like, if I just go wild and spray it on everything and start wiping will i hurt anything? obviously i'll use some discrection (sp?) but you know...

I wouldnt spray it on the electronic parts, for pretty obvious reasons.

break clean works amazingly, i used about 7-8 cans on my engine swap and everything looks brand new, from the turbo, turbo manifold to valve covers. Do yourself a favor and buy a cheap brand, otherwise it gets pricey for parts cleaner. Its all basically isopropyl anyway.

There are different brake sprays out there, so check the chemical ingredients on the cans.

Years ago it was 111. trico, which was great, and could be used on everything without harm.

But now some have acetone, which you DON'T want to get all over and into electrical connectors. The puddling liquid will damage the plistic.

Johnsen's brake cleaner spray's main ingredient is acetone.

If there is a bunch of grimmy grease stuff, then use some spray engine degreaser (99cent store), or pure Simple Green. Let it sit on the area for about 30 min, then wash that off with brake spray.

DON'T do it in the driveway, as you will have a mess.

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use carberator spray. Do you have a carberator on your car? NO!

It way to strong, and WILL damage plastic.

Also, be sure to protect your fenders, and paint.

with the brake cleaner (tetrachlorethene) it will take a layer of paint or more so make sure you have degreaser and some water to wash it off, so u don't take more paint off than u want. other than that make sure ur clean and careful not to get it on the outerpaint or it could cause paint and clearcoat damage

yea i got a little on my block when i did my eninge swap and it litterally started to strip the high temp paint off the block lol.

I have always used engine degreaser but not cheap stuff as it is not anywhere near as effective. But i also steam clean engine with hot water and plenty of pressure and it comes up like new again.

where would you do it then? the ground is going to get messy regardless of where you do it.

Do it on a level surface with cardboard under the engine bay.

I would say crc makes a good cleaner but I haven't used sinse 98 or so.
So I don't know what else is available now.

I am currently using crc engine assembly lube in my rebuild. It's a bit different than the arp molly. But it works the same. I don't think arp molly can be beat.

I know HH disagreea but I cleaned my block with the pb blaster and it looks great. I sprayed it on let it sit and took a brass toothed brush too it and it looks great.

I personally don't like using degreaser followed up by spraying down the engine...

I would suggest getting a pack shop towels, cleaner (orange blast/kerocene), followed by armor all and taking some time detailing the engine.

Mothers Mag. and Alum. polish (safe for all metals) works wonders things like your alternator, intake manifold, throttle body ect... it just takes a while.

Mothers is good stuff. It was a secret for a long time among car guys then it blew up comercially.

so if i were to go to an auto store today, what would be my list?

I can't tell you what to go buy.

There are so many opinions in this thread...., and all of them are probably good ways to go.

You will definitley want 1 or 2 small brass bristled brushes. Probably a roll of the classic red shop towels.

Some kind of engine degreaser or grease and rust penatrent.
Which ever you decide, get enough to do the entire job.
If you purchase to much you can either take it back or save it till you need it.

I still say pb blaster, but I can see where brakeclean would work as well.
The big thing with the blaster is there is absolutely no water in it.
If it gets on your clothes you get tired of smelling it, but it doesn't irritate your skin.

Mothers is good but isn't really for cleaning the engine bay.

Scotch brite pads. For those pesky metal tubes and what nots.

Last but not least..., your girl. because you're going to find that you need smaller hands to get into some of the places your dick skinners won't reach.

Yeah Mothers and other kinds of alum. polish take a long time to make them look shinny, since you have to polish it untill you get the black film and it leaves some kind of greased protection.

A bit of hard work
 

Well, if you ever DO figure out which stuff to use.

And you ever DO get to cleaning that engine bay.

And you DO spend a LOT of time on the job.

Let's hope it turns out like suprra_girl's.

YA, you can see her wntire build thread at: www.thesupraforums.com

She painted that thing in her drive way. I don't know how much help she has had but her ride is a bang up good job. New parts are always easier to shine.

Cool guys. I'll be off to the auto shop today and spend the afternoon with my baby. I'll be detailing it next week too. Should I clean the engine then detail it?

sandblasting is the way to go, i mean if you really wanna see them parts looks like brand new thats the way to do it. other than that, i bought a big bucket, some engine degreaser "costco sized", and i would just grab the parts i wanted cleaned and put it into the bucket filled with the degreaser and let it sit over night :) then spray them parts down and let them dry. if you really want it to look shiney. goto like shucks,autozone,wal mart and get a coarse wire brush wheel. those things do amazing stuff