Removing grime of 33 years from the motor

[kensmith]

How the heck do you clean the motor after 33 years of crud and corrosion? I was going to take the car to the local steam clean car wash and use the high pressure hose with their soap but looks like the water would sit in the valley and fill the spark plugs with water. I don't see a way to get the water out unless you blow it out. I can use a spray cleaner but again, it will settle in and around the plugs. Anyone know how to get around this without tearing down the motor? Maybe take the spark plugs out and find some short bolts to replace them and then spray it and try to wipe it clean?

[SLOSpider]

Just get a few good cans of engine cleaner and let it soak in, couple of layers are best. Drive it down to your car wash and blast away, very messy . Dont worry you can use compressed air to blow out the water or just take it for a good drive and the heat will evaporate any that is left.

[narfire]

I use "engine brite" from Gunk. A couple of cans on a warm engine and then a rinse with water with a bit of pressure behind it.
When the liquid is sitting in the plug recess, I'll wrap a screw driver in shop towel and poke about and then with a rag over top blow the rest out with air. Might think to put a baggie over the dist cap,but so far I havn't had an issue with water and electrics unlike my Toyota fork lift.
Jack the front of the car up to get at the rear of the engine from underneith and perhaps look at taking the cam cover off to get at the lower crank seal area. Wipe the cam and aux wheel lugs off,I actually use brake clean and a rag for that, and the belt lugs as well. I' always thought after cleaning,there would be some oil/grease on that rotating stuff and could set myself up with a slipped tooth or two on the wheel/belt.
Oh yea.. installation fluid.. several units of that helps as well
Chris

[TulsaSpider]

Water cannot get into the cylinders as long as the spark plugs are there. I too used brake cleaner for the very worst of it. Purple power works very well too. let it sit (whatever you use) for several minutes Do it somewhere you never want to clean up, like a gravel road or something. I will use a towel to soak up most of it in the valley. Do wrap up the dizzy in plastic!

[kensmith]

I bought a pressure washer last week and it works great on the patio and driveway removing dirt etc. Wonder how good it would work on the motor of my Spider? It has an attachable bottle for soap and I have some simple green. Hummmmm

[azruss]

I tried a pressure washer on mine. does an ok job. very messy and slow. still didnt really get everything off. ended up going with a biodegradable degreaser and a variety of brushed from parts, to tooth. If you dont care about that level of detail, soak it down good with the degreaser then pressure wash or hose it off.

[kensmith]

I tried a pressure washer on mine. does an ok job. very messy and slow. still didnt really get everything off. ended up going with a biodegradable degreaser and a variety of brushed from parts, to tooth. If you dont care about that level of detail, soak it down good with the degreaser then pressure wash or hose it off.

Yes, I thought about covering the car with plastic to prevent splatter. I have some very thin plastic used for bagging car when getting painted. I also think no way I am going to totally clean parts without removal from the car. But I just want to clean it up so it's a little more presentable. I am retiring next month so trying to make a long list of projects I can do to the car. Just want to make it nice, nothing too radical. It's pretty nice already so not much needed.

[mik]

I took mine to a detailer. Didn't want to clean up the mess. They did the motor, and the entire bottom for $80. Totally worth it to me. The bottom of my 40yr old '69 is down to original metal.