...

 

You could just leave it running. A little bit of water will actually clean out some of the carbon build up inside the engine. Just gotta be careful.

we pressure wash the hell out of the engine bays of our humvees here at work.

that filter should be fine.

 

the humvee is a diesel...as in no distributor to get water into. I would be carefull with the hose, that 20+ y/o wiring will not like it, the seals on the fuse box could be dried out and you could end up w/ a non starting car or some ugly electronics problems afterwards. It's better to do it the hard way, some elbow grease and a scrubber/toothbrush whatever...

 

I did my 79 at the car wash. I sprayed it with gunk first. Loosened some of the grease with a parts cleaning brush, then used the pressure sprayer to hose it off.

I covered the alt and distributer and tried not to directly spray the wiring. I had the stock air cleaner on it at the time but with my K&N open element, I'd cover that with a bag too.

Bring some brake cleaner or WD-40 with you. If wires get wet, and it won't re-start, spray that on them to displace the water.

 

If it's really bad, figure on doing it twice. The first time you will get a lot of it off but there'll be places you miss or area's where it real thick. Get two can of cleaner. Better to have more than not enough. Let the cleaner do some of the work. If there are areas where it's a 1/4" thick you may want to try and scape some of it off before going to the car wash. The goal of the first cleaning should be to get it to the point where you can see what's there. Get a couple of different size brushes. Choose a time when the car wash will not busy. People get a little impatient if you tie a bay up for 45 minutes and you may then wind up rushing it. Take along some towels to wipe things off after the second cleaning. If the rags are getting dirty you'll know that there is still some grime.

I cleaned engines without covering up the air cleaner and dist. The air cleaner was not the type were it was exposed.

If you're planning on working on the engine, cleaning the engine and bay is a very wise thing to do. I hated working on dirty engines. No matter what needs to be done, hand tools, clothes get grundgy.

 

The best way I have found is to remove part if possible and take it out and clean it by itself then reinstall. But if you can't take it out just get to scrubbing!

 

If you can afford it take your car to a auto detailing place and get them to steam clean it! it will come out spotless. in Canada it cost around $85 to have the whole car done, underneither nad the engine bay. just a thought.
Ryan.

 

i have started using marine clean from http://www.por15.com/product.asp?productid=156
a pair of gloves, some dishwashing implements, a toothbrush and a water hose should do it. this stuff is not a petrolium based product and can be cut with hot water. grime wipes off easy and would allow you to take your time and do it at the house. the stuff works.

 

Somewhere I read a book on vette history and maintenance, wish I could remember the title. The author went in to some detail about engine degreasers possibly removing paint etc. He propsed tire and wheel cleaner. I bought some Meguiar's wheel cleaner (in the beige bottle, pro line) Mist all over under the hood to get things wet. Spray a small section of wheel cleaner down and let it sit for a few minutes.... gently rinse off. Repeat and use a brush if it is caked on.

This has worked so well on my vette (which looked like it had never been cleaned) I started doing it twice a year to my two pickup trucks as well. What a difference!

It's not show quality, but it's a great start at getting the majority of the gunk off and isn't quite as harsh as gunk or castrol super clean.

Just my 2 cents...Steam clean is good, but if you can even just get hot water that'll help a bit.

-Matt

 

The latest corvette fever goes though how to do it. For $85 I would take it to a detailer though. There is a lot of grease and crap that you really don't want all over your garage and driveway.

 

The stock air cleaner on the '81 is very efficient because it has a cold air intake duct over the radiator. It is, however, ugly. But a chrome lid on the air cleaner works wonders!

 

I would not use any petroleum-based degreaser near paint. Your local detailing shop is the best bet. They have access to the commercial cleaners to get the job done. Believe it or not, my favourite place is a GM dealer. I know the staff and their competencies.

 

Get this done first and it will be easier for you to maintain it and keep it clean.Figure how much the cleaner and car wash will cost compared to the steam cleaning and you might be surprised

 

they should cover it for you... a full service car wask knows what they are doing "most of the time". I had taken 2 of my vettes and was happy both times. There is no way you could do as good as job as their professional equipment.