how do you clean the engine exterior

My "new" 71 super has a filthy engine. It has a layer of sooty grease all over it. I see all these show VW's with clean engines so I figure there must be a proper way to do it. I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations as to how to clean it. Products to use, should I use a pressure washer or not? Any cautions other than the obvious would also be appreciated.

Reply to
Rev Turd Fredericks
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Reply to
Robert

Nah, it's not *that* dirty. I'm no clean freak, but it would be nice to, say, check the fuel line tightness without having to wash my hands.

Reply to
Rev Turd Fredericks

How about steam cleaning? Sounds like you just want to do top and bottom of the engine. Shouldn't be that expensive, and you won't get dirty while cleaning either :) I am not sure if your's has fuel injection. If so then don't steamclean.

Ant> Robert wrote:

no clean freak, but it would be nice to,

Reply to
anton

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Stand the engine, pulley-up, in a shallow pan supported by three or four wooden blocks, small tin cans (upside-down, please) or whatever. A disposable turkey-roaster pan works good.

Plug all openings with paper towels or aluminum foil.

Using Diesel fuel or mineral spirits, commence pouring the solvent over the engine, allowing it to drain back into the pan.

As the residues soften, take a cheap paint brush and cut the bristles to a length of about one inch.

Start scrubbing.

For serious crud you may use wooden scrapers. Bamboo skewers are handy for getting into corners.

Once the engine is clean you can recover most of the mineral spirits by allowing it to settle in in a tall, narrow can, then pouring-off or displacing the clean stuff. ('Displacing' -- over a suitable clean container, fill the existing container with water, allowing the solvent to be displaced and over-flow into the clean container.)

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To clean tin-ware you scrub it with hot soapy water. If the tin-ware paint is damage, remove it by boiling the tin-ware in a solution of lye or trisodium phosphate. Derust, repair and repaint.

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The best way to keep a VW engine clean is to not allow it to get dirty. And when it does, to wash it. Remove the battery (always), bag the carb, distributor and dynamo, but otherwise just jump in there and give that puppy a bath. When done in conjunction with your regularly scheduled preventative maintenance it adds very little time, keeps you and your tools cleaner, makes it easier to spot problems before they become serious.

-Bob Hoover

Reply to
BobHoover

i think this is worthy of repeating..... a clean engine is a "happy" engine...and for us, a clean engine is a "cool" engine.

Reply to
Joey Tribiani

yup, this is what I do.

yup, this is what I do!

To de-rust without leaving sanding marks, get another bowl of lye solvent (very little lye is needed in water) and clean the fully immersed parts with electrolysis. You can substitute lye with washing soda. Some have succeeded with baking soda. LYE can be found in many drain unclogger products in small amounts, typically 10-20%. That's plenty enough, just a cup of drain cleaner into a gallon or two of water will do.

Here you can find more detailed instructions:

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Jan

Reply to
Jan

When I was scrubbing up on the '69 cleaning all the greasy, gritty nasty gunk off everything around the rear of the car.... I scrubbed the heck out of the frame horns, IRS trailing arms, under the luggage tray - ect, ect with pine oil and dawn dish soap also using every type of brush known to man kind... lol - figured it was good for cutting grease.. trying to use something that would not destroy my driveway and leave nasty marks all over everything. But yes, cut down some paint brushes, and the small skewers are good along with wooden chopsticks. Granted I had the car disassemled at the time and I was rebuilding everything. I did tow it to a car wash and used the high powered "degreaser option" to clean the engine bay and for the final rinse. got everything real clean... But NOT the engine I had already rebuilt it. the trans...yes right there in the car wash bay with a

5 gallon bucket and bunches of scrub brushes. Trans was very clean after that.

On a side note... oven cleaner is a good cleaner... HOWEVER... no i didnt do it but i know someone that did... he used the caustic kind and it took all the paint off his tins, and left everything a dull color not to mention screwed up some of the paint on his car!!! but the engine was clean... worth it? I wouldnt say so.

But bottom line...elbow grease, time and persistance will pay off. You can get it clean and keep it that way. Any leaks you can spot right away and take care of before they collect dust and dirt!

vwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvw dragenwagen

1966 Type I
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"Old VW"s don't leak oil, they mark their territory."vwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvw

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Reply to
dragenwagen

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Thanks for that. I am mainly just interested in cleaning the engine compartment. The underside of my engine is nice and clean. But I had a small fuel leak and I think some oil spilled inside (I bought the car in that condition) which has now gotten covered in dust/dirt and it's almost impossible to touch anything in there without having to come in and scub my hands with lava soap, my hands are starting to get pretty raw ;-(

Reply to
Rev Turd Fredericks

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