I have an 80 vette that I currently working on. I pulled the motor and trans for a new 400hp crate motor installation. Before I install the new motor a rebuilt trans I want to clean the engine bay really good. I have a pressure washer, are there any solvents I can run thru the washer that can clean all the grim and grease off or canned products that are good (like gunk off)?

 

I just used a mild degreaser, water, and a brush. I used a wire wheel on my frame, etching primer, and semi gloss paint. I wet-sanded the rest of the engine bay fiberglass with 400 wet/dry before paint.

It is a lot of work but it is worth it. I looking at my engine bay and having a beer

 

most any good engine degreaser will work, I use a product called STEAM, Gunk makes some good ones too. Use either one and the pressure washer and your good to go

 

Zep Citrus Degreaser available at the Home Depot and comes in a gallon size too. Works great, houstonvett

 

And once you get everything clean and are ready to repaint under there, try wrapping wiring harnesses and vacuum hoses with aluminum foil to keep the paint off of them. It's quick and easy - you can shape the foil any way you want it, and it's easy to get off after you paint. Just be careful around the wires down at the starter!

 

Easy Off oven cleaner works well, especially if you let it sit in the sun while it works.

 

Question; what if you are not removing the engine? What steps should I take to insure I won't muck up anything?

 

I am also in the prcocess of trying to clean the engine compartment and am curious of the above question as well....

 

I am doing the same thing. The engine bay and entire under carriage. I have wire brushed everything that I can reach. I tested a couple of greasy/oily areas with simple green and it seems to work ok. I am going to see how oven cleaner works in couple of areas this weekend. Which ever one I end up using for the entire car, I am going to soak everything and let it sit for an hour or two then I am going to pressure wash every thing. To keep the water out of the intake and electrical componets I am going to bag everything I can and cover the rest with plastic and duct tape.

I wonder if I soak the engine block with oven cleaner and let the car run for a while heating everything, will it work better?

 

I use Gunk and a pressure washer. Recently I made a real mess due to my valve covers coming loose, I put the car up about 2 ft on blocks, got under and sprayed everything with gunk, then just used a garden hose to wash it off. It came out great. Another thing that works great is 10 or more spray cans of cheap black paint.

 

I'm not in a position to use a spray washer so I cleaned it by hand. Scrape off the worst then use rags-in-a-box with mineral spirits. Latex or rubber gloves a must. Used wire wheel on cordless drill to remove surface rust and old paint. Took a while, but had great results.
Eastwood chassis black to finish. I used blue masking tape on firewall stuff, but wish I had thought about aluminum foil; could have saved a lot of time.

 

With the engine out and hood off, I bought lots of "Simple Green", a big scrub brush, rubber gloves, a bunch of small scotch brite sanding pads, masking tape, and laquer thinner. I masked the front end (windshield to bumper) off with large plastic trash bags, got a ladder that would allow me to climb over the fenders, and a hose with a HOT water source.

I scrubbed the hell out of the engine compartment!!!!!! When I was done, it was as clean as a whistle!!! The Simple Green worked great, and the hot water really helped rinse the greasy residue off.

Next, I took a cordless drill with a wire brush to the metal A-arm bushings and made them sparkle.

Once everything was dry, I looked around for anything I might have missed, then began painting. I used Eastwood Chassis black on the frame and A-arms. Once dry, I masked off the frame and A-arms and painted the firewall, fenders, radiator core support, and everything in the nose I could reach with Eastwood underhood black.

Although it added time to the overall project, I removed evrything I could that was not to be painted. It was worth it in the end.

When the painting was done, I replaced the old wire wrap that runs from the firewall and up the left fender. I also wiped down the wires with laquer thinner. Cleaning them really made a difference when you look at the rest of the engine compartment. While I was at it, I replaced all of the vacuum hoses, rubber wheel well skirts, and wiped down the master cylinder and brake lines with WD-40.

It was a lot of work, but, worth it in my opinion. After rebuilding the engine, it would have been a shame to skip the engine compartment.

 

soaked it with Gunk, hit it with pressure washer and painted it with eastwood products

 

Spray everything down with Simple Green. Sit for 15 minutes, then hose it off. Repeat after that, brushing things off with a paint brush then hose it off again.

SG is biodegradeable too.

 

Don't even try the oven cleaner, its very hard on painted surfaces, its also nasty stuff to breathe, Simple green is very good stuff. Bag the dist and carb, spray it with your fav degreaser and hit it with the pressure washer if you have one, you can even run a hose from the water heater drain to the pressure washer.

 

i used "greased lighting" followed by "simple green"