Polish That Engine

When I bought my 308 it was obvious the previous owners didn't know how to clean or detail the engine bay, or just didn't care. Upon purchase there were dark stains from gasoline and oil as well as a layer of dirt on everything.

As customary with every car I buy I put it on jack stands two feet off of the floor. I pulled the plug wires and blocked off the Spark plug wells with black rubber corks purchased at the hardware store. Bagged the plug wires and caps in plastic. Tape off the tops of the carbs with duct tape. Here is how it went from here.

1.Spray down the engine bay, engine, transaxle and rear hubs with Simple Green and let it soak overnight.

2.Spray off the Simple Green with a pressure washer or high powered spray, (as required).

3. Blow dry with compressed air.

4. Spray down the 'Rough Cast' aluminum with NAPA brand Aluminum Brightener, part number 765-1458. For use on all machine finished, open pore cast aluminum.. WEAR EYE PROTECTION AND A RESPIRATOR! The active ingredients are Hydrofluoric Acid and Suluric Acid. Follow the instructions. It sizzles when applied! DO NOT spray on polished aluminum like the timing covers. I sprayed the carbs down and it didn't seen to matter.

5. Hand scrub with brass bristle brushes as required to remove stains and corrosion.

6. Rinse with hot water and blow dry. Be sure to flush behind the timing covers to remove any particle matter from the belts and sprockets.
NOTE; I removed the rear timing cover to inspect cleanliness after flushing and all was well.

7. Repeat steps 4, 5, and 6 as required.

8. Buff the cam covers and any other accessible areas with a rotary wire wheel to bring up the shine. Use light pressure and control the direction to achieve consistency in the shine. You can use a drill motor and assortment of wire wheel buffers.

9. Wipe down and scrub everything with lacquer thinner, a clean wire brush and a rag.

10. Blow down with air.

11. Spray with high heat clear. Use Diamond Clear from Eastwood Restoration. It's good to 300 degrees. No Yellowing or cracking.

12. I also did the bottom of the engine, CV joints, rear spindle housings and the rear heat shield. There has been no deterioration in 2000 miles.

It's alot of work but clean up only requires a light misting and blow down before a drive or a show.
P.S. For the timing covers I used Mothers Mag Polish Cream.

DJ

JRV, I hope you didn't mind my throwing this in your technical section without clearing with you first. If you wish, I will do so in the future.
DJ

Guys,

JRV, just found your site. Great to see you around. Oldslow308, stupendous info for cleaning, worth keeping. Thanks for your contributions.

CTK

Be careful using high pressure on an engine! Don't want to force water where it shouldn't go...and you can damage certain things depending on the force of the spray.

I always baged my distributor before using any water on an engine.

Just my .02

James

WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING

It has been brought to my attention by numerous sources that application of Simple Green to aluminum alloys is harmful to the finish of the alloy. Examples given included alloy wheels.

I personally have not had the experiences exchanged in the following link. I believe the reason for this is because I was using the Simple Green on aluminum alloys that were DIRTY, OILY AND CORRODED to begin with. I was also using the Simple Green on 'open pore' castings (NON-POLISHED). This may be the difference.See the link below,

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5074

Thanks to the input and advice of other Fcar owners I am hoping that nobody out there has had any bad results cleaning their engines using the method I have described.

My last thoughts on this is, find a part or hidden place on your car to try this method on. If you like the results, great, if not then hopefully there was no real harm done.

DJ

James, Please see the second paragraph in the write up.