IMB951

I got outta school early today for final exams and I decided to clean her insides a bit. I wish I remembered to take a before pic because it was pretty nasty under the hood, but after a few hours of painless reaching and wiping and spraying I'll say it looks pretty darn good.









First step was to cover up distributor with a thick rag, then I took my garden hose with the "mist" attachment and wet it down a little, then used Gunk brand engine cleaner all over everywhere and let it sit for 10-15 min, then use the mist spray to lightly hose away all the grime and using higher pressure in the tough spots. The only complaint I have about Gunk cleaner is that it's a wee bit too strong for the plastic & rubber parts, but I went back and hit them all with Vinylex and a toothbrush to get em lookin better. For all metal parts I used 3M Crome & Metal polish with a rag and some elbow grease. Then went back shot compressed air in every crack and crevice and did a final wipedown of everything with mild Simple Green cleaner.
It felt like my engine was on that show "extreme makeover"
Overall, I found the whole process very therapudic and rewarding. hah.

Rich Sandor

that is really clean. I only wish mine looked that clean!

Mike B

Pat yourself on the back. You did a great job!

xsboost90

sure, rub your extra eight valves in our faces....

Yabo

So, im sure the question on all of our minds is,,, does it still run after all that?

so many people having problems after washing lately.

Bhj0887

Good looking engine bay, I never really noticed how well the 16 valve engine fit in there. I'm thinking of doing mine soon too.

IMB951

yep, runs just fine, I changed the oil right before I detailed it, too. Just bellowed soft white smoke for about 5 minutes after I started it up due to the tiny leftovers of the degreaser being burned off the hot spots but its totally fine now. I think the fact that I used reallllly gentle water mist to rinse it, and the fact that I used compressed air EVERYWHERE after I rinsed it helped alot to protect it from any electrical gremlins from the water. I wouldn't feel safe with using a high flow of water.

fpena944

At first I was going to ask, "What the heck is that big airbox doing in the front of the car?"

But then I noticed you have an "S", not an "S2"

In any case, I like that airbox and wish mine had it there instead of hidden under the nose...Very clean engine, good job!

IMB951

fpena got me thinking, would it be possible to retrofit an S airbox onto an S2?! That would be sweet

AlphaOne

thanks for the 'how to'. im doing this once my car gets out of the shop.

thanks for the inspiration...

it looks sweet.

mcavour

Pheee..pheeuww!!!!

AndyK

I gotta do that to mine!! Looks killer!

When you say Gunk...do you mean the "foam engine cleaner", or what? Last time I used Gunk, my car smelled bad for weeks!

IMB951

Well, it is Gunk brand, but it doesn't say that its a foaming cleaner on the can, and its pretty much a thick spray, but it doesn't really foam like mousse.

And yea, mine smells kinda funky but hopefully since I got almost all of the water out before I ran it it'll only smell for a couple drives. My windows are always down anyway...

Now that I think about it, it would probably smell worse with the more water you left in there, because that water will have some cleaner left in it, and when it smokes and steams up, the smell will absorb into various things and stay a little longer than if you let it all out with the hood up after getting as much water out as possible before running it again.

AndyK

Would it be better to use an exterior vinyl treatment on the engine hoses and plastic parts? Something more durable than Vinylex? Or does Vinylex last without evaporating from the heat?

josephsc

I doubt it -- when you swap an S2 or 968 engine into an N/A (and I guess for the S), you have to get rid of the airbox to make enough room for the larger engine. I'd love to be proven otherwise, though...

BTW, super nice engine bay! You can come by and detail my car if you ever get bored again!