SkyStang06

Hey everyone,

From the outside, my car is clean and detailed, but once you open up the hood its not a very pretty sight. I plan on installing an intake soon, and I want the engine to be as clean as possible. Anyone have any ideas on how i can polish underneath the hood, what should I use?

Thanks!

mstngsule68

make sure you be careful of electrical components. unless you wanna see one nice big firecracker lol

SkyStang06

[QUOTE=mstngsule68;6981944]make sure you be careful of electrical components. unless you wanna see one nice big firecracker lol[/QUOT

lol yea, that wouldn't be too good....any ideas on what i used to clean it up?

LIKESITRIGHT

when i clean mine , start with a warm motor, not hot. i cover my air filter,alternator with plastic bags. spray an engine degreaser on all the nasty areas and lower the hood for about 5 to 10 minutes, to let the degreaser work. then hose off with water , i use compressed air to help dry and blow water away. once dry i use f 21 turtle wax wheel shine on the entire motor, hoses etc. let stand for a few minutes and wipe up extra foam. makes all the plastic and rubber look real good!! hope this helps!!

SkyStang06

help appreciated! thanks

what are the parts i should make sure to cover?

JimC

I cover the air filter and fuse box with plastic bags and spray it down about every 6 weeks or so. Haven't had any problems at all.

Nuke

I find it hard to believe that any of these S197's are bad enough to require pressure washing or hosing off with degreaser. I typically wipe the engine bay down with rags after I wash the car and then detail from there. After 33,000 miles mine looks almost like it came off the lot.

05 Mustang

+1^^

I just wipe mine down with a rag after each wash...and sometimes in-between if I've been at shows with my hood up

TEXASGT/CS

+2^^^, I have found that swiffers work real good for the tight areas, the trick is to keep it relatively clean so you dont have to do any major cleaning, I wipe mine down after each car wash and after driving it in the rain.

night7519

My car is my daily driver and during the winter months, the engine bay does get pretty dirty. Each spring I typically wash most of the engine with the same soap and water I use to wash the exterior. Then I hose the engine bay down to get the stuff I can't get with my rag but am careful around the air filter and alternator. I think use my air compressor to blow out as much water as possible.
After blowing out as much water as I can, I usually let the car sit overnight to let it dry out more. The following day, I use Mequiars Hyper dressing and spray everything I can reach with a "misting" of this product. This is a water based dressing and based on the product/water ratio you have some control over how glossiness of the finished result.
Then back to the air compressor and use the air to "move" the dressing around to get even coverage. I then wipe off all the painted parts and any billet/chrome parts under the hood.
Final step is to polish any billet/chrome parts and I usually do a final wipe down of the painted parts with Turtle Wax Ice spray detailer.

After the initial Spring wash down, I typically don't hose it off again unless it gets real dirty. That doesn't happen during the car show season as it's getting wiped down and/or redressed pretty much weekly.

Hope this helps.

-Jim

Here's some pics of the results: