Any good way to clean the valley?

[npez]

I've got most of the top of the motor (Intake Plenum, Runners, FI rail & injectors, Valve covers, Coolant pipes, etc.) disassembled for coating and other things, and now that I have good access to the valley I thought I would take the opportunity to clean it so it's spotless for the parts as they come back.

Pressuring washing would be ideal, but I don't want to get water in the motor - anyone know of a good way to get it clean?

Please advise.

Thanks,Nick.

[craigztoyz]

Nick, I just read you title, and....... Well I did detail mine, dremel and all, lots of tlc and cuts to make i tshiny and pretty down there, since you can see it with the wiring hidden, and well, when I started it the first time, Flooded the valley with coolant. Now everyone thinks I have a coolant leak, it looks like a** and the other day after driving it in 5th for a while, and stoping for gas, I looked to check on things (easy w/o hood) and the crap was BOILING. That should be fun to get off in the next 24 hours with the motor out. Good luck,To answer, I used simple green, after everything was plugged, and lots of tlc with steel wool. Craig

[SuperHatch]

Like craig said, lots of work, TLC, scrubbing. I used Castrol Super Clean to break up the grease. Washed it, then blew out the water with an air hose. (That was a real mess) Then I went at it with various different wire wheels on a drill to get in the nooks and crannies as best as I could.

Takes a lot of time and patience, period.

[Carl H]

castrol super clean, toothbrush, water spray bottle and a shop vac.

[npez]

Thanks guys for the feedback on this. I think Carl nailed the root of my problem (shopvac). The scrubbing, etc. will definitely be needed and I will follow your suggestions on this; the root of my challenge was more around everything being exposed (i.e. no valve covers, lower runners, etc.). So I think a combination of plugging everything up and using my wetvac to pickup any of the cleaning materials/rinse water should do the trick.

Thanks again guys - I do appreciate it.

Nick.

[Mettler]

Haha, I'm gonna go for the old "spraypaint over most of it" trick

[npez]

Haha, I'm gonna go for the old "spraypaint over most of it" trick

- that's funny.....

[anyotherone]

The guy that I bought my 300zx transmission believed in that too. He just started spraying silver right over the top of all the grime and grease that was on it... unfortunately now it looks pretty disgusting.