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Cleaning under the hood

2K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  billymagg 
#1 ·
Hi all,

New poster here, but I have a feeling my dad may of posted here before. I recently got my dads '81 Pontiac Trans Am up from Arizona. It was in my uncles care and sat idle for an extremely long time, maybe a year or longer. I know I have a lot of work to do, but my issue right now is that the underside of the hood is completely covered in dust. It's very hard to see if things are dry rotted or not underneath there. Would it be safe to spray it down with the hose? I have no intention of starting it up for a very long time.

Thank you for your time and any help!
 

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#2 ·
I'd vacuum everything possible before doing anything. Washing with a hose I wouldn't recommend for a couple reasons. After you vacuum I'd get a piece of old towel and a bucket of warm soapy water (dish detergent). get the towel soaked and wring it out, Then wipe stuff till towel is dirty, rinse in bucket & repeat.

Enjoy the car, I'm sure dad would be happy you're gonna mess with it.
 
#3 ·
I would first start with an airhose and nozzle to blow the loose leaves and such off as anything that holds moisture can contribute to corrosion. If you do choose to wash it off, I would be careful to cover the distributor cap with a hood to keep it dry. Why not start it and let it run??? as long as the oil is up, and charge the battery, it should fire off.

I recently returned our old 172 to flight after nearly five years on the ground. I first cleaned it off with the water hose and a brush, the upper cowling had been removed due to a dead battery, and never replaced so lots of bird krap etc, etc. I drained the sumps, one sump drain I had to pull, but the fuel that was left was gorgeous old 100 LL Avgas, not autofuel.

The primer was out, so I had to use the accelerator pump on the carburetor to "prime", the battery had to be replaced, and the starter was a little iffy??? but once I had pumped the carb full of fuel, I had turned the engine through several times to limber the oil and get the pistons and rings loosened up in the cylinders.

Once it hit and died I waited a few moments, pumped the throttle again several times, and once the engine hit and cought, I let it run at a fast idle for several minutes after checking oil pressure and I watched the CHT climb into the normal operating range and then pulled the mixture for "mixture idle cut-off".

So replace that battery, pull the coil, pull the plugs and oil the cylinders, and leaving the plugs out, turn the engine over for 5 or 10 seconds, then let it rest, repeat, two to five times??(depends on your own mood). Replace those plugs, and go easy, but the longer it sits? the more potential corrosion and issues you face.
 
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