Extreme Degreasing!

[R6MGS]

Since the Camaro has been retired from service as a daily driver after 21 years of faithful service I wanna clean it up a little...My first goal is to get the engine compartment to look as nice as the rest of the car....
Heres the tricky part; the car(including most of the engine compartment) has been oil sprayed at least once a year since new....That oil is probably what saved the thing from rusting in all those winters, but now that it won't see anymore winter it's time for her to wash up.
I've rubbed the oil in the engine comaprtment away in a few test spots and the paint under all that crud is beautiful!! So now my question is whats the best way to remove a nice thick coating of oil and grease???I've used the ole varsol and toothbrush method on other cars but this is a pretty big area compared to an MG, and theres ALOT more grease! I was wondering if one of those steam cleaners would do any good?? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hammer.gif

 

[DrEntropy]

"Steam" may be a bit too extreme. A few cans of spray "Gunk" and a wand type car wash should be adequate without causing too much of a "storm". Wiring, alternator, dizzy etc. would be good things to cover tho, to keep as little of the residue from intruding into them as possible.

 

[jaybird]

Plastic wrap all your electrical bits and duct tape them up good first. Spray her down with Gunk or Simple Green Professional Strength, let it sit, then power wash her at your local carwash. Those 'degreaser' hand wipes (dahubby has gallon buckets of them) work WONDERS! I found out by accident.

At least that's the route I'm going with Emma. Except I'll have to tow her down I think because she'll be fairly gutted!

 

[R6MGS]

I have a power washer, but I think steam would be less hurtful?? that gunk stuff sounds like a good idea...this will really put it to the test....I wish I had a pic becasue this has to be the mother of all greasy engine compartments.....Whenever I do get around to tackleing this(sometime this summer) I'll post a few before and after pics.

 

[jaybird]

Bet you I can beat ya with the nasty engine compartment!

 

[Steve_S]

I love Simple Green Automotive. Keep things damp and let it soak in without drying. The pressure washer should work wonders with hot water in it but I'd be careful around anything electronic or anything that sucks air into the engine! If I can get away with it I prefer to use a variety of nylon bristle kitchen brushes, Simple Green and water at low pressure.

 

[DrEntropy]

Agreed. Steam tends to be brutal: lifts paint, blows gritty dust/dirt INTO porous things... pressure washer and a chemical agent like those mentioned are the least "intrusive" effective method.

 

[Mark Jones]

This fall I pulled the engine from my B and used Castrol's Super Clean (purple jug) and a pressure washer. The Super Clean and pressure washer did a fantastic job cleaning the grease off the paint. I tried using Simple Green, but it didn't work as well.

 

[R6MGS]

Thanks for the advice guys(and gals)...I'll give it a try in the summer and see what happens....I'll remember to take a before pic for ya JB /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Bruce Bowker]

Gunk or similar. Sometimes a simple garden hose is enough as opposed to a pressure washer which can push things where you don't want them. Of course having the engine compartment and engine quite warm helps.

Bruce

 

[R6MGS]

Yeah, I think I am gunna use gunk or similar(simple green, castrol etc.) with a regular garden hose....I can't see myself spraying the thing with a power washer.....I'll then wax the compartment the best I can without removing anything.

 

[Bruce Bowker]

May have to do some areas twice but I still think it is cleaner than a power washer. Or use a power washer at a car wash where they can clean the mess left behind. I have yet to not be able to get rid of thick grease with just gunk and a hose and maybe a wooden scraper to help get it started.

I took off 6 feet thick of grease from wire wheels. May be what protected them. Didn't realize they were chrome until a few layers deep. Thought they were NY City blecky black!!

Bruce

 

[philman]

I used the castrol degreaser and a pressure washer on wife's mustang. but, I'm rebuilding the engine and front end so the engine bay was mostly clear.

 

[Lynn Kirkpatrick]

So what works well for cleaning engine parts? Back in the dark ages we used to use gasoline when we live in the boonies and no one knew we had an environment. Now I'm rebuilding a "B" motor (not on the kitchen table, but in the garage) and I don't want to set off the furnace with fumes.

I just tried the Purple Power from Autozone. It doesn't clean all that great, you have to rinse the suds off with water (so your parts are setting there with water and I had to spray them with WD40 to get rid of the water), but it smells nice (at least I thought so until I got "the look from you know who". The next time I'll light a dozen of the gaggy floral candles to mask the stench.) And cleanup is a pain,It stained someone's favorite plastic pail (off to Walmart).

So what is out there that works and isn't going to get me in trouble with Homeland Security?

 

[DrEntropy]

Quite a conundrum. Are we talkin' the nasty external, baked on, years-of-leaks and neglect type cleaning, or internal bits? Whichever it is, you're gonna need big drip pans, preferrably made of some material NOT susceptible to melting down in petrochem contact first. Then containers to pour off the sludge "mess" so's you can take it to the nearest "free recycle dump" and claim you just changed oil in your "you know who"s diesel Mercedes... and hope they just point to the appropriate receptacle... You COULD try a two step process: Marvel Mystery Oil to loosen/melt the really grotty "big stuff" with a "wheel brush" (long wooden handle, deep bristles in an approximate 4" square) for the initial scrubdown. The oil is flammable, but not nearly as volatile as some other things you could get. There's also Gunk in a gallon can (non aerosol) but I believe the volatility would be more at issue. The innocuous "soapy stuff" would then clean off the oil and remaining crud.

I really think I'd beg/borrow/steal SOME way to get it out-of-doors and with said catch-pans, brush, a small (1") throwaway paintbrush and a gallon of Gunk, gallon of mineral spirits and go at it hammer-n-tongs...

Now I'm anxious to hear from others as to how they'd deal with this!

Good luck! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

 

[Steve_S]

Brake cleaner for parts that are still on the car. A big solvent tank full of cleaner for the nasty off-car stuff. The nice thing about the tank is that the cleaner recirculates and is filtered so you don't waste so much.

 

[Nunyas]

gunk is the 'ole stand-by for heavy degreasing... I've recently tried out some of that "orange" engine degreaser stuff... has a distinct orange/citrus smell to it. As I recall, it did a good job of degreasing what I wanted to work on. Of course mineral spirits for those parts that aren't on the car always works wonders too. It even did a respectable job of cleaning up the drip pan that had years and years of oil dripped on it (it came with my car)... heh