Okay sooo this is a question bout cleaning the engine bay area. what all areas do u need to cover up & not get water on when u clean the engine bay area. i know to cover the alternator up, to be careful around the belts & pulleys & the airbox, but are there any other major areas i need to be careful of getting water in or by?

Okay second thing I need help with is something to do with car shows (what a shocker lol) anyway so idk if u guys have seen at car shows how people make up lil posters with facts & what not about their car. welllll my question is what are some things you think i should put on the poster? what all would catch ur attention.

Thanks guys =D

 

Be careful around the vacuum hoses, if you're using a pressure washer, as you could easily knock them loose. Wet the engine compartment first, spray a degreaser around the dirtiest parts, use a brush/broom to loosen up the dirt and go to town with the hose. If you're using a pressure washer set it at a low setting. I personally use a regular hose, much safer.

I'd put info about the car in general, it's history with you, break out the certificate (the one that says which # your car made from the ones made that year) and what mods have you done to it. Good luck!

 

heres something that i threw together at school in photoshop that i might use for car shows

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_...0069_large.jpg

 

...Yeah, be careful around the smaler hoses and all those little sensors around the engine bay. You may want to take it to a garage
and have someone simply blow air all around it. This will get rid of
a lot of dust and debris.
Here is my current car show poster. You probably seen it earlier
on the "photoshop Sig" thread ?

 

these guys have pretty well said it. i would cover up the coils, alternator, air filter, fuse panel, just to name a few off the top of my head. then spray down with degreaser and let that do the work for you. have a couple beers (cuz you can't have just one) and rinse with low pressure. repeat if necessary. then all the places you can't hit with the hose, wipe down with some good ol elbow grease.

 

Here are 2 samples of signs I have made up for my cars

 

I basically scanned my window sticker in on my Monte sign and recreated it in Adobe Illustrator. I also created my hood graphic in Illustrator and screened it in the background. Just list basic mods and details about the car - nothing too complicated.

 

make sure u show that its a real dale earnhardt edition, list of mods, and be sure to have a clean lookin car.

oo i almost frogot detaling sectet, to give you engine that special shine use spay the entire engine bay with tire shine. Black magic foam tire shine works great.

 

Thanks guys! Yeah I'm too nervous to use a power washer on it so i just use the hose to be safe. Hmm interesting ideas. Too bad i dont have the window sticker or anything for it =[ actually guys my car isnt a REAL intimidator model. it's just a custom black & silver 04 supercharged monte carlo ss =/

 

As long as you're just using the hose- the little bit to cover you mentioned is fine. Everything under the hood is made to get wet- people drive through puddles and such and splash water up there all the time, so all the connections are made to resist water leakage and such- so as long as you're not putting much more pressure than normal splashing, you're good to go.

As for the engine degreaser- I've always found it seems to work better if the engine is warmed up. Now I don't mean warmed to operating temperature here- because then the exhaust and such is way too hot. I just like to let it idle until I just barely can touch the heads and such (say maybe 100-150*). That seems to help the grease come off a lot easier.

The tire shine works well too- but the down side to that is it will be harder to clean next time- all the dust and dirt likes to now stick to those hoses and such, so it seems like dirt builds up quicker. But if you get all the grease and dirt off, then do tire shine it does really make it look showroom nice (just make sure you avoid the belt).