Engine Detailing

[crc1]

One of my customers has asked me about "maintenence detailing" on the engines of his car collection. This does not require any degreasing or pressure washing, just keeping the visible engine components looking their best on already relatively clean engines. I'm looking for advice on the right products and procedures to use on probably rubber, plastic, metal etc found under the hood.

 

[Accumulator]

Once things are clean in there, it's pretty easy to keep 'em that way. I do most of the painted body panels (underside of the hood, firewall, inner fenders) with BHBs and shampoo mix; not much rinsing is required and I use leaves-stuff-behind QDs when drying. This will work a lot better if you polish/LSP these areas first if they aren't already done that way.



Other engine components and underhood stuff will often stay nice with just a wiping off using QD. You can redo the dressing/whatever on rubber stuff as needed. I often use LSP-based approaches on plastics and I'll LSP some of the metal bits that others just use metal polish on (LSPs seem to last longer for me).



Once I've done the "big cleanup", I don't spend all *that* long on my engine compartments. But I do them at every wash and it takes a long, *LONG* time before I need to completely redo them. They're not always what *I* would call concours, but they're never so bad that I couldn't enter them and not feel embarassed...and that's on daily drivers



And all the above applies to undercarriages too. Once they're nice it's easy to keep 'em that way if you never let them get all that bad again.

 

[gben]

Accumulator I was wondering how much if any you use your steam cleaner on either the engine or undercarriage?

 

[Accumulator]

Accumulator I was wondering how much if any you use your steam cleaner on either the engine or undercarriage?

I usually only use/need it for the initial cleanup of previously-owned vehicles. I never let things get so bad that I need to use it again (primary maintenance use is for interiors, most often just cleaning the pedals quickly). Even though I'm always saying how I let my vehicles go until they *really* need washing, they just never get so bad that they don't clean up really well without any extreme measures.



But when doing that initial cleanup, oh yeah...the steamer, used in conjunction with degreasers/APCs/etc. can really cut the crud. And the condensed water never amounts to all that much so things don't get too awful wet either.



Gotta be careful on vehicles with wax-based undercoating (the stuff that's usually *incorrectly* referred to as "cosmoline") though as the heat can compromise it if you're not *VERY* careful and you *will* mess it up the first few times you try that (and probably even a few more times once you know what you're doing).

 

[David Fermani]

If you're doing regular maintenance on these vehicles, just hand wash the engine companents just like the rest of the car. Avoid using a protectant because they tend to capture dirt and promote premature resoiling.

 

[akimel]

When I do an ONR wash, I will often conclude by wiping down the engine hoses and parts. The ONR solution seems to work well for this purpose.

 

[Accumulator]

If you're doing regular maintenance on these vehicles, just hand wash the engine companents just like the rest of the car. Avoid using a protectant because they tend to capture dirt and promote premature resoiling.

I generally agree, and hardly ever dress stuff...though Wurth Rubber Care, 303, and AutoGlym Bumper Care are pretty OK with regard to dirt retention as long as you buff away any excess.