Engine Bay on a 1990 300ZX

dandydaniel

New member
Title speaks for itself. The engine bay on the car has never been touched, and it has approximately 80,000 miles on the car. I'm doing this detail for my friend and I don't think he minds if the plastic is all glossy and what not but he just wants it clean. I was wondering if I could just dilute Simple Green (non automotive one) 8:1 with water and just put it in a spray bottle and spray it all over the engine and let it sit for a while and then rinse off. Does SG harm plastic and or metal? If it is harmful, what are the other alternatives to clean the engine bay?
 
I dont have any suggestions as I rarely do engine details, I just clean mine up by hand and some Amazing Roll Off Diluted...I would hate to see you left here with no responses before you start so I would suggest doing a quick search for "Engine Detailing" "Simple Green Engine" and see what comes up. Hopefully something comes up that helps you out, sorry I can't be of any more help :(
 
Simple Green on some metals is not good. I have a 300ZX and I would never use SG on it. I would suggest a Citrus based degreaser. The 300zx is notorious for cosmoline. Its going to be a PITA to get off. The 300zx engine bay is full of electronics. I would avoid spraying water on it directly if at all possible.
 
How do you go about cleaning your engine bay then Pat? Doing it by hand? If I do end up doing it by hand should I just spray some citrus degreaser (any OTC ones I can purchase?) diluted with water and just scrub with a brush?
 
dandydaniel said:
How do you go about cleaning your engine bay then Pat? Doing it by hand? If I do end up doing it by hand should I just spray some citrus degreaser (any OTC ones I can purchase?) diluted with water and just scrub with a brush?



On mine, I used a spray spray bottle some citrus degreaser. I used a ton of towels. I completely avoided any type of high pressure spray into the entire bay area. I can't tell you how many horror stories I have seen on the 300ZX forums from people who washed their 90+ 300ZX engine bay.



The engine bay itself is a complete PITA to work on and keep clean. Hard work and alot of effort will produce great results.



Proof hard work pays off
 
I use megs Detailer APC at 4:1 and soak averything, let sit for a few min. Then with a bucket mixed with a stron soap solution I use several brushes and old MF towels and brush and clean everything. My fav brush for this is the EZ-Detail brush I bought at Autogeek. Rinse down with a hose and reclean those things missed. Start the car and run for about 15 min. After cool dress with whatever you like.
 
zippymbr said:
I use megs Detailer APC at 4:1 and soak averything, let sit for a few min. Then with a bucket mixed with a stron soap solution I use several brushes and old MF towels and brush and clean everything. My fav brush for this is the EZ-Detail brush I bought at Autogeek. Rinse down with a hose and reclean those things missed. Start the car and run for about 15 min. After cool dress with whatever you like.





you really can't let running water into a z32 engine bay... There are alot of electrical connections all over the place in the engine bay, even in the middle of the top of the engine. Its a HUGE PITA to detail a Z32 engine bay, because you pretty much cannot use running water at all.
 
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