engine and drivetrain Engine compartment is going to be cleaned....how and with wh

[Guest Anonymous]

Are there any special things that should be used? What kinds of chemicals should I avoid, and are there any tricks.

TIA

02Mike

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(o=00=o)

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[Guest Anonymous]

are you trying to do, just clean it up so it looks a little nicer? If you want to do a really nice job, you would want to remove some of the various fittings and parts so you can touch up any rust spots. If you get your engine bay steam cleaned, you could get the area around the tranny tunnel cleaned at the same time.

Gil

72 Tii

[Guest Anonymous]

There is no engine and everything has been taken out of the engine bay...I am going to get the tranny out some time...

I have basically started with a rag to get all the grease and stuff off, but there is mastic and some other kind of rubber sealant crap that is really hard to get off.....see I was thinking of like engine degreaser and a space heater to get it plyable and then squeegee it off and then use like carb cleaner or something similar.

The 74 Polaris is undergoing a nice refreshening, and paint....but NOT cmplete groundup restoration....I have neither the time or the place to do it.

Thanks for the input Gil

Mike (originally from Kitchener, ON)

[Guest Anonymous]

I too would love to have a go at steam cleaning. All the same you might want to carry out something like this:

1. Pay a visit to a car wash that has a degreaser option of an especially high concentration. Be certain to cover vulnerable electrics with aluminum foil or you'll likely have difficulty restarting your '02. While tedious, flip the switch back and forth between high pressure rinse and the trickle-forth degreaser. With luck you'll capture a quantity of degreaser in the lines when the high pressure blast kicks in. Maintain a fair distance from your work while spraying at high pressure; if the car has been repainted you'd not wish to tempt fate and strip off paint. Ditto for original underhood decals. Wear disposable clothing and have something handy to cover the seat on the way home because this really creates a mess! An early morning visit when lines are short or non-existent really is best and for maybe $4 you'll have a good start.

2. Return home and after all is dry make a deliberate inspection of the front subframe, cylinder head, block and firewall and with a toothbrush scrub oil deposits loose. Again, a mess of biblical dimensions will be created. Trying to remove the same without a high-pressure blast of water is probably a waste of time - just concentrate on loosening as much crude as reason will allow.

3. Repeat step 1. Again wear grubby clothing and try not to be seen by friends and relatives!

4. Finally, use Simple Green as others have advised, and also contemplate purchasing a can of 3M General Purpose Adhesive Remover which is really terrific stuff for cleaning underhood. Disassembly of systems for a more thorough clean and rust preventative measures are of course options.

My limited experience with aerosol can underhood degreasers hasn't been positive, as I had problems with paint staining. Only eco-unfriendly Acetone cleaned up the damage. Good luck. Are you up for anything on 20 02 2002?

Mike Kotwick

'74 Malaga

[Guest Anonymous]

than the green and smells better.