cleaning engine bay

DUBLINHITMAN

i start of by covering the electrics in the engine bay with cling film
then spay meguires apc (all purpose cleaner) on the grime
any all purpose cleaner will do the trick
agitate dirty area's with a short bristle brush then rinse with water from a watering can or hose on low pressure ,dont use a power washer imho
then coat your black plastic in a product of your choice
i personally use 303 aerospace protectant for plastics around the engine bay
and blue-b-gone metal polish for any chrome or alu
BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Hal1

Nice job there, it makes such a difference everything stands out. Do you clean the underside of the bonnet? and are those motors both your own or are you offering a service?

Cookie_Monster

It's threads like this that convince me I'm not a true motorhead.

A quick brush round to remove the dust is all I bother with.

Fair play OP:)

lafors

I did mine a couple of days ago, I used Autoglym Engine Cleaner which I wasn't too impressed with. Can't find any Megiurs APC in any shops.
Need to get myself some Aero303 too.

Before:


After:

Beta Ray Bill

Nice Clean Engine bay on your IX OP

That's my next car! hehehe!

Mr.David

No way I would ever be arsed cleaning black plastic in the engine bay.

Until I have 12 chrome plated trumpets staring up at me that is....:D

ianobrien

I was going to clean the engine bay of my car over the weekend......

Instead I decided to change the coolant & gearbox oil. They'll be better for the car than a clean piece of plastic.

They were changed for preventative maintenance, as they have been in the car for two years now, so were due a change

Saab Ed

Mr.David wrote: »

No way I would ever be arsed cleaning black plastic in the engine bay.

Im of the same opinion ( really sorry OP ..great job ) I'd do it if it look like this though...

Gary ITR

I love a clean engine bay.

I have my engine and gearbox coming out over the next few days, well they are mostly out already and I'll be giving the bay a really good going over.

Changing fluids is something I would be doing anyway

cpoh1

ianobrien wrote: »

I was going to clean the engine bay of my car over the weekend......

Instead I decided to change the coolant & gearbox oil. They'll be better for the car than a clean piece of plastic.

They were changed for preventative maintenance, as they have been in the car for two years now, so were due a change

Why not do both? Are you insinuating that the op ignores maintenance for the sake of aesthetics?

I change my gearoil, brakefluid and coolant every 12 months, in the skyline the diff and gear oil gets done every 3k mile service.

Im going to go at the engine bay hammer and tongs cleaning it this weekend though

DUBLINHITMAN

ianobrien wrote: »

I was going to clean the engine bay of my car over the weekend......

Instead I decided to change the coolant & gearbox oil. They'll be better for the car than a clean piece of plastic.

They were changed for preventative maintenance, as they have been in the car for two years now, so were due a change

well i spend a small fortune on servicing the evo and thats not from mitsubishi either, from a guy that alot of evo owners know.
even mitsubishi bring evo;s to this guy
and the fact that it is the car it is people do tend to ask to see under the bonnet weather its plastic or chrome because its 300 odd bhp people genuinely want to look at it ,.

i understand about the audi a3 ,tonnes of plastic but it looks good when some one that wants to buy the car have a look under the bonnet.
truth be told there is an awful lot of people that will just look at a car and see how clean it is ,inside and out and probably buy the car because its so well looked after ,
its a vicious circle when it comes to havin a clean car when selling it people always think there's somethin up
like did it get a new engine
was it resprayed
NO it was just well maintained would you like me to drive it through a field to look like the rest of the cars you looked at lol

god i do rant

Mr.David

DUBLINHITMAN wrote: »

i understand about the audi a3 ,tonnes of plastic but it looks good when some one that wants to buy the car have a look under the bonnet.

Personally I'm always a bit wary when looking to buy used cars with spotless engine bays - of course it can mean the owner just took great care but at the same time a dirty engine bay allows you to see marks from leaks etc etc and you know that nothing is being hidden/washed away.

Good job though OP!

Owen

And having the contrast jacked up on the after photos helps too - check out the shade of blue in before an after

Good work though OP, engine bay cleaning is something we all forget to do, but it's worth it.

cpoh1

PaintDoctor wrote: »

And having the contrast jacked up on the after photos helps too - check out the shade of blue in before an after

Its not that, the pictures were taken on totally different days or months even, check out the manifold heat shield, they're different. Light, time of day, different cameras all play a part. I doubt it was that cynical to be honest.

DUBLINHITMAN

the heat shield standard is black that the same day i cleaned the engine bay i started to rub the black paint on the heat shiels and it started to chrome up ,
also i used a 5megapixel sony ericson c902 mobile phone
as for jacking up contrast your way of the mark there

before any car is detailed pics are taken of all the car so maybe it looks like editing its not
its because its been through a snow foam /clay/polish /glaze/wax/sealent
hence the contrast looks JACKED UP


yes this was done the same day but probably 2 hours between shots
people come on here all the time looking for advice on engine bay cleaning advice there it is ,
my work speaks for itself and word of mouth goes along way
thanks for looking

[URL="[IMG]http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu146/DUBLINHITMAN/mylatestpics086.jpg[/IMG]"][/URL]

congo_90

Fair play dublinhitman,
They look the business! seems your a dab handy with a cloth lol

Mods maybe to sticky this? I've requested such things before when there was a how-to-service your car thread a few months back

DUBLINHITMAN

thanks congo
dap hand is right i take pride in my work and it speaks for itself

Gary ITR

congo_90 wrote: »

I've requested such things before when there was a how-to-service your car thread a few months back

And it is linked in the main sticky. If we start sticky'ing every guide thread it'll be the disaster it was a couple of years ago with stickies taking up half the front page