Chaps...
I can leak a few details, but not everything as that will compromise my position.
There are 101 guides out there for cleaning a bay, but I think the one at Polished Bliss is easy to follow...
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acata...n-engines.html
The products I use are...
Tesco Turkey Foil - To protect sensitive parts (MAF, alternator, electrical connectors etc)
1 decent plastic bag - To cover the alarm and boost circuit gubbings
Autoglym Engine & Machine Cleaner - To degrease and clean. Great on a cloth and used on pipes
Southern Waters best H2o - To rinse
Autosol Metal Polish - To clean/shine metal bits and pipes
MER - To clean/shine black shiny metal parts
Autoglym Super Resin Polish - To polish paintwork in and around the bay
Poorboys Trim Restorer - Fantastic on black pipes
Autoglym Instant Tyre Dressing - Very good for rough matt finish rubber parts
Various Towels - To dry and buff
Loads of old rags - To do all the mucky stuff
Metallic grey VHT paint - To repaint the cam-belt cover, dump valve and alarm mountings
Wire brushes of different grades - To remove corrosion from bolt heads and the alternator
Latex gloves - To protect your hands!
Time and effort - The biggest factor in making anything look clean and tidy
Products I’ve used in the past...
P21S Total Auto Wash – A de-greaser. Probably better than the AG stuff and smells of oranges
You could clean the bay with just a de-greaser, a few towels and then dress everything with a protector, but I like to try and do as many parts individually as possible. You get a better finish that way.
My engine is far too corroded to make it shine everywhere, but when I did my MY04 in 2008... it came up better than new and looked fantastic even up close. If you get too close to my current engine it still looks a bit rough.
Total time over 3 days for this clean was about 15 hours.
My hands look like this even after using latex gloves...
But with the flash on last night the engine looks sweet...
