So in preparation for the big Hot Springs Corvette Weekend, I thought I'd finally get around to detailing the whole engine and bay. I'm not talking about just scrubbing what's visible, spraying it all down with the hose, or spraying it down with a greasy dressing. I mean detailing as in taking things apart and washing everything by hand. Now granted... I probably could have spent a lot more time and REALLY disassembled things, but what I did makes it look a lot better than before.

Here are the before pics:






And here it is cleaned up:






What a difference! Having clean paint is one thing, but I love to see cleanliness in the engine area, chassis and wheelwells, and all those little detail areas that get overlooked. I also took off the rear license plate holder, and WHOA there was a collection of dust and grass back there! Detailing... it's all in the details. It's amazing how dirty a car really gets.

 

Well Done!

 

Looks much better!

 

looking good, wanna do mine :P

 

Nice work. How many miles are on your car? I try to clean out from under the hood a little every time I wash the car or change the oil.

 

Great work.

 

Very nice work. I too clean under the hood after each wash but after taking a peek under a fuel rail cover afte a recent wash - .

Interesting, removing the hood. Any problems getting it lined back up? Where did you remove it at (hinge point, hood bracket, etc?), also, any tips, lessons learned on hood removal/install?

That really helped accessing the airfilter and radiator area - looks good!

Here's a tip I use when detailing the engine area, for water I use a spray bottle with an adjustable spray nozzle like you can pick up at a garder center. This helps wash away dirt in areas without spraying the entire engine down. Also helps me focus on certain areas, one section at a time.

 

Well done, quite the improvement...

 

very nice...what'd you clean it with?

 

I totally agree!

I always keep my engines looking like this and it makes a huge difference, even when doing mods to the car! Well done it looks great!

Andy Wheeler

 

Looks great. Some Adam's VRT and/or In N out Spray will do wonders for all the black plastic too.

 

I would like nothing better than to spend a whole day cleaning my cars-however we are still under drought restrictions so it isnt possible. My only option is to take it to a detail shop and leave it for a day-that aint going to happen.

 

Get a small weed spayer from a hardware store, fill with some warm water, etc and do this in your garage. I will do this to my cars in the garage when they weather is bad.

 

It is a good thing my neighbors are car guys

The grass may be dead, but the cars are clean

 

I just hit 43K miles on my car.

The hood removal/reinstall wasn't too bad at all. I removed the bolts from the hood itself and left the hinges attached to the frame. I traced around the hinge onto the hood where it attaches to the hinge with a blue sharpie so I could line everything back up. The bolts holding the hinge to the hood though had left good enough marks in the hinge that I could have lined it up just from those.

Reinstalling the hood was fun. It would have helped to have another person helping out. The hood isn't heavy, but it's awkward and must be handled carefully so as to avoid any unnecessary flexing.



Don't laugh at my technique I used! It was all I had at the time.

I know many people will say not to hose the engine down. I removed the coil packs, MAF, washer tank, and covered all loose connections tightly with plastic to keep water off of them. While I was actually washing, I hosed the whole engine area down several times. I was concerned that after I put everything back together that I'd have some problem with water in anything electrical. BUT the engine fired right up with no issues, missing, sputtering, or otherwise at all!

I cleaned with a variety of rags and brushes, and I used two kinds of degreasers (in the orange and purple bottles) for messy greasy areas, and then used Simple Green for all plastics, rubber, and more sensitive engine areas. The degreasers didn't stain any aluminum, so that's good. I used the leaf blower to get water off the engine, especially the areas around the injectors where water will collect and sit. The injector areas had to be cleaned multiple times, as dirt and grime can really collect there. The power steering box/valve was also quite dirty, but degreasers helped there. The only area I didn't spray any water was the battery/fusebox area. I just used a damp towel to wipe everything down there.

To dress everything up afterwards, I used 303 protectant on plastic and Zaino tire treatment on rubber hoses and seals. Adams In and Out or any other non-greasy treatment would work also. I made sure everything was dry and grime free before I started putting parts back together and using the treatments. I washed and treated all the parts I took off seperately (so even the undersides of the tanks, radiator cover, intake and airbox, etc. were all cleaned and treated). The hoses looked dramatically better with the Zaino tire treatment applied. I even held a cloth to the belts with the engine running to get the Zaino onto the belts (safely though just in case the belt snatched the cloth from my hand). When it was all done, I had no squeaking of belts, pulleys, and like I said the engine fired right up and ran fine. I also cleaned the wheels, wheel wells and suspension in the front. The next area to get attention is the rear end and rear wells. I have the exhaust tips polished up, but I want to polish the differential cover.

And it's amazing how green the grass is where the water, degreasers, brake dust, etc. all run off from the driveway. I dunno!

 

From another thread on this topic:

"The problem with hosing off your engine is that the KNOCK SENSORS (there are TWO) are located under the intake manifold. Each sensor sits inside a shallow well on the valve valley close out plate. The rubber seals that are suppose to seal the wells do NOT seal very well and those wells will get water in them. This will destroy the sensors and you will get Knock Sensor DTC's."

Let us know how you do over the next 30-60 days.

 

Yes I've heard of these sensors underneath. I've hosed the engine off many times in the past and have never had issues. I've probably hosed it off 3 or 4 times really well since I bought the car last March. I usually run the engine and drive for quite a while after I wash the engine to help with drying up of any water trapped in any wiring or underneath the intake manifold. But yes I'll let you know how it goes. I guess if I wanted to get REALLY thorough, I would have taken the manifold off as well. Thanks for the heads up though!

 

Your hard work has really paid off. The engine bay looks great. Good luck at the car show!!