Engine Detailing

Stuff I used to do the coolant reservoir with.
http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Plasti_Dip

Stuff I use as a final step in detailing the engine.
http://www.turtlewax.com/main.taf?p=2,2,2,1

Cover all electrical components, including battery, alternator, fuse/relay box as any other misc sensors you can with shopping bags, rags or sandwich bags.

Use your favorite engine degreaser, they all pretty much work the same.

Make sure to only do this when the engine is cold.

After you spray the degreaser, let it sit for the time recommended.

Take a small spray bottle with water in it to reach areas that are hard to get to or that you don't want to rinse with the hose.

Take a garden hose with the pressure set to jet for tough spots and gentle set to delicate spots or near electrical and hose off all the degreaser.

Take a small wire brush or rag to wipe off any excessive dirt in the all the nooks of the engine bay.

Allow the engine to air dry and while waiting:
- Get your favorite car wax and wax all the painted surfaces (Megauirs Nxt 2.0)

- Get your favorite vinyl protectant and wipe down all the rubber pieces (Meguiars Vinyl and Rubber protectant in the red bottle, smells like candy)

- Get your favorite metal polish (Never Dull + Mother's Mag and Aluminum Cleaner) and clean and polish all the AC lines, Power Steering lines/hose clamps, pretty much anything bare metal (not painted metal). You will want to test a portion of what you are going to polish with the Mother's cleaner. If it starts to turn black while polishing, you are good to go, if not, STOP, this means it is not a metal that can be polished. There are so many little pieces of the engine that can benefit from the metal polishing, this step along can take upwards of a couple of hours. Not to mention, if you want to do the pulley and other parts of the engine, it will take some 2000 grit sandpaper as a starting point, before you ever even get to the never dull and then mothers polish.

At this point, you may need to towel dry the rest of the engine bay that is still wet and once done, then apply a nice coat of the CD2 engine dressing to pretty much everything, except what is still covered in plastic. If you have any custom painted surfaced (i.e. throttle body cover, valve cover, etc) you will not want to spray the CD2 stuff on it, but everything else you can. This stuff will also need some time to air dry.

Once you have sprayed this stuff on and while waiting for it to dry, remove all the plastic bags and towels covering everything else and hand clean them with some degreaser (i.e. Simple Green, Orange Citrus or Castrol Purple cleaner). Any of them will work. Just spray onto a towel and clean by hand.

You will also want to clean in and around your battery compartment, under the radiator shroud, behind the engine where all the vacuum hoses and heater lines run and so forth.

Wipe down any remaining overspray from the CD2.

Turn car on an let idle to normal temperature so the CD2 can seal itself and dry up to a nice shine.

Last step is to just buff out the rubber vinyl hoses and you are done.