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One of the biggest improvements that can be made on a driven Corvette is an engine compartment detail. Keep in mind that the detail does not have to be to NCRS Standards. A little time, elbow grease and the right products is all that you need to transform your engine compartment from a hood closed to a hood open wonder. The 73 Corvette that we used for this article had seen plenty of daily miles and the engine compartment showed it. Since the engine and transmission were out for a rebuild, we knew an engine compartment detail was in order. We contacted the people at The Eastwood Company and Zip Products, Inc., 8067 Fast Lane, Mechanicsville, VA 23111, (800) 962-9632. They were able to supply everything that we needed to clean and refinish the engine compartment.
When doing an engine compartment detail, always work in a well ventilated area. Also, work in an area where you can contain the grease and cleaner runoff when you are washing and degreasing the engine compartment. You do not want the runoff residue going onto your lawn, driveway or down the street, do you?
It took us two days to complete the detail with the engine and transmission removed. If they are left in place, add another day or two for masking, painting, and working around different items.
With all this in mind, let’s get started.
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01: Here are all the items you will normally need for an average engine compartment detail. The Eastwood Company supplied the paints, electrical tape wrap, and cleaning sprayer. Zip Products supplied all of the rubber seals, gaskets and fasteners. You will also need some common hand tools, masking tape, masking paper, mechanics wire or wire ties, cleaning detergent, PrepSol or Pre-Kleano, steel wool, wire and nylon brushes, scrapers, eye protection, hand protection, water supplies and a shop manual for your year Corvette. |
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02: Start by removing the hood and then covering the fenders, nose and cowl area. This will help to keep the cleaners and overspray off the painted surfaces. You can use either masking paper which we used here, or sheet plastic. If you do use plastic, remember not to leave it on the car in the sun after you are done. Plastic will trap moisture under its surface and then heat up. I have seen this cause problems to paint finishes when left on too long. If you do use plastic, it is a good idea to remove it and then re-mask it when you are ready to start painting. |
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03: Now remove all of the rubber seals and gaskets. These items are not very expensive and you will want to replace them. New ones make everything look that much better. |
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04: The engine compartment wiring should be removed from its retainers and then either placed out of the way or disconnected and removed.
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05: If your car has air conditioning, make sure that you seal off all of the A/C hose fittings. You do not want water to get into the hoses and contaminate the system. |
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06: You will have to remove the hood pad insulation if your car is equipped with it. The 73 to 79 retainers are removed by squeezing the split mount head together and then slipping off the retainer. After the retainers are removed, the insulation and wiring can then be removed. |
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07: All of the inner fender, firewall and core support wiring and hose retainers should not be removed. Most of these fasteners are a crimp type clip. By spreading the two center prongs apart and then opening one side of the prong, they can easily be removed and saved. |
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08: Removing the wiper motor makes cleaning and painting the firewall much easier. It also allows you to detail the wiper motor and move the firewall wiring further out of the way. |
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09: You are now ready to start cleaning. Wet the entire engine compartment down thoroughly. Spray a cleaner degreaser such as Super Clean over the entire engine compartment. We used Eastwood’s Grime Blaster to spray the degreaser on and it worked great. Let it sit for about 10 to 15 minutes. Then spray a second coat. Let this sit again for 10 to 15 minutes. Now use a hard spray of clean water. Again, the Grime Blaster helped. After you have thoroughly rinsed the degreaser away, check for areas that will need hand cleaning. (Do not worry, there will be some.) If you do not find any other areas that need to be cleaned, great. Now go on and do the hood. This is done the same way as the engine compartment. Let everything dry and then proceed to the painting steps. If you still have some grease caked in some areas, go on to the next step. |
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10: This is called a real hands on experience. To remove caked on grease and grime, you have to rely on real manual labor. Use a scraper and wire brush along with your degreaser. It is not fast, but it is effective. The better job you do here, the better the finished product will look. |
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11: When everything is dry, take a dry wire brush and loosen any rust or scale from the master cylinder, brake booster, steering box, steering linkage, crossmember A-Frames, etc. This will not only make the finish look better, it will also help the paint to adhere better. |
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12: If you car has air conditioning, you will want to clean all of the aluminum tubes and fittings before you start to paint. A cleaner such as Pre-Kleano, PrepSol, etc. and a rag or 000 steel wool works wonders. Once they are cleaned, take masking paper and cover them. You don’t want all of your clean fittings to get overspray on them, do you! |
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13: Start by refinishing the inner fenders, firewall and core support first with Eastwood’s Underhood Black. Move hoses and wiring as needed so that you completely cover all areas. Spray 3 or 4 light even coats. You do not want one heavy coat with runs. Mask off items that you do not want painted such as radiator overflow bottles, wiring junctions, etc. |
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14: Use the Underhood Black to refinish the brake booster. Remember, light even coats work best. |
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15: Tape off the hood. Remember to cover the outside and refinish the underside Underhood Black. |
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16: When the inner fenders, firewall, booster, etc. are dry, you will want to do some detail painting. Mask off the surrounding area and spray the master cylinder Spray Gray. This will give it a new cast iron appearance. When the master cylinder is dry, remove the master cylinder cap and use Eastwood’s Gold Cad System to refinish it back to its original color. |
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17: If you want added detail in the engine compartment, refinish the steering box with Spray Gray. Carefully mask off the surrounding area and spray away. Remember, light even coats. |
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18: To detail brake and fuel lines, use some 000 steel wool. For stubborn stains, add a little cleaner to the steel wool such as Pre-Kleano, PrepSol or lacquer thinner. |
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19: Hose fittings are detailed by first thoroughly cleaning them. Mask them off from the surrounding area and then use Detail Gray to give them a new steel look. You can also use Detail Gray on fuel and brake lines, brackets and any item that you want to have a natural steel look. |
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20: The wiper motor should also be refinished. Remove the plastic cover, clean it and then spray it with Trim and Bumper Black. Spray 2 or 3 light even coats for a new look. Now clean the motor, mask off the wiring and contacts, and spray the motor and base with Detail Gray. When everything is dry, re-assemble it and you will think the motor is brand new. |
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21: Remember, detail is everything. The more detail you have, the better it looks. Here we masked off the hood prop and front hinges and sprayed them with Detail Gray. The contrast against the refinished underside of the hood will make these items look brand new. |
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22: Make a small bolt holder so that you can refinish any attaching bolts and screws. A 2x4 with some holes drilled in it works well. Even a cardboard box with holes will work. |
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23: When you are finished with the inner fenders, core support, firewall, etc., you can then refinish the crossmembers and suspension. Start by masking off all of the areas that you have refinished. This will leave the areas that you will have to spray exposed. Spray 4 or 5 light even coats of Chassis Black on all of the exposed areas. After it is dry, carefully remove all of the masking paper. You may wonder why we waited until now to refinish these areas. The answer is simple. While working on the inner fenders, we were standing in the engine bay. Each time we got in or out, we stood on the crossmember. If it had been painted, we would have ruined the finish and had to do it again. By waiting until the end, we had to only refinish these areas once. |
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24: Now remove all of the masking paper. You will want to detail the wiring and rubber hoses now. Clean all of the hoses and wiring with 3M General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner, Pre-Kleano, or PrepSol. This will remove any leftover residue and give all of these items a fresh look. |
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25: When all of the wiring is clean, you will then want to re-wrap it. Start at the firewall or firewall connection and wrap towards each terminal end. Check each wire and terminal as you go and replace whatever is necessary. This tape is a dry vinyl which means it does not stick to itself. When you come to a terminal end of junction, it has to be tied to itself. Overlap each turn a half at a time for the right look. A little practice makes perfect. |
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26: Tie any rubber hoses together using cloth friction tape. If you paid attention during disassembly, you should remember where it goes. |
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27: Repair any bent fins in the radiator by using these fin repair pliers available from Eastwood. When you are done, then spray the radiator with Eastwood’s Radiator Black. It will make the radiator look like new. |
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28: If you have air conditioning, you can straighten the condenser fins by using a condenser comb made by Robinair. This is also available from Eastwood. When the condenser fins are straightened, it too can be painted Radiator Black. |
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29: The radiator shroud can also be made to look new. After you have thoroughly cleaned it, use the Trim and Bumper Black spray to refinish it. Remember, 2 or 3 light even overlapping strokes. |
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30: Install the wiring and hose retaining crimp clips. Route all of the wiring and hoses and re-install the wiper motor. |
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31: All of the rubber seals and gaskets should now be installed. Here we are putting the A-Frame splash guards supplied by Zip Products into place. These new rubber items sure help to finish off the engine compartment. |
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32: Re-install the wiring and hood pad insulation and clips. Also, glue the rear hood weatherstrip into place. |
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33: Cut and staple the lower fender shield weatherstrip into place. Then re-install the shield on both sides. |
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34: The finishing touch for any engine compartment detail are the decals. Zip Products has all the correct ones. No engine compartment detail is complete without them. |
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35: Here is the finished engine compartment looking like new and ready for the engine. |
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FROM GRIME TO SHINE:
DETAILING YOUR CORVETTE'S ENGINE COMPARTMENT
SOURCE:
Zip Products, Inc.
8067 Fast Lane
Mechanicsville, VA 23111
(800) 962-9632
PARTS LIST:
The Author would like to thank Richard Gaudio of Greg Donahue Collector Car Restorations, Inc. for his assistance with this article.
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