woohoo! I finally cleaned up my engine compartment after 40,000 miles of motoring.
anybody have clearner engine compartment than mine?


spotless!


overall view, cleeeaaannn!


close-up view!

Here is my friend's CR/W Cooper, super clean compartment.


Little TLC needs any detailing work, and I was fortunate enough to try all new Detailer Line products from Meguiar's.

MINI-MOTO's engine compartment looks better than new!

 

Wow! you can eat off of that engine. How long did it take to clean it. Nice pics.

 

What did you use to clean it with... and what techinques did you use? It looks very nice!

 

Ya, my sister's looks cleaner than yours. He hee. She just picked up her MINI today!(13 total miles on it)

I looks great cafemoc. I might have to treat mine to a cleaning like that soon.

 

Thank you for compliments, and ya, your sister's MINI is clearner then mine
But mine has deeper shine, and squeeky clean look, heh heh

Actually compartment looks much better than photos, I might do engine compartment detailing for next C3 detailing party.

I use Meguiar's

1) Safe D-Greaser
2) Hyper-Dressing

You need to clean your engine compartment first.
I think you can use mild clearner, but I use Meguiar's Safe D-Greaser to remove surface grease.
Safe D-Greaser is safe to all painted surface, plastic, rubber parts.
Then clay painted surface to remove more gunky stuff.
**Try to remove dust as much as you can, but don't have to be perfect!
Then after surface is free from dust and grease, spray Hyper-Dressing all over your engine compartment(spray enough to wet all surface), close your bonnet, wait for 30 minutes. Whoala!
You can have nice ultra clean engine compartment you have ever dream...

 

That IS impressive!!! I have to confess I haven't tackled this job as thoroughly as I'd like to. Your method/products seem pretty straightforward though so perhaps I'll try.

Here's a stupid question....do you have to protect any engine components from moisture like you used to have to back in the day??? Back then it was things like the carburator or the distributor. Now...maybe some of the electronic modules????

 

That is beautiful. Great detailing work.

 

Here is another angle.

If you don't want to spray Safe D-Greaser, you can apply to formpad, and wipe surface down.
You can let it dry, and touch up the area with formpad again.

As you can see painted area is not the cleanest, but over all you can improve the clean look with minimum effort

*Most of factory comporments are weather tight, so you can spray Hyper Dressing over to them without any issues, but if you have aftermarket parts, you need to protect them from the moisture.

 

Tip:If you rinse the engine off with your garden hose, you can dry the engine quickly by putting your shop vac on blow.


Dave.

 

every time we wash our cars we do the engine compartment...it's easy if you stay on top of it

I say we cause MLE my girl friend has a Cooper and I make sure she stay on top of it

keep up the good work!!

here's a shot of mine...

 

My wife seems to drive it and I seem to wash it! Whats wrong with that?!

I have never washed in an engine compartment before now. I even find myself waxing in there too! Am I insane? I even seem to like it.

I just hope mine looks that good at 40k, cafemoc...

This is the only picture, the eyes were photoshoped because I was thinking about adding them. Still haven't decided.

 

A local MINI friend and I detailed my engine compartment last Tuesday using various agents including Griot's, Zaino, water, acetone and a few other products. It had 40K miles of dirt and grime on it and I think we managed to get most of the crap off . Here are pics:

 

Few more pics:

 

That look super clean. Great Job minicoopermike!
I would be very careful with using acetone, I would cover up plastic & rubber parts to protect from acetone.

 

So do you think we should bill this as the new "Quick, Cheap mod?!"

Clean your engine, remove weight and allow your engine to stay cooler.

 

Goatherder, I noticed two, what look to be braces, between the strut tower and the support for the front bumper. They appear to be round rods. What are they?

 

Those are the cabrio stiffeners that I asked about in another thread. I want to get a set for my wife's car, but need a part number.

 

Hey, Toshi! Your MINI Moto looks AWESOME! Wanda will need a good under-bonnet wash when we get home later this month. I'll have to get those Meguiar's products, come to a c3 detailing clinic, and get 'er done!

Can y'all tell I've been spending a lot of time in the South?


Clover

 

Clover,

Sorry to get back you late, I was busy with other thing.

If I can make this tired looking truck - Chevy with over 100,000 miles


to


Wonda should be no problem for me to clean up engine compartment

I also worked on BMW 3 series coupe with 65,000miles today.




Enginecompartment looks better than new, owner was happy with my detailing work

 

Woah! I'm inspired. I've been simply wiping things down with a towel using the water that drips into the engine compartment after a wash when you open the bonnet.

(By the way, is that "Silk Green"? Love that color)

 

Good job Toshi!!

Wow, really nice before and afters! Hmm, so this is what you've been doing with all your weekends instead of hanging out at our c3 clinics!!!