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need engine bay suggestions.


no1kicker

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First of all, yes I'm going to clean my engine bay. 8)

 

I've kinda overlooked it, aside from doing upgrades and maintenence. I want to start detailing it. The first thind I did obviously is paint the upper IC pipe. I have a spare set of the underhood braces I painted the same color. I'm not sure how that would look. I love the color, but I think the upper pipe standing out looks good. I'm also putting in new upper mounts that I could paint. I dunno, I just need some suggestions on what to do. I know the upper and plenum and valve covers will be polished. Maybe if I painted a few other things blue that would look good?

 

bluepipe.jpg

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Pull the assembly out and give it to me.. lots of room to work.. lol.. Nah.. GO to a do it yourself car wqash on 50 cent tuesday.. Spray the hell out of it.. Then run Eagle 1 on the aluminum parts..

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Pull the upper intake and front valve cover and get those clean and paint those strut braces blue along with the mounts, maybe a few other odds and ends. There are many different kinds of engine cleaners, most of them work best when the engine is hot. I've had success with Gunk, some go with Simple Green, I've seen some purple one I can't think of the name. That plenum will make a big difference when it's clean and shiney. Post some before and after pics when you're done.

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First thing, just take a soapy sponge to it and get whatever you can. Things like the braces and dogbones, go ahead and take them off and prep them for a quick repaint. Get some engine degreaser (I used hardcore stuff when I did mine but I'd try some Purple Power first since it's supposed to be biodegradable) and just spray your plenum, front valve cover, etc. Just a few sprays, enough to cover it all. Can always go back and get missed spots later. If you want to be really safe cover the plugs, distributor, alt, batt., and filter with some plastic (even just a trash bag) and give the degreaser a quick spray off after a few minutes. Don't spray directly at the engine, I'd recommend spraying from the side (parallel to the plenum rather than perpendicular), just enough to lightly rinse the stuff off. Then, break out the sand paper (or paint) for the silver stuff and supposedly regular armor all works good on the plastics, I haven't tried that though.

 

see my before and after pics

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I am not a fan of painted stuff. It looks horribly tacky. Just put the $0.99 Wal-Mart paint down.

 

Clean your motor......use a power washer if you have or go to the car wash......Purple Power, Simple Green, or Engine Brite all work good....soak the shit out of it.

 

Don't you ever have to work on that greasey turd? A clean motor is MUCH better.

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oh yes clean engines are bliss i used to work on this old diplomat alot it was so filthy under the hood every where i went i had 1/8' of grime to contend with no lie. i finally bought acan of gunk and soaked the piss outa it much nicer to work on now

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  • 2 weeks later...

My lebaron that I have has the 3.0 in it, :roll: , and that thing leaks oil from everywere! I swear there was oil caked onto this thing w.e you could think of! I could go down to the steering rack and you could barely see it!

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I've heard not to use Simple Green when cleaning your engine bay as it can turn your radiator hoses white. Well, not really turn them white as much as it lightens them. I've been told that the best thing to use is the orange oil based cleaners as they'll condition the rubber as well as clean it.

 

Also, there is something to be said about a greasy engine bay...less rust. When I was dropping the turbo 3.1 in my Lumina the heater core line that runs along the passenger side wheel well and across the firewall was completely rotted. And I'm not talking about from the inside out. It was rotting off the mounting tabs as all. Well, the engine bay on the Lumina was very clean in the fact that there was only dry dirt and no grease. The TGP the engine came out had least 1/8" of greasy mess all over everything. So, I dedided to replace the line while I had the engine bay open and I took the TGP one off and cleaned it all up. Well, it looked almost brand new underneath all that grease, and it was even still painted black. I do agree though that it's nice to work in a clean engine bay. :P

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Hey, at least it wasn't your car.... lol Some 16 year old girl bought it and gave me my lumina i had for trade. I wanted a differnet sort of trade but remembered how old i was.... it sucks getting older.

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Avoid using highly alkaline degreasers on aluminum parts too. It will corode the aluminum and generally make things look crappy. Stick to the orange oil or organic cleaners. GumOut makes some stuff called Steam Premium that works well, its non-alkaline and won't damage paint. Plus you don't have to scrub. Its like $2-3 at most parts stores, it comes in a black aerosol can.

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