The Ford Barn - View Single Post - General degreasing

shaefer · 10-17-2016, 12:45 PM

While I've got the head off and the car in the middle of some repairs, I want to also give a really good degreasing to clean it up and also help to identify if/where there are any oil leaks.

Questions are as follows:

(1) What is a good general purpose degreaser? Most of the gunk seems to be built up in that trough behind the bottom of the radiator, but there's also a fair amount on the bottom of the engine and generally all around the undercarriage. The car has been driven almost daily for 15 years, and I don't think we thoroughly degreased/cleaned the undercarriage even then, so I imagine it's a combo of oil and collected road grime.

(2) What areas should absolutely NOT be degreased? (This is more aimed at the undercarriage.) I understand grease isn't all bad, or it wouldn't be there in the first place. What areas should I absolutely avoid removing all of the grease?

(3) After it's good and clean, are there certain areas in particular prone to leaks that I should pay special attention to?

I'll likely have a lot of questions going forward. The car was mine and my dad's and he usually had all of these answers. He recently passed and I'm now the sole caretaker of our beloved Cabriolet (68 C). My son turns 16 when the car turns 100, so it's my goal to get it to there.

I was always the one that excelled at the mechanical and electrical stuff, so I'll be relying on the Barn to fill in the gaps. Thanks in advance.

10-17-2016, 12:45 PM	#1
shaefer Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Georgia Posts: 23	General degreasing - any recommendations? While I've got the head off and the car in the middle of some repairs, I want to also give a really good degreasing to clean it up and also help to identify if/where there are any oil leaks. Questions are as follows: (1) What is a good general purpose degreaser? Most of the gunk seems to be built up in that trough behind the bottom of the radiator, but there's also a fair amount on the bottom of the engine and generally all around the undercarriage. The car has been driven almost daily for 15 years, and I don't think we thoroughly degreased/cleaned the undercarriage even then, so I imagine it's a combo of oil and collected road grime. (2) What areas should absolutely NOT be degreased? (This is more aimed at the undercarriage.) I understand grease isn't all bad, or it wouldn't be there in the first place. What areas should I absolutely avoid removing all of the grease? (3) After it's good and clean, are there certain areas in particular prone to leaks that I should pay special attention to? I'll likely have a lot of questions going forward. The car was mine and my dad's and he usually had all of these answers. He recently passed and I'm now the sole caretaker of our beloved Cabriolet (68 C). My son turns 16 when the car turns 100, so it's my goal to get it to there. I was always the one that excelled at the mechanical and electrical stuff, so I'll be relying on the Barn to fill in the gaps. Thanks in advance. __________________ I was born in 1982 and in 1989 my father found the perfect '31 Cabriolet. In 1997 he finally bought it and it became our favorite thing to do together. While my friends were buying Playstations and XBoxs, I was saving up for a muffler. 9 years later, while their game systems were gathering dust, I was picking my wife up for our first date in that car. I drive it to this day and I hope to keep it up so my son can enjoy it just the same. That's the joy of a Model A!