Okay, so I've done a few mods to the Riv, spent over $2500.00 in the last 2 months or so....now that the car is running great, I need to save some money for my move back to Montana, then I can really devote myself to the engine...

In the mean time, I'm going to clean her up real good... inside, outside and engine bay....my question is, has any of you taken your car to one of those pull in car washes that have "engine degreaser" on the selector?

Do they work? Are they safe? Anything I need to do as prep before I wash down the engine bay? Why is the sky blue? What's that grey shit in an Etch-a-Sketch?
Can you drink that black shit in the middle of a magic 8-ball?....you can't? well fuck.

Me, I dont wash under the hood of these type vehicles unless I am going to sell the vehicle or unless there is a big mess from a oil leak or something that has to be cleaned up before the vehicle can be worked on...

For spot cleaning I use brake cleaner and a rag.

Too many electrical connections under the hood that dont like water.

My brother detailed vehicles for years. He would mix a commercial degreaser with some " Blue Streak" and use a siphon air gun to blow it under the hood and then use a hot water pressure washer to clean it off. Just dont get the pressure washer very close to the components.
You can buy a few cans of Gunk and hose it down, let it soak a few minutes and then rinse with the pressure washer. After your done drive the car for at least thirty minutes to dry and dry her out good.

My brother also introduced me to the concept of:
Race car spelled backwards is Race car.


Bert

so its a bad thing? okay....I'll just spot clean it like you said then cover with a couple of coats of varnish...

I'm sure lots of people here wash under the hood with no problem. I'm just skeered of wetting all that stuff unless I am going to be showing the car or selling it. Or unless it has had a oil leak or mud splashed up under there.

But on the other hand youse guys have a lot more nasty winters and weather up north which might contribute to needing to clean under there...

Down here, its not really needed.

Bert

I have cleaned my engine with the engine degreaser. I would avoid the alternator but the rest you can douse with water.

yeah..my engine is pretty grimey in places....oil, salt, gunk, blood, small pieces of bones, hair...

wow....nice!....

so I can spray it down just don't go full metal jacket on it....thanks.

I also use the Gunk engine brite. Let it soak in for 15 minutes, then hose off with gentle water spray. I usually lose my gauges for a half-day after doing this FYI. Somewhere there is an unsealed connector, but everything still works.

The grey shit in an etch a sketch is iron filings, and it draws by dragging a magnetic tip around the static-charged surface. The sky is blue because that is the light frequency we see after the refraction of the sun's rays through the moisture in the atmosphere, and something else about color and crap. Red sky at night, sailor's delight! Red sky at morning, sailors take warning! It's really true, and has to do with barometric pressure and the amount of water in the air and some other crap.

If you're moving to the northern part of Montana, feel free to come have a pint in Moose Jaw some Friday.

so that gunk stuff will make my engine bay look like the one in the pic?