Detailing underbody and engine compartment

[Chad E.]

Anyone in Phoenix, AZ (or more specifically Chandler) know of a good place that can clean out 40 yrs of dirt, grease, and grime from underneath a 71 vette and clean up the engine compartment and components?

[Patrick H.]

Re: Detailing underbody and engine compartment

Not a hard job to do yourself - just very dirty.

I placed the orange 72 on the lift, then placed a large shallow metal tub with kerosene on a drip tray. Using a "parts washer" brush I relatively easily removed 40 years of grease, grime and dirt. I followed it up with brake cleaner for final degrease. I can show you before and after pics if you wish.

Or, you pay someone $$ and they'll probably powerwash it, removing all your decals and stuff in the process.

You can do this on your garage floor if you place 4-6 jackstands under the car to keep it off the ground.

Patrick

[Randall K.]

Re: Detailing underbody and engine compartment

I would have started with a strong solution of Simple Green or other cleaner (a lot of the "orange" ones seem to deal with grease fairily well).

I would have never considered kerosene or brake cleaner out of fear of blackout removal. I guess these are OK??

Thanks
Randy

[Paul O.]

Re: Detailing underbody and engine compartment

Another product to consider is GO-JO hand cleaner in the cream form just smear it on grease and oils will just start to drip off. After all the heavy grease is gone I then go to simple green with a soft brush and then hot water. For the stubborn areas I would use Patrick cleaning method. We all have our little tricks but most of them work with the same results.

Paul 18046

[Chuck S.]

Re: Detailing underbody and engine compartment

...I would have never considered kerosene or brake cleaner out of fear of blackout removal. I guess these are OK??...

Both, especially brake cleaner, will dissolve blackout. Kerosene will be slower...it will depend on how long you let the solvents remain on the painted surface and how hard you scrub or wipe. Brake cleaner will probably dissolve blackout near instantly.

Patrick's advice is from a restoration point of view, particularly of the bare fiberglass underbody and chassis components. In the engine compartment, if the grease isn't too bad, you can try wiping it down with kerosene or mineral spirits. If the grease is heavy enough to require working it with a brush, you might as well shift to restoration mind set. You probably won't be able to get your old blackout clean enough to make you happy even if it survives the cleaning.

[Edward J.]

Re: Detailing underbody and engine compartment

Chad, There is a few precautions using brake cleaner solvent, be careful using around your paint job,brake cleaner will eat into your finish almost instantly, make sure to open garage door flumes are pretty strong.and be sure to wear something to protect your eyes, not a pleasant experience if it gets in your eyes.

[Christopher R.]

Re: Detailing underbody and engine compartment

Brake cleaner eats paint???!!! Yikes.

I didn't know that. Thanks for the heads up.

Is it as strong as lacquer thinner?

[Edward J.]

Re: Detailing underbody and engine compartment

Chris, its as bad as lacquer thinner, but brake cleaner evaporates quickly so theres no time to wipe as you would lacquer thinner.

[Terry M.]

Re: Detailing underbody and engine compartment

You should mention (I will) that there is more than one type of "brake cleaner." If we are talking the CRC brand, and I believe some others, the red can has the old time 111 trichlorethane solvent -- this will attack most paints, AND your body -- USE ONLY IN A WELL VENTILATED AREA. Read the label and act on what it says. OH, and long term exposure will cause cancer. The mice all died.

The Green can (last time I read the label) contained alcohol -- not so bad for you or the paint, but I still wouldn't get it on a lacquer paint. Read the label and act on what it says.

The red label contents are not flammable -- the Green can contents are extremely flammable. Don't ask me how I know.

Be safe out there.

[Bill L.]

Re: Detailing underbody and engine compartment

I just did this last winter, on my 70.

I used disposable rags from Walmart and a plastic putty knife to work most of the heavy grease and grime off.

I first tried without disassembling anything in the engine compartment. However, I ultimately ended up disassembling everything. Sure made the clean up a whole lot easier. Mind you mine was certainly no survivor albeit had a lot of nice original parts.

I did find the original grease pencil marks under the drivers side heat/splash shield for "PB". There were no remnants of any grease pencil marks on the engine.

Once I had removed everything I put down cardboard, plastic, and newspaper to help soak up the mess I was going to make. I worked from the top down with a diluted degreaser from Bill Hirsh products and it worked great!. I used a nylon scrub brush, toothbrush, paint brush, bottle washer etc... to get in every crevice I could. I am very satisfied and can tell you to wear clothes you will never have to wear again? This was all done on jack stands and took me the entire winter. While I was there I made a list of non-original parts and original parts to be rebuilt.

Pulled the intake to have it glass beaded. (Remember to pull off the valley pan riveted to the bottom to get all the beads out) Dropped the oil pan to inspect. Reinstalled oil pan with one piece gasket. Replaced the timing chain since I was there and it is a good thing I did. Had the carb freshened up and the distributor gone through, new wires, plugs, etc...

I could not have done it without this board!

Probably looks better than new and it is true that a clean car runs better

Have fun. Bill

[Patrick H.]

Re: Detailing underbody and engine compartment

I would have started with a strong solution of Simple Green or other cleaner (a lot of the "orange" ones seem to deal with grease fairily well).

I would have never considered kerosene or brake cleaner out of fear of blackout removal. I guess these are OK??

Thanks
Randy

I only used these on the engine, front suspension (partially) and transmission.
I used cheap brake cleaner (AutoZone brand) and never saw any paint removed from the engine or trans. Just used kerosene + brake cleaner for an intake and again saw no ill effects.

I have previously tried Simple Green as a fiest agent but I don't think I'll live long enough to wait for it to work or own enough toothbrushes to clean it off. It might work well as a final cleaner after kerosene or GoJo.

[Larry M.]

Re: Detailing underbody and engine compartment

You should mention (I will) that there is more than one type of "brake cleaner." If we are talking the CRC brand, and I believe some others, the red can has the old time 111 trichlorethane solvent -- this will attack most paints, AND your body -- USE ONLY IN A WELL VENTILATED AREA. Read the label and act on what it says. OH, and long term exposure will cause cancer. The mice all died.

Be safe out there.

I agree. The tri-chlor or tetra-chlor WILL remove paint (especially lacquer) and too much WILL hurt/kill you. Use with care and in a well ventilated area.

I have used for years in the chemical plants and at home, but you have to be careful on the applications. We used to wash our hands in chloroform almost daily to remove the grease and grime.

My dad was a garage mechanic who lost a friend/co-worker in the 1950's who used a carbon tetrachloride fire extinguisher to put out a fire under a car at the garage. He put out the fire, but didn't live to tell about it.

Tri-chlor, tetra-chlor, chloroform, and carbon tet are similar. Just be careful. A little bit won't hurt, but a lot can be dangerous.

Larry

[Larry M.]

Re: Detailing underbody and engine compartment

This is how I did it in 1988:
NCA.jpg