Best way to detail the engine?

[drewt1047]

I wanted to power spray the engine compartment. What precautions should I take? What is the best way to do this without harming anything?

[Keller]

Don't. :nono:

Spraying the MAF is almost guaranteeing failure. Other electronic bits are not really receptive to a bath, either.

[drewt1047]

So what is the best way to get rid of all the dirt and grease that have accumalated over the years. I want to open the hood of my car and be proud of all my hard work. Trust me it is dirty under there. Is there a way?

[Keller]

It is easiest to simply not have it dirty to begin with, of course. But now that these cars are 22+ years old, the likelyhood of having a motor that is sparkling clean on a driven car is pretty close to nil. Short of removing it and rebuilding it, that isn't going to happen.

The key is keeping the electronics dry. They really aren't designed for water immersion. While they do have connectors that resist water, they don't take well to direct spray.

I've never done an all-out detail on a TR compartment. If I were going to, would probably remove a lot of the bolt-on electrics, cover/wrap any holes, do any power-washing/cleaning, let it dry, touch up the engine paint, spray dirty electric items with electrical contact cleaner or MAF cleaner as required, reassemble, lightly treat hoses with a rubber protectant (but not enough to saturate and fly off on to belts and electronics), and pretty much call it a day.

Keep in mind that steam cleaning tends to dry out gaskets, and power washing has a way of getting into places you don't want it to.

The easiest way to keep a car sparkling clean is never drive it.

I'd like to hear from anyone that has other suggestions.

[drewt1047]

I will follow your steps. Have done it with other cars before but there is alway more to learn about TR's. Thanks

[Ts86ttype]

Scott is Very right on the water intrusion from pressure washers and steam cleaners. In the beginning with my car I used lots of simple green and some citris orange degreaser. I only used a garden hose and just keep rinsing and plowing off the dirt and grease with compressed air. Always not spraying directly at the electrical connections... After that I started taking parts of and just manually cleaning them on the bench, and repainting them before install. Now if you REALLY want to get serious, pull the motor and do it up right... Tom G.

[PhillyTurboSix]

One word, Powder coating. It's actually VERY simple to have your engine bay look like my after pics. Takes sometime and a little bit of money but if you powder coat it, it will last a long time and look good. I take some detail spray and mist the engine down and just wipe it off with a microfiber towel and it all looks new all over again once it's powder coated. Here is what my engine bay looked like a few months ago....


Before...

http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/25813-2/IMG_1784.JPG
http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/25835-2/IMG_1791.JPG
http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/25820-2/IMG_1786.JPG

And I never took the engine out of the car...

http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/26250-2/2-16-09-86GN+017.JPG

[PhillyTurboSix]

Intake before...

http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/26295-2/2-16-09-86GN+032.JPG

and after powder coating it...

http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/27010-2/IMG_2083.JPG

Ceramic coated the headers, cross pipe, down pipe, up pipe, elbow, and sheild...

http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/27058-2/IMG_2099.JPG

You can spray paint somethings. Just take some super clean or simple green keep soaking the part down and wiping it off with some paper towel. Keep in mind my garage is wall to wall tan carpet and I didn't get ANYTHING on it. You just have to take your time and be neat about things.

[PhillyTurboSix]

I even powder coated ALL the intake nuts and bolts.

http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/27593-2/IMG_2158.JPG

I wanted the stock turbo to look it's best. Some high heat paint and I took the inlet to my local polish shop and he made it look like new again..

Turbo before...

http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/27740-2/IMG_2213.JPG

and turbo after...

http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/27989-2/IMG_2262.JPG
http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/27977-2/IMG_2252_001.JPG

[PhillyTurboSix]

And all back together...

http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/27992-2/IMG_2273.JPG
http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/28001-2/IMG_2277.JPG
http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/28028-2/IMG_2287.JPG
http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/28016-2/IMG_2283.JPG

[PhillyTurboSix]

http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/28016-2/IMG_2283.JPG
http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/28031-2/IMG_2289.JPG
http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/28022-2/IMG_2285.JPG
http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/28034-2/IMG_2290.JPG

[PhillyTurboSix]

The nice part about doing it this way is you can replace every sensor, switch, hose, and wire with nos new stuff. I also did things like new plugs, plug wires, belt, and everything else that wears out on a 20 year old car. Here is a few shots outside...

http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/28158-2/IMG_2767.JPG
http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/28161-2/IMG_2770.JPG
http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/28164-2/IMG_2772.JPG


And the car it's all in!

http://turbobuicks.net/gallery2/d/28179-2/IMG_2788.JPG

[PhillyTurboSix]

The only updates are I changed out the coolant overflow bottle with a new one. Sometimes when using spray paint on the block you might get a little inside and it always winds up in the overflow bottle. I also cleaned up the power master. The previous owner took the vac brakes off and put the power master back on the car but didn't think to clean it when he put it back on the car. I just bought this car last September. This was my winter project. It don't take long just some time, patience, and be creativity. Lots of rags, paper towels, and painters tape helps too!

[Ts86ttype]

Very NICE... Tom G.

[Keller]

Nice indeed.

Of course, if one were going to paint the block, it would be important to mask everything else off well. Unless removing it from the car. Another note: NOS things are getting very hard to find. They may be unobtainable, expen$ive, or just not really what the typical high school student needs for a driver.

Of course, there are always one or two parts that nothing else quite seems right otherwise...

[pwrsix]

That looks awesome. The turbo is sweet! Did you do all of the powder coating yourself and how long did the whole process take?

[PaCemkr86]

nice job !!

[turbopowered68]

PhillyTurboSix- that looks great dude.



I have sprayed my engine compartment with Gunk let it sit for a few minutes then put the hose on if full blast. I guess I was lucky that nothing went bad.

[PhillyTurboSix]

Thanks for the compliments guys! I have a local guy who does powder coating so I take it all to him. I drop it off and pick it up a week later. He's fast, good, and very reasonable! Very hard to find these days! I started picking at this project in December and finished up in March. I have a climate controlled garage and it stays around 65 in there all winter long so it makes it real easy to get a project done when you can pick at it here and there.

Keller: you would be surprised how easy it is to acquire NOS parts for these cars. They are all over and hiding everywhere. I didn't have one problem finding ANY of the sensors NOS. I needed new feed and return fuel lines. Last owner hacked them off. Those were the only things I could not find NOS but a quick post on the boards and some searching and I found a mint set off a low mile GN. You would be surprised how many people list NOS GM parts on ebay just by the part number and they don't have a clue what it's for! :brows: