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Once you do an overall cleaning, like with a power washer, etc. the next best tip I was ever given when I was showing my '78 is WD40. Not only does it dissolve much of the dirt, it freshens everything black, especially plastic. I was told this tip by a judge some years ago when showing my car at Chevy Vettefest. I now use it regularly under the hood. I have passed that tip on to many, and some challenge it, as I am sure some here will, but it cleans everything very well and is non harmful, as it is fish oil. The best spot to use it is in the door jams where you can never get in there to clean. Soak it; let it drip out and that spot will be cleaner than ever! After I learned that tip, I rarely lost points under the hood!
This seems counter-productive to me as when WD40 dries it becomes sticky and attracts dirt, dust, and anything else it comes in contact with.
I spray mine down with Orange Citrus Cleaner, let is stand for a couple of minuets and hose it off with a garden hose, I dry off what I can then run the engine to dry up what I cannot. I then use Meguires cleaner to dress up the plastics. easy peasey not a big deal. I do however cover the alternator & Fuse Box with a plastic bag.
Gunk engine cleaner ....light hose off. After dry I spray down the engine with gunk engine dress spray. Once the dress is dry I go over everything with a micro towel. After that everything has a nice matte shine, factory look
I have Forty-one thousand or so miles. Try very hard not to drive in the rain / snow / salt. I use Mothers Back to Black and mostly elbow grease. I do not show my car don't know if it's clean enough
When I picked my '07 up from the dealer four years ago, it looked and smelled brand new from top to bottom. They did great doll-up. (oops, I guess the modern term is "detail." It's like "ft-lbs" has been changed to "lb-ft" for some inexplicable reason. You can tell which generation a poster is from by which one they use. )
The engine compartment still looks the same as when I picked it up, and all I do is wipe everything off every month or so during the summer.
LOL....I hear this. Remember when you use to go to the drag strip and pull a great hole shot......now you say..."Man I pulled a great 60 ft.".....
This seems counter-productive to me as when WD40 dries it becomes sticky and attracts dirt, dust, and anything else it comes in contact with.
It's the same with all/most spray on spruce ups. I mean whats the train of thought...as one post seemed to suggest..."It magically makes all the grime "Disappear"....." As I mentioned, once you start using them it seems like the place never looks the same and you have to use them from there on out which isn't necessarily a bad thing once age makes it necessary to make it look its best.
Who else watched all 21:58 of this video? I first clicked on it not expecting to watch the full video, because Its cleaning and engine bay. So simple. WRONG!!! This guy really gives full explanation of how to do it right. Worth the watch even if you already knew all this stuff. Its still gonna show you something you may have already been skipping and not doing when cleaning your engine bay. I highly recommend this video.
This seems counter-productive to me as when WD40 dries it becomes sticky and attracts dirt, dust, and anything else it comes in contact with.
Absolutely not true. WD40 never gets sticky when dry; clean to the touch in an hour or so. I leave my hood up at every show and nothing ever clings to spots sprayed with WD40. In fact it seems to keep the dust to a min. The hoses and plastic look clean/new for quite some time, normally only have to do it every few weeks. As I said earlier this comes from detailers, judges and car show winners......and it works. I have turned many on to this simple trick; unbelievers at first, but once they do it are hooked! I didn't believe either.
I've been using WD40 for years. It most definitely does get sticky.
Cool...I guess I must buy the defective stuff then. I have a trophy case to prove it doesnt! I would have lost a lot of points if anything stuck as anything, even a leaf that blows in costs you points. Any dirt stuck on anything costs you points and I never lost a point under the hood for dirt and my hood was sometimes open for hours. I must have gotten lucky over the past 12 years or so.
DO NOT TAKE A POWER WASHER TO THE ENGINE BAY AREA!!!!!
There are too many electrical connectors that you are going to flood the insides of them with water, and going to have a problem on your hands until the connectors plugs dry back out.
So you can use a hose/light stream of water without pressure behind it, but stay away from power washing the inside of the engine bay.
DO NOT TAKE A POWER WASHER TO THE ENGINE BAY AREA!!!!!
There are too many electrical connectors that you are going to flood the insides of them with water, and going to have a problem on your hands until the connectors plugs dry back out.
So you can use a hose/light stream of water without pressure behind it, but stay away from power washing the inside of the engine bay.
I have been power washing engines of all types for years; never had an issue.....most all things under hood are designed to handle moisture, even under pressure.
Once finished it is important to protect all washed metal surfaces capable of oxidizing. WD40 is fine but it won't last long. I put dialetric "bulb" grease on plugs and electrical connectors once I am sure they are dry, and on battery terminals anywhere I see metal that might react with oxygen. Then every bolt, clamp, anything that turns or twists made of metal I use mostly anti seize or appropriate grease depending on the location (There are all kinds of grease) or I decide if I want to paint them (bolts that rarely get turned anymore I find its usually safe to 'dress' up somehow and paint is pretty much free). Finally the areas of exposed metal that are still visible but not as important such as an exposed aluminum valve cover or exposed aluminum intake manifold, often it is better to prep and paint these rather than attempt to lubricate them, otherwise simply let them open to the air as it will self surface oxidize and probably still look decent. Anything besides Al though will probably rust so paint is usually employed in those areas. If you are washing paint and some of it comes off then the part needs repainting or some kind of anti-oxidation shell, such as POR-15 in place of the paint.
here an example of some painted parts that was "free" using wal-mart acrylic paint and crayons
Each piece of metal needs its own type of maintenance when washing. The Al intercooler plumbing was partially polished, and strut brace was extremely polished, the parts responded very well to "never-Dull" type polish and I simply left them exposed once polished because I knew I could re-polish as often as I wished in minutes, no lubrication necessary. Bolts got a bit of paint, whatever color fit usually blue. Batt terminals bulb grease. exposed metal on the ends of strut base was flaking paint so I touched those up with the walmart paints too.
Last edited by Kingtal0n; Mar 21, 2018 at 03:16 PM.
The power washing under the hood debate must go on...LOL. I use to do it on my beaters just so I would be able to see what I was working on...LOL. Never had a problem there either, but I was "barely" smart enough to know not to point it directly at any electrical connections. But even if it needed it I wouldn't power wash under the hood on my C-6 simply because it makes such a mess all over the place. Blows all the crap from in the bay and down under all over the rest of the car....yourself.....and anything else that might be within a 50 square yards......
easy peasey not a big deal. I do however cover the alternator & Fuse Box with a plastic bag. 
)
It's the same with all/most spray on spruce ups. I mean whats the train of thought...as one post seemed to suggest..."It magically makes all the grime "Disappear".....
" As I mentioned, once you start using them it seems like the place never looks the same and you have to use them from there on out which isn't necessarily a bad thing once age makes it necessary to make it look its best.
