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Detailing the Engine
Engines can be tough to clean, especially todays cars with all their computer systems and hoses all over. It make's it real tough to get in there with your hands. My hands are constantly cut up from trying to get in closer!

Before your get started, cover any sensitive equipment with heavyduty aluminum foil. If you're using a pressure washer don't spray them directly, you'll might blow them right off or blow a hole in the foil!

For at-home cleaning a pressure washer may help but isn't necessarily needed, a hose will do just fine. If you can't find a heavyduty degreaser, use kerosene mixed 50/50 with water as a degreaser. With the engine warm(not hot!) apply the kerosene mix to stubborn grease deposits before you wet it down - water will dilute the mix and reduce the cleaning strength. Use a pointy brush to get any stubborn deposits off the valve covers, etc... You may want to repeat this step a couple times. Let me add that this kerosene mix can also be used to degrease door jambs, as well as a pre-soak for tar & bug removal. Nothing like high speed bug splatter on the front end of that mustang! If you get some degreaser on the paint, rinse immediately.

NOTE: I recently came across a really good cleaner/degreaser at Home Depot (a large do-it-yourself home supply store) and they had a very good citrus based degreaser called Thistle. I tried it out and it works nice. Environmentally safe as well. Costs about $14 bucks for a gallon. My original intention was to use it a concrete cleaner but found it's degreasing ability to be a big bonus - well worth it IMHO.
Once you're satisfied with the degreasing and have rinsed well, start up the motor and let it run for a while with the hood down. The heat will evaporate a lot of the water. Use your shop vac to blow off any remaining water, have a rag handy to degrease the parts you had covered earlier. Lowering the hood will help speed the evaporation process.

Now it's degreased and ready for rubber dressing. Silicone will work best here. Spray everything really well(except the belts!). You may want to apply some wax to the painted areas. If you don't want a shiny look, you can wipe the silicone down, just let it soak in for a while first. STP protectant liberally applied works well here.

Some detailers actually repaint certain parts of the motor, and then clearcoat everything, but I'm personally not in favor of this. This paint starts to flake off after a short while and anything you do to remove it later won't be enough, short of pulling everything out! The silicone leaves a new-car look. This is just my style though!

Also, some guys like to get out steel wool and brass brushes. This is usually done on motors that are for show, and these guys sometimes pull the motors before every show! It depends just how far you want to go ...

Posted in car detailing