Engine bay cleaning
Engine bay cleaning
Hi James,
An All Purpose Cleaner and some Autoglym engine & machine cleaner will do the job. Some small detailing brushes would be very handy for getting into certain areas. Depending on the design of the engine bay certain parts could be worth covering with clingfilm but if you apply common sense you rarely need to do this.
Give the bay a light soaking down to wet everything, i generally like using the pressure washer but switched off. This gives a small semi powerful jet which offeres accurate cleaning of certain areas. Spray the APC all over an area and scrub with the brushes. A bucket of hot soapy water is useful to. There is no proper shortcut to do the job well and safely, just good old elbow grease and maybe the odd scraped knuckle Use the Autoglym for more stubborn areas. Rinse everything off. It is a good idea to start the engine now to ensure all is well and clear certain areas of water. Dry any painted areas and use a light polish to restore their finish. As said above if a car is lacquered then quite often there will be minimal or no lacquer in certain areas on the car, the engine bay is one so the paint here may not come up as well. Whilst the rest of the bay is still wet, cover everything with Aerospace 303, shut the bonnet and return in a few hours. Job done
The 303 will produce much better results if left to dry naturally with the water. All you may need to do is wipe certain areas where the product has gathered.
Thank you very much! my car was stood for 6-12months before I bought it, and it really shows in the engine bay. I actually hate opening the bonnet it's so dirty.
The reason I asked about the paint, is it looks like a matt version of the outside, I thought it might be a different colour entirely. I have some rust starting on a few of the panel joints, not sure if my car has been involved in a crash at some point. But figured with it being a matt finish i would stand a good chance of touching it up.
Will give what you suggested a try asap, if you wouldn't mind could you give me a run down of products to use? Bear in mind I am on a budget.
Many thanks again.
If your on a budget just get this stuff,
Paintbrush a couple of size if pos
Tesco APC I just use there brand stuff (smells like apples)
Sponge
Water
Armorall protectant (to make the houses go back to black)
Drying towel
polish for the painted parts
Hope that helps you james.
:offtopic: are you coming down for the RSCS in lincoln its not to bad a drive down from leeds and there will be a good number to advice you further
What's Apc? Lol!
I have got some car products, but nothing for the engine bay, haven't had chance to properly clean the car in months. Going to get it into a body shop in spring, and take it from there.
Have you got a link for more details on the Lincoln show? The missis and me love car shows but haven't been able to make it to any for a while. If we are free we'll do our best to make it.
mplavery As said above it should be the same colour, though if your car has metallic paint they sometimes paint the engine bay a flat colour to save costs....
mplavery As said above it should be the same colour, though if your car has metallic paint they sometimes paint the engine bay a flat colour to save costs....