want to detail whole car, what do i use to clean the engine
 

Ok my car is in pretty bad shape in the interior, and the engine bay which has alot of sand baked into it from the high speed driving and high heat. I also need stuff to buff out the scratches in the plastic interior.


any help will be appreiated

You can use Novus to buff out the scratches on the interior plastic.

I use simple green to clean my engine bay. Let it sit for 5 minutes to breakdown the dirt and agitate some of the stuborn stains and rinse with a stiff flowing water. I suggest using one of those high pressure water on the coin operated car wash. Follow it up with a engine detailer called CD2 that can usually be found in any auto parts store.

can you wet everything under the hood cuz arent there electrical parts?

i found that Wd40 does wonders. i sprayed it waited 10 min wipped it off, it looks like i just bought it

Simple Green or Greased Lightning works well - just spray on - wipe off... if you want you can put some Armoral on there to make it shine.

that novus stuff, what type of plastic is it good for? what I mean, does it have the same effect on the smooth shiny plastic on the center console as it does on the door sills?

Cleaning the engine bay
 

OK guys this is basic info. I learned when putting my cars in shows. First of all avoid armor all at all costs, also WD40. WD40 is an oil. It might make it look clean and seem like it's removing dirt but it really doesn't compared to how much it will attract in the long run. Armor will dry out your rubber if you don't constantly keep it on there, and yes it does also attract more dirt. Simple green is ok for removing the sirt if you want to just have it look real decent. There's alot of auto shops that clean engine bays using a special solution and steam but that's not free. so you could stick with the simple green. The CD2 does work wonders, just avoid electrical wires and connectors. Also Maguires has that trim detailer which is proven not to collect dust. Its works great for the final touches like rubber hoses and plastic that might have gotten dull from the simple green. :D

I've gone to two shows now and was surprised to hear how well I did cleaning my engine. A couple of the detailing guys I talked to were impressed a rookie was able to clean it that well.

I sprayed the engine down with orange clean and after five minutes I used the pressure washerat the self-serve car wash (set to low) to clean it off. Yes, I taped / aluminium foiled stuff first.

I then spent a good 15 minutes hitting as much as I could with a terry cloth. When talking to a detail guy, he assured me that orange clean (or any other citrus product) was the perfect thing to use near electrical components / insulation as it is non-corrosive. Though the products he uses are incredibly more concentrated than orange clean.

I also used the maguires trim detailer on the hoses after I was done removing the dirt/grease. I'll post a pic when I get a nice sunny day away from work.

I think that when I install my new pulley set, I'll do an even deeper clean. We'll see.

What exactly should be covered in the engine before cleaning? Also, i have heard scrubbing bubbles does a good job. Anyone else?

isn't citrus a low-level acid? hehe how can it be non-corosive...or am i missing something. sorry newbie on the cleaning market here...i go tto get aroudn to cleaning my engine (it's never been cleaned) and it' s got about 5 pounds of sand from teh recent snow we've been having on the east coast:(....so thanks for all the tips so far guys :D

Not sure if I'd use scrubbing bubbles as it's meant for tile and might be a bit harsh on engine parts especially hoses. For taping things off, I just make sure that everything with a connector (sensors and what-not) are sealed. Since it's a closed airbox and no distributer cap we don't have to worry about that.

I used "non-corrosive" as opposed to something with a higher concentration / high-acidity. Imagine cleaning with H2SO4? :D Yaay, no more engine to clean...

I meant "non-corrosive" as being safe to use on the plastic hoses but still tough on grease. Damn, I sound like a commercial. I usually finish off the cleaning with a bit of dressing like Meguires Vinyl/Interior Polish. This way I wipe down all of the hoses to make sure no cleaning residue is still on them, and give then a nice sheen before show time. I haven't heard anything about it being bad for the hoses, and I've seen it recommended in a couple of places so I'm not too worried about it.

Hope this helps. Hopefully a more experienced detailer can step in and say if I'm doing this right. I got these steps out of a book, I'll have to find the title for you all. But the great thing about this book was that it was written in plain english like the guy is talking to you. Really easy to understand and great pictures to illustrate the point of some tricky steps.

Eclps: I don't know if you still need information on this topic, but I came across an article on-point while I was surfing around. Hope this helps or adds to the informative suggestions already given: http://www.carcareonline.com/viewarticle.aspx?art=4

Simple green is corrosive. While I was in the army we used it to clean our helicopters. That is until it was discovered it was causing excessive corrosion throughout the aircraft. After that they released a safety of flight banning the use of simple green on all military aircraft. I personally would not use it on my car. I used to know the specific chemical that made it so bad, I will see if I can find it again.

^^ What he said ^^. I've seen simple green discolor paint/grout and have used it as a wax stripper when buffing floors. :eek: We don't use it on our (Navy) planes either.

But I bet that if you dillute the simple green half/half with water it would be OK, maybe 70% water? You would only have to use it occasionaly or for your first major deep clean. If you regularly (like every few weeks) use the citrus cleaners, you shouldn't need to use simple green at all. You should just have to do a quick clean and gloss before a show/meet without too much effort.


Yeah, join the Navy become a buffer technician. Everyone gets that qual. :D