My 02 firehawk is nice and clean with lots of zaino and stored in the nice warm garage. All was good until I popped the hood. I notice some dirt and grime starting to build up a bit. How do I clean the engine compartment? I have a low pressure washer, it's the smallest Karcher. What should I cover up before spraying the engine compartment. Should I use someting like Simply Green first and then hose it down? Wipe it down?

 

I use SimpleGreen and hose it off. Cover sensitive electronics though. Opti's are known to die when they meet water, battery, ECM, etc.

 

I don't believe my 02 has an opti? What all exactly should I cover up? Do I wipe off the Simply Green or hose it down? Sorry but I've never done this before.

 

Steve, you dont have an Opti, the LS1s are distributorless ignitions, with coil packs for each plug. So dont worry about the Opti...I regularly wash my Hawk's engine bay with the same car wash soap and washmit I use on the rest of the car, rinse it off with a gentle stream of water, and wipe it down. If you have a build up of grease or oil, you can spray that area with Simple Green, let it work for a bit, and rinse it off. Finish up with a little rubber/vinyl dressing to make things shine. Good as new!

Everything is really well insulated under the hood, dont worry about getting things wet. Just dont blast away with a powerwasher, of course!

 

Thanks for that helpful info. I was going to use my small power-washer, I wont now.

 

I use a firehose

Sorry, I missed the '02 part.

Sometimes it does help to wipe the simple green a bit, if it's really caked on there.

 

It's not caked on, my hawk only has around 10,000 miles on it in nice weather only. I can notice a little grime but not too bad. With the car off the road for the winter I have put 5 or 6 coats of zaino on. The car looked better than showroom until I opened the hood. I'll buy some Simply Green and simply clean it off. I wont use the pressure-washer under the hood.

 

Cool. Take pix for us.

 

I have pics but need to get my web host going for them. If you e-mail me I can forward pics of my hawk with its custom leather interior and embroidard headrests.

 

hey steve, can you email me some pics?

ive never seen your car before


amitsingh82@hotmail.com

 

Steve, I went to visit Northwest Leather. The guy there remembered your car. He seemed really nice, and does great work (he showed me a variety of samples). Anyway, I'm having "Firehawk" embroidered on the headrests in silver, with a pink "swoosh" to match the exterior decals on the car. Should be done in a couple of weeks. Its going to cost about $100 for both headrests, and he will install them while I wait.

 

How do you guys cover up the opti? I would be worried that it would still get wet

 

You have pics e-mailed to you my friend. I look forward to autocrossing and doing some runs at Mission as soon as the winter is over.

 

Glad to help out Pat, we'll have to work on Larry now. I look forward to seeing all our hawks together come show n' shine season.

 

Wrap it in plastic bags, maybe even tape it on.