elbow greese!! It is worth it!!

 

There are a couple things that I would cover for secuirty.

Distributor Cap
Batery Cables


Just don't spray the MAF sensor, and TPS sensor down. By that I mean don't hit them with the power washer and just let water run down them for 5 mins. Just take your time and use some elbow grease.

Ps would post picture, don't have one.

 

Another thing that helps are new washer and overflow bottles from the dealership, I think they are $18 a piece, but they are better looking than 20-year-old ones.

 

Great ideas!

Do you think that the pressure washer is too powerfull for the engine? Or should I stick with the hose and nozzle?

 

yea i think new coolant bottle and washer bottle does look better but in my pic i have the stock washer and coolant bottles, the coolant just needed alittle cleaning and the washer one well just some simple green on the outside

but yea new ones are alot better then stock ones

 

My engine bay is quite dirty as well. I started cleaning up just a bit the other day, nothing to serious. I just used some black magic interior cleaner on the top fo the radiator support and it looks a hell of a lot better. Just kind of curious about covering things up, I have noticed no one has said anything about covering up the alternator. If I were to spray water into my engine bay I think I would cover at least that up because I don't think water in the alternator would be a good thing. I wouldn't keep spraying it down either but I wuold try to keep most of the water away from it. It was just a thought I had. Maybe it is okay for water to be sprayed on the alternator as long as everything is turned off and no electric current is going anywhere. If anyone has any thoughts about this please let me know before I go and start spraying my engine down with water. And when I do, I will probably make sure the car has sit for a while if not wait overnight until the next morning and get a fresh start on it when it has had amble time to cool down.

 

That looks really good Novass. How long did it take you to polish your intake? -89IRO

 

I guess that pic really doesn't do those wires much justice huh? There are a few things there, 3 actually, one is my AMP cable, another goes to my air horn(), and the third (goes with that little black box) is wired to flashing blue strobe lights in my turn signals. Makes me look like a cop in the middle of the night. All of them are getting relocated when I have the money for better wire, but for now where they are keeps them in place. They aren't being harmed/doing damage....

 

too add to the custom wooden hood prop, lokar just came out with its own aluminum hood prop... i found it in my new Pace parts mag... and i just painted my custom prop too... son of a..... i need to get these pics developed so i can post them!

 

Damn, I see you clear coated your motor!

 

:lala:

When I got the car, the engine bay was brown. The whole thing looked like someone had just taken a bucket of dirt and dropped it over the motor. 10 minutes at the coin op car wash, a little engine degreaser, and some spray detailer, and it looks a little better.

 

get some wire looming costs like $1.25 at home depot for like 5 ft of it

 

when it had AC, and it will soon since this hot weather sucks to not have AC

 

It took me about 10 hours. Sand, Sand, Sand, with 80-120-220-400- buff w/emery-topoli-white.

 

Now thats dedication...I love my car to absolutley no tmo...but I could never put THAT much effort into shining up my stock e.q......not sober at least....

 

I have one of those Steam Buggy steam cleaners they sell on info-mercials. Works great. Cuts through any grease and grime and just wipes right off. No harsh chemicals either.

 

Daaannng, after reading this thread I 'm go'in out to wash my engine bay first thing in the morning. Where are the MAF/TPS sensors located?

 

hey SLP IROC-Z: what the hell? did you sand off all the grooves on the top of you plenum? lol...more pics if you did!

 

tps is on the side of the throttle body, and the maf is a big black plastic cylinder in front of it.

 

before

 

after

 

well let me give all of you people who think its a easy thing to do. well i would cover your batter and distributer, i don't know what i did but something got wet and i waited an hour to start it, the engine was idleing at 450rmp(usuall is around 1000). It was shaking the car like the engione was only running on 3 cylenders. I floored it and it started to idle fine, but the service engine soon sign went on. So i left the car pissed at myself for an hour and a half, and restarted it. The car did the funky thing of idleing at 450rmp again so i floored it, worked again, but the service engine soon is gone so i think it will be ok tomorow morning once its completely dried out. I'll tell you if not.

Update, the car works perfectly now. not a prob. just needed to dry out.

 

i just wanted to say thanks for the tip, it came out beautiful!

 

To think a girl did this to her car.

 

After reading through this thread, I'm off the the coin wash! I was always concerned about spraying water in there, but I'll cover my bat &dist and take it easy with the sprayer. It could use a good shine, and someone said use armor all to clean the plastic? Hopefully tomorrow I'll have pics of my newly beautified engine bay . Thanks for all of the info guys(and gals)!

 

LONG LIVE THIS THREAD!!! I swear this thing will never die! But that cool! I love seeing all these "pretty engine compartments!!" Soon here I'm gonna do what I thought I'd never do and really put some hardcore elbow grease under the hood...pics to come soon!!

Bruce (90RS305)

 

Had to get in on this one.. looks a little different now.. A/C actually works!

 

How long did you have to jump on that thing to get in in there? Nice looking bay!!

 

Thanks.. actually the thing went right in with the accessories, headers and intake all bolted on.. we just had the back end of the car on ramps, took about 15 minutes of head scratching and about 15 minutes of actual work with a cherry picker and engine leveler..

Getting the A/C though.. what a pain.. I had to get 94 corvette lines from rockauto.com took those to a hydraulic shop to get them extended and the right ends put on... don't have any pics of that yet. Around 160.00 in hose parts and then 220.00 for a good flush, pressure test and charge..

 

Here's mine...a little simple green and some No touch

 

hey d00d, i see that one tank you got, get some acetone and put it in a spray bottle. Spray it on the tank, let sit for no more than 10seconds each time, and then just wipe it off and brand new white color, check out my tank.



acetone getsthem thingswhite really good. if you dont have any its at homedepot. Oh yeah do not use it on anything with a finishing coat, it eats throguh it. My wooden table is now bare because i spilled some, and some of my plastic interior had to be painted so you couldn't see it.

 

Use TurtleWax Formula 2001 instead of the ArmorAll... it's a ton better.

As for being careful spraying... I killed my fogs power washing my engine bay. I haven't had a chance to hunt down the problem, probably a blown fuse or fusible link or something. Gotta bust out the Chilton's wiring pages. And obviously, don't spray water into an open element.

HurBadAsssGTA, did you paint your intake and valve covers in candy apple red?!?! That looks incredible.

 

Thanks Kid.....I ll give it a try

 

I LOVE the Elite vavle covers, but thought that the Elite center bolt valve covers looked like this...

Those look like the '86 and prior style covers, what part number are those.

 

Hey Freeze, can you get a better pic of the top f your engine? I'm wondering how I should tackle my disgusting engine bay. One of the other two or three owners must have left it in a wooded area too long with the hood removed... There's s**t everywhere-leaves, sunflower seeds, general junk, and most of all, GREASE! Are there any grime removers on the market that won't harm the paint? It doesn't matter, though, I'm thinking of completely redoing my engine bay black to match the rest of the body...

 

k well today i tryed cleaning my bay i got that quaker super clean spray it in a purple spray bottle(guy said its the best) anyway i sprayed it and washed it off. all the black stuff is still there. its like 1cm thick! and its every place on that engine bay and it wont come off. is this the wrong stuff to use?? this crap just wont come off. someone help me out please.

 

That stuff is all undercoating, and yes it can be very thick. Some times you have to scrap it off with a PLASTIC scraper. Not a metal one cause it would obviously scratch any sruface you scrape with it, then let some of the degreaser actaully sit on the bad spots for about a 1/2hr, go back and scrape some more. Sooner or later it will all be gone. Some engine can take alot of work. Here's a example of some of my work, as some of you may already know I am a professional Auto detailer/refinisher. And so you all know I do not believe nor use any type of Dressing to accomplish my shine in the engine compartments, each and every car I do is completely degreased and properly prepped and then a special heat resistant Ceramic clear coat meant for engines is used to give it a everylasting shine if kept up properly.


96 Firebird Before..



Same car after...



98 Grand Prix before...



Same car after...

 

yeah i know all about that black stuff youre talking about. i got rid of mine with a razor. just dont scratch the paint.

oh and dont dis the hood stick. im sure fords engineers spent months developing that technology....

 

I tried my best to clean up my stock Engine bay what ya think??? *Note* I noticed I still have the orignal belt diagram and the vacume setsing and so on.

 

Everytime I clean my engine on a vehicle, something breaks the next day. I cleaned the 454 on my Suburban and the next day the timing chain gear (which is the weakest part of the 454) takes a dump. Bent all of my push rods and jacked two of my valves. Took me a month to pull the engine, get the heads done, put a double roller timing chain on, and put the engine back. Son of a gun flies like greased lightning now, though. I blow the doors off of RAM's and Fords.

I cleaned the 305 in my '85 Chevy Caprice and the next day a lifter takes a dump and drops the insides into the oil pan. I had to pull the engine to replace a $1.94 part, because I didn't want to stand on my head and deal with an oil pan.

So I'm a little wary of cleaning my engine!!

 

That blows, well, you could look at it as an excuse to overhaul the engine! :lala: I just recently took my Camaro off-roading (yes, thats right) I was on my way home from Cali a week or so ago and got stuck in one of the worst rain storms of my entire life. The highway we were on was COMPLETELY washed out. I was following my friend in his lifted 4x4 ranger where some SUV's wouldn't, (at some points the water was so high that I couldn't see the bottom of his truck) and made it without a problem (thank goodness for GM's crappy TBI stock intake. Thats what saved me) But yeah, you wanna talk about a --DIRTY-- engine bay, I think I just about could have won an award! That engine just kept running like a @$#%ing champ! I don't think I'll ever be afraid of getting it wet!

Bruce (90RS305)

 

Neat and tidy:

 

I meant this:

 

Perhaps a GTP is more to your liking. I know it's not a 3rd gen, but it's GM and it runs 13s!

 

oooooooooo ZZ4 Stealth and GTP.... puuuuurdy...

 

 

Heres a picture of my enginebay. What do you think?

 

Cruzin Kaz...

how much crap did you have to take out of the engine to get it that clean. just curious....maybe u didnt take anything out.

 

Well after watching this for a few months...I figure I can add to this...

 

Before -


After-