Cleaning Your Engine.




Stuff you'll need:

1. Simple Green or some other degreaser

2. Liquid Dish Soap

3. Sponge or wash mitt

4. Bucket

5. Old tooth brush

6. 3 small plastic bags

7. Masking tape

8. Hose/water/high pressure nozzle

9. Towel or air compressor with air nozzle (for drying)



Steps:

1. Wait till engine is cool and then wrap your filter (if you have an air intake) with a plastic bag. Also wrap your distributor with a plastic bag. If you have an MSD or other external ignition device, cover that too.



2. Pull spark plug wires and use masking tape to cover the spark plug holes. This will prevent water from getting down near the spark plugs and rusting them out.



3. Now pre-rinse your engine with a light spray of water (you should have put your car in a shaded area if possible to avoid water spots).



4. Take the degreaser and spray it on the "nasty" areas. Try to stay away from belts and rubber parts. Also, if you have polished parts, try to keep it off of those. Let it soak for about 5 minutes.



5. Agitate the real "nasty" areas with built up grease with the old tooth brush. It shouldn't be hard after the degreaser has had time to do it's job.



6. Put some liquid dish soap in a bucket and add water. I personally like "JOY". Anyway, use the sponge or wash mitt and run it over your underhood and anything you can get to. Once again, stay away from the belts.



7. Now use the hose with a high pressure rinse to remove all of the degreaser and soap (along with all of the grease, dirt and grime). It's a good idea to spray your fenders and surrounding area as well in case any degreaser or dish soap got on the outer paint.



8. Get a towel to dry out your engine bay and under hood. If you have access to an air compressor with air nozzle, that works great to blow the water off of the engine. No towel necessary.



9. Remove all of the plastic bags/masking tape and reinstall your spark plug wires.



10. Now at this point, you can use some 2001 or other vinyl protectant to plastic parts and Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish for the polished parts. If you are real eccentric, get some paint polish and do the underside of your hood and shock towers.



That's it. It's really simple and if done once every couple months, will be easier every time you do it. Best of luck and if you have any questions, just let me know. Later.