Most of the purple degreasers (Purple Power, Castrol, etc, are high pH (caustic) and have specific warnings about using them on aluminum. They make the engine look great for a while but the chems will dull the appearance again after a short while.

Make sure you read the labels completely on anything you use. Corrosive stuff is a time bomb lurking in the engine bay, especially on electrical connections and parts.

 

That would be very very good advice that I never thought of.
Thanks Doc

 

Elbow grease

 

P21S TOTAL AUTO WASH!

 

+928 This is the combo I use.....

 

Now see, rationalizing is an art and I endeavor to be open-minded, always-trying-to-learn new skills kind of guy. As a student I utilise these new skills for most major purchases...
ATV=Save back injury
snowplow=save heart injury
Retirement, weddings, kids tuiton=save last of mental stability
New truck= lower breakdown anxiety
Pcars, puppies = therapy
Unfortunatley, my wife has also acquired some of this "technology."
PS... per searched recommendations, I have been recently been using superclean. It does work but is sometimes hard to get thoroughly rinsed, (even dunking doesn't do it) which of course is bad for al & pot metal. I like the diesel idea but that pesky carcinogenic thing has been holding me back. ...Bruce

 

Cleaning finished!

It cleaned up pretty good, I'm very happy with it. And i've driven 3 hours and no oil leak! How cool is that!

It did run a little rough at first, apparently there was water on top of the spark plugs under the spark plug cable connectors! Probably because I used a high pressure washer. I had to take the connectors off and dry them manually. Then all was fine.

 

Looks much better when clean of course. What did you use and what process?

Your pictures show new corrosion starting on some of the steel pieces that used to be plated, like the throttle arm and the fuel pressure damper seen in the 'after' photos. You might consider spraying some water displacer or better, some marine preservative on the newly exposed raw steel parts. The sacrificial cad plating on those parts has been sacrificed, so now it's your turn. This is a main reason why we need to be careful using purple degreasers on the engines, they do chew away at the plating. The orange suff at full strength attacks zinc plating the same way.

 

on that blue connector,
let it dry out,
then wrap it with some vucanizing black wrap.
First pull the rubber boot back down to mate with the other portion of the connector

 

Don't forget to re-grease those cable and spring after each wash. i am sure everyone knows that but just in case.

 

I went to the local carwash.
Put a plastic bag on the distributors.
First high pressure washer on water setting.
Then high pressure washer on engine cleaning setting, which is 60C with degreaser.
Then used my spray can of engine cleaner from Motip. I used a paint brush to loosen up any thick layers of oil.
Then high pressure engine clean again followed by the water only setting.
At home I took a sponge and cleaned the hood because I saw small drops on the hood. Probably oil or degreaser.

Yes about that white corrosion. Apart from looking a bit ugly, is it bad?

Hehe, I didn't. Good point, I'll add some white grease there. Any other parts I should regrease?

 

If you looked a the thread link I posted, you'll see how the James M '85 Euro test victim subject car was dressed out in plastic drop sheets and tarps to cut down on possible collateral damage to paintwork and the driveway. SeanR mentioned a while back that he'd done some cleaning in the driveway, and spent more time with the pressure washer cleaning the driveway afterward than he spent on the primary cleaning project. I learn from the best! Anyway, masking the car with cheap plastic seems to cut down on casual paint damage from various chems. I often cut a plastic yard/trash bag open, and just tape it to the fenders when there's any risk of spilling or overspraying something from in the engine bay. A throw-away bag and some blue painter's tape is all it takes.

It will be. Spray almost any good preservative on it. I like the CRC marine preservative, but there are plenty of others I'm sure. WD-40 is not one of them, by the way; It lasts weeks, not years.

 

I clean mine with a healthy does of motor oil, antifreeze and power steering fluid.