Okay I would like to make my engine, and everything under the hood look nice, any certain trick to that?

No real tricks, just a bunch of work. You can use a Gunk-type degreaser, or just ordinary kerosene. I recommend not cleaning a hot engine to protect electricals. Remove the air cleaner and cover the carb. Aluminum foil works well as a water shield. Tools can be any kind of brush that gets into the space, such as old paintbrushes with bristles cut down to 1/2 length, a parts cleaning brush, even denture brushes, which resemble a double-size toothbrush. Start low and work upwards, melting any accumulations of grease. Once you're satisfied, spray it all down with an all-purpose cleaner such as Simple Green or Zep Citrus from Home Depot, diluted 1:4, to dissolve the solvents. Allow the cleaner to set for a few minutes, then follow with a rinse from a hose or pressure washer, avoiding direct spray into the alternator.
If you don't have any substantial grease accumulations, you can substitute the Citrus cleaner for the solvent and go right to the rinse step when scrubbing is done. Once it's all dry, you can start the dressing stage.
A good but hard-to-find engine dressing is Alemite CD2 Engine Detailer. If you can find some, just follow the directions on the can. The quick'n dirty way is just to hose the whole compartment down with a no-rinse foam tire cleaner such as No-Touch, allow it to set for a few hours and wipe up any excess. I prefer a bit more detailed job, so I dress all the plastic and rubber with a quality protectant such as Meguiars' Ultimate Protectant, and wax any smooth painted parts. If desired, you can polish the aluminum A/C lines with a good metal polish, using #0000 steel wool as the applicator for the first pass, following up with a second polishing with a foam pad or soft cloth. Spend some time and effort on the first job and subsequent cleanings will be much easier.
Her's a pic of mine from a few years ago. I've since spend a bunch more time making it nicer, but I don't have a fresh pic at the moment.
http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee388/kaminokids/Engine.jpg

Bill

No real tricks, just a bunch of work. You can use a Gunk-type degreaser, or just ordinary kerosene. I recommend not cleaning a hot engine to protect electricals. Remove the air cleaner and cover the carb. Aluminum foil works well as a water shield. Tools can be any kind of brush that gets into the space, such as old paintbrushes with bristles cut down to 1/2 length, a parts cleaning brush, even denture brushes, which resemble a double-size toothbrush. Start low and work upwards, melting any accumulations of grease. Once you're satisfied, spray it all down with an all-purpose cleaner such as Simple Green or Zep Citrus from Home Depot, diluted 1:4, to dissolve the solvents. Allow the cleaner to set for a few minutes, then follow with a rinse from a hose or pressure washer, avoiding direct spray into the alternator.
If you don't have any substantial grease accumulations, you can substitute the Citrus cleaner for the solvent and go right to the rinse step when scrubbing is done. Once it's all dry, you can start the dressing stage.
A good but hard-to-find engine dressing is Alemite CD2 Engine Detailer. If you can find some, just follow the directions on the can. The quick'n dirty way is just to hose the whole compartment down with a no-rinse foam tire cleaner such as No-Touch, allow it to set for a few hours and wipe up any excess. I prefer a bit more detailed job, so I dress all the plastic and rubber with a quality protectant such as Meguiars' Ultimate Protectant, and wax any smooth painted parts. If desired, you can polish the aluminum A/C lines with a good metal polish, using #0000 steel wool as the applicator for the first pass, following up with a second polishing with a foam pad or soft cloth. Spend some time and effort on the first job and subsequent cleanings will be much easier.
Her's a pic of mine from a few years ago. I've since spend a bunch more time making it nicer, but I don't have a fresh pic at the moment.
http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee388/kaminokids/Engine.jpg

Bill

X2 Thats the way i do it and it looks about the same.Once you get it done stay on top of it.:secret:

Really all depends on what the purpose is the car for and how deep your pockets are. I of course did the cleaning up first then decided after going to car shows I wanted to clean up my engine bay.
I only used my A/C once and wanted less hoses, etc , next was the hood mat that I did not like and since the rest of the car was getting painted, figured that was a good time to paint the back-side of the hood . Next came the chrome and to me it looks nice, the way I wanted it and I guess it appeals to the judges since I started late going to Car Show but have come home with 10 trophies out of 9 car shows but the fun will end soon. Back surgery on 8/22/11 and at 66, not really sure how long it will put me down. Anyway that's my story and sorry for the rambling. Michael in Virginia:smileyb::smileyb:

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/inf-engine.html
http://www.dccarcare.com/tipowk/tipowk14.html
http://www.autogeek.net/engine-guide.html
These articles should give you a good basic idea as to what is necessary,keep in mind that they may be selling their product but you should be able to find what you need available elsewhere.

From experience I can tell you what NOT to do. I had my engine out last winter and it was the perfect time to detail....but Oh no...I wanted to stuff the motor back in. Well you can guess my winter project come Nov.-Dec.
http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y379/centex396/011.jpg

yeah i believe in cleaning it while the engine is out, my biggest goof when i did my swap was i forgot to paint the fender wells with fusion paint so they look so out of place :(

yeah i believe in cleaning it while the engine is out, my biggest goof when i did my swap was i forgot to paint the fender wells with fusion paint so they look so out of place :(

They're pretty easy to pop out through the wheel well opening. Need to take the tires off, and a few bolts. Out, painted and back in easily on a Saturday, with time for a few cold ones:beer:

They're pretty easy to pop out through the wheel well opening. Need to take the tires off, and a few bolts. Out, painted and back in easily on a Saturday, with time for a few cold ones:beer:
yeah when i get the time i may do that, and i hope u mean sodas lol (cause it would just be wrong of me to partake in that wonderful thing called beer if im only 18 lol :neutral2:)

http://s1125.photobucket.com/albums/l586/Keilz7/?action=view&current=093.jpg

http://s1125.photobucket.com/albums/l586/Keilz7/?action=view&current=093.jpg#!oZZ2QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1125 .photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fl586%2FKeilz7%2F%3Fact ion%3Dview%26current%3D092.jpg

Thats under my hood. Now what needs to be wrapped up to clean the engine bay? I also notice I have a lot of exposed wiring. Will that be a problem?