Alright guys, what do you show car people use to pretty up your engine bay. Make it all nice and shiny and everything.

What i mean is what kind of chemicals do you use to make the hoses shiny and stuff. People have told mebefore tire shine, but i dunno. I just want it to shine up really nice at this point. If there is some residue left then so be it.

I'm thinking about degreesing the engine bay again, and pressure washing it out. Then waxing the paint that shows, and just trying to make the overall look 20 times better then now.


here are some pics of my engine bay as is,











Shane

Engine bay degreaser, followed by a pressure wash. Engine shampoo followed by a pressure wash. Wax all visible paint. Polish all visible A/C lines, brake lines, etc. And then Armoral the hoses etc. It should look good then.

I cleaned mine with rags and some water. I don't like the idea of spraying my motor down. I then polished every part I could, and went over all the hoses with sun of a gun. I am currently polishing my intake to make it complete.

ok so for tomorow i went to autozone and bought me some, Simple Green Concentrate, Black Magic Pro Shine Protectant(usually for intgerior cuase it leaves no residue so thats what i'll use on the pipes and stuff), and some sand paper for the Intake Manifold. I should be done with my stuff by tomorow. I'll have a very nice looking engine bay.

ummm to get rid of the old wax in the engine bay, i was stupid with it, should i just use dish soap???????????




Shane

damn it, thanks to my rust problems the job will be finished next weekend of so...

[Kyle from South Park]When people see that engine bay they're like G0d.. DAMN... that's an awesome engine bay![/Kyle from South Park] :hail:

That does look good IROCThe5.7L

I did about the same thing you did.....I just installed my new radiator tank...now I have to get the windshield washed tank..

What about using engine degreaser on the engine? i know your supposed to cover the battery and the distributor but some of the wires look like they shouldn't get wet. Wouldn't it hurt the wires or damage what there pluged into or should i just tape those off and then do it?

when i degreased my engien bay monthsa go i soaked the whole entire thing. then i pressure wahsed uit. You cant tlel me that anything that wasnn't covered(distibutor and batter) didn't get wet. In a TPI pretty much everything can get wet.

Here's mine.. Same deal as IROCthe5.7L, i use rags, water and some Armoral..

Thanls for the compliments guys, it is under some reconstruction now...

Are u gonna add anymore GO-FAST goodies this year Joe?

Hey i gota Hotchkis Strut Tower Brace 4 sale that would make ur engine bay even cooler! Lemme know if ur interested..

You bet I do!! Actually I do want one, but isn't yours red? I guess that dosent matter though, I could always paint it black right?

correct, u can just paint it, its in 100% perfect form..

What do u say $100 bucks? make and offer..

good way to bid like this, is to make your lowest big first!!!!!!!!


and $100, how old is it, thats a little expensive for a used one.

new wires so its not all that clean yet

this is b4 the plug wires

lots of free time uh?

looks good but i do not have the patience for that

Thx


Only in the summer though.


My car has been sitting apart forever. After next week my summer break starts, and I can start putting her back together.

I use simple green and cover the distributor. I also use a power washer but a hose with a good nozzle will do the trick. Wipe down any surfaces you can. Afterwars a little armoral or something similar will make it shine.

One of the best thing any one can do for their engine bay but a lot of people seem to ignore it is cleaning for getting new coolant and washer bottles. They can look pretty bad after a few years and they are big enough to get noticed. So if they need attention or replacing, get it done. It will make a difference.

I agree 100%, They are cheap and they stand out when they are dirty.....

i knew it wasonly a matter of time before he came in here showing off that monstrous LS1.

Theres all kinds of stuff you can use to clean it. Actually once you give it a good cleaning and shining it just makes it that much easier to keep it clean and shiny!...

Heres my engine bay, all the way from Sweden

has anyone ever used a hand held steam cleaner to clean their eingine bays? (like the shark steamer, or the succi steamer). thats what I'm thinking about doing but I don't know if hot steam is a good idea for all the wires and everything.

Wires such as your spark plug wires endure much higher heat than a steam cleaner. They should be ok. I would not spray directly on the distributor or any relay boxes. But you'll be fine.

First off...if you went to checker instead of autozone you prolly could be done in say ummm...15 minutes.....I go to checker to get things done rioght the first time. I clean my engine all the time...im gonna have to say the best thing is Checker Oil Eater!! Ya thats right kids..Oil Eater....spray everything down.. I mean absolutely everything....let it sit for say umm 10 min...come back and preasure spray that puppy down and it glissens!!

I'd say some of the degreasers people use could be potentially harmful to wiring over a period of time. I'm sure it isn't the greatest thing for it. I spray mine off with water all the time but then again I don't have hardly any electrical stuff under my hood. I am going to go to a car wash tomorrow and try their "engine cleaner" and see how it does.

Hopefully after I get the lowering springs installed.

if it's bad...really bad simple green and water 50/50. other then that either detailers mist (mothers) or a polish cleaner. either 3m plastic or wizards paint polish finish stage. use microfiber towels on the paint and polished pieces. normal clean shop rags on the wiring and powdercoated pieces. toothbrush on the harder areas.

use to be relatively easy to keep an engine clean......now with my ss hood it's a bitch. i'm either going to plug up the hood or take it off!



not bad for a high horsepower 388.....

o yea brag why dont you!!!!

i didnt realize how dirty my engine bay was until i see some of yours.......im scared to pressure wash my engine because of the electrical stuff but form what im hearing i guess its okay. looks like ill tackle that tomorrow!!

really be careful when pressure washing the bay and spraying the bay. stay away from igniton, wiring, sensers, etc. i had to replace some of those things at work lately because the ppl that clean it dont watch out for those kinds of things. thats why i use a rag with degreaser and water. takes time but looks good wen u do a good job.

my 84 is a mess under the hood.

it's never been cleaned.

how would I start??

i started by going to get 2 cans of degreeser at walmart for $0.79 each can. ANd sorayed thw whole thing down,. let itr sit for close to an hour and then pressure washed it off, but you can use less pressure too. Then i wiped everything down with wrags. And now when i wash the car(once a week) i wet down the engine bay to get off all the little dirt that gets on there. But for that i use the lease amount of pressure possible so as not to hurt anything.

And my engien bay project is still in effect, so, i have been cleaning and cleaning with wrags and the such. I use tire shine and interior spray on the hoses. And i have been polishing the intake plenum. Its getting done but now i have work and very little time to finish the job so...

But make sure is you degreese to find one thats ok on paint, and to cover your TB(if tbi or carb) and the distibutor, and battery. You should be just fine but try not to hit these areas with pressure to hard. I'd let it sit overnight before you start it again, it will be better for the car.



Shane

Thank you, Shane!

I used mothers back to black, it seems to work real good on the enging components but it doesnt last on exterior trim too long... its still an LO3 tho no matter how clean it is..

Jeff, why not make it a true SS hood and make it functional.

1. the amount of work to make it work wouldn't look right with the flow of the engine...

2. i'm tired of modifying things







for now...

also whenever I use water on the engine bay area to get the little dirt and stuff off that has collected in there....I usually use a leaf blower to get all the water off the engine and where ever water could be sitting in all the nooks and crannys....

no what I mean?

I sanded and repainted my engine bay, well worth the effort.

damnnnnn-

what you running there 5 litre eater. I see a single carb, but what stats, what about HP rating?????????

I haven't decided on a carb yet. Right now there's an edelbrock 750on it, but I'm leaning towards an edelbrock avs 800cfm. I'm hoping to get about 480hp at the crank , but I'm not sure when the blower runs out of steam.

My plastic boxes look like crap

Is there anyone that sells an aftermarket radiator or windshield wiper fluid cans ?

Both washer and coolant bottles are still available from GM. There are also still relatively cheap. I bought a set last week and was one of the most gratifying additions to my engine bay.

Or you can just do away with them like i did , i replaced them with a combo unit out of a ford Exploder.

What model and how much does that filter cost Dave? I like the way it looks but doesn't that suck in a lot of hot air?

very clean with the explorer tank.

i'd move the filter though, your getting alot of hot air that way.

I completely took my washer fluid reservoir out. I do want to get a new overflow tank soon. Would help my engine bay out a lot. I may get one of the 91-92 models....the bigger ones. Not sure yet.

BTW how much are the new overflow tanks?

im sure the formula hood helps vent a little hot air out but that still is sucking a lot of hot air.............frees up some space tho

I plan on getting a Ram Air 1 style hood to feed fresh air to the filter. and i love all the free space under the hood now. this weekend i am removing the heater control valve since i ditched the a/c i don't need it anymore.
Stiers - it's a K&N part# RC-5000 but i don't think you can use it on your MAF system on the GTA.

Are the new plasctics available from GM? How much are they?