Well the show is on saturday, and time is ticking by fastly. So far i have cleaned the entire underbody, spare tire, complete interior, changed the oil, rotated the tires, painted calipers, and the front end bra is in the dryer now to knock whatever little bit of dirt that may be on it off. Tomorrow i have to do the door sills, wash it, glass it, clean the windows, polish the chrome, clean the bed, and clean the engine bay. What i wanted to double check on is cleaning the engine bay. I picked up some simple green, and also some other engine cleaner stuff. Its not that dirty or greasy, but its got alot of dust on it. I'll use the simple green unless it doesn't do it well enough. Then i'll use the other stuff. What i wanted to know was what all should i cover up? I know i should cover the alternator, but i didn't know if i should cover the battery, and exactly where are the coil packs??? Am i missing anything else? I'll check this in the morning before i go to the car wash to do it, so hopefully i can get some quick responses.


So far it has rained every day i've been working on it, and i've had to stop in the middle of what i was doing and wait for it to stop cuz i don't have a garage. . They are also calling for rain 2morrow, so i may just wash it, then saturday i'll get up around 6 and wet the truck down, absorb it, then glass it. I quickly forget how much work it takes to clean this truck up to show quality. But it'll be worth it I have about 10 hours into it already and i'm not done yet.

thanks again for any help


o yeah, i just read you guys use simple green in your wheel wells? Do you dilute it for that like when you do the engine??? thanks

 

When I cleaned my engine I didn't cover anything up. I just came back and sprayed everything that looked like water could damage it with WD-40. WD-40 displaces water. I haven't had any trouble *knock on wood*

What did you use to clean the underbody? All I know is that a heated pressure washer is the best and I'm pretty sure my PowerSol could cut through the grime.

 

oh, that is a good idea. won't wd40 make the hoses look shiney too??? thanks

I had my truck up on the ramps to change the oil when i cleaned the front. for the back i took the truck off the ramps. And i just had a bucket of water and a sponge and i was on my creeper. I did it all by hand. ALOT of work. It took me about an hour to do, but it wasn't that dirty at all. I know a powerwasher would probably have worked better, but i don't have one and this worked out fine. Its only got 20K miles on it, so it wasn't that bad. Dirtiest thing was the top of the spare. I just wiped the stuff down with the sponge, then dried it with a rag, and it looks almost like new under there (except for the couple metal pieces that are starting to rust like the axle, and shocktubes, but i'm gonna get some paint for those)

 

well i didn't get to wash the engine bay cuz the battery died. Explained why in this link- https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...threadid=80770


Good thing though i washed the underneath cuz they checked out under the truck at the show, but i could only wipe down the engine cuz they checked that too. I need some billet goodies for under there. Anyway, here's the link to what happened at the show and some pics.
https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...751#post618751

 

Too bad you didn't get to clean the engine for the show.

So your HD is a garage queen? You don't drive it to work... Man you are lucky.

 

Oh don't i wish.LoL. :P 1st off i don't even have a garage, or even a car port for that matter. And second my HD is my daily driver, but i don't put many miles on it, only about 10K a year, and my 85 is my work truck for when i do construction, and i only put about 4K a year on that. But i try and keep the HD as clean as i can. But it can be hard trying to get the truck ready for the show when i don't have a garage and its raining out.

Anyway, i wiped the engine down and sprayed the plastic stuff with vinyl protectant when i heard the announcer say open your hoods and trunks for judging, so i hurried up and did my best. It looked okay, but down further where i couldn't reach was still dirty. The judging was a farce anyway, so its no big deal, i'll just wash it for the next show, i still had fun.

 

So how do you protect your truck from ppl scratching it?

I've got some scratches on the side of my truck that are too deep for me to sand out. If I do sand them out, then it'll cause the clear to fail. Maybe I'll have to have the clear sanded off them and the clear re-sprayed. grumble

Same here. I only put around 10k a year on my truck. maybe a little more.

 

I park in the middle of nowhere, way way out in the parking lot when i'm at stores, and other than that have been very lucky. I do have a very small dent on the passenger door from when somebody decided to park next to me instead of the 500 empty parking spaces that day and opened their door into mine. Its right under the passenger side door handle. Not too bad, but i'm gonna get it pushed out. The truck was keyed though when it was only like 2 monts old on the passenger fender and front and rear doors. But the ford dealer fixed it no cost for me, and they also have one of the best body shops arounds so it turned out great. good luck with yours
(sorry, truck was filty when i took this)

 

If your truck is a show truck, then you should have the orange peel sanded out.

Sucks about the dent though. Someone hit me with their door on the driver side and but a nice gash in the door trim.

I have a nice scratch on the passenger side because a guy hit it with his mower handle. I might have to salt his lawn because of that.

 

Yeah i know, but the orage peel isn't really all that bad when the truck is clean so that i'd worry about sanding it. The reflection is pretty clear when its clean, there's a little, but in that pic it looks really bad.


LoL