To clean or not to clean, that is the question...
 

I bought the 81 SC a couple of months ago and age getting familar with the car. My plan is to drive it and enjoy it this summer provided no major issues show up and then make futher assessment if I am going to do any upgrades or detail work.

The engine & trans have a fare amoutn of accumulated crude from previous owners. The car has clearly been a driver (despite it only haveing 60k miles) and not owned by a real PC enthusiat who polished and cleaned alot.

I am tempted to take the power washer to it to clean up the accumlated gunk at the typical oil leak spots but I also think that some of this is protection of sorts and gives indication where further investigation may be needed.

A particular question is the issues that might occur on power washing inside the engine compartment (as opposed to the undercar area) - what items should be avoided for direct high pressure water?

What are the pros and cons from this vast body of experience of cleaning or not cleaning such a car?

For me, personally, i would not use a power washer to clean an engine.

I also wouldn't pressure wash the top. Perhaps use a mild cleaner and hose it off..try not to spray the electronics directly.

also be careful with using citrus cleaners, they can get trapped in/around nuts/bolts and AL parts and cause corrosion and/or spotting

when i got mine i used some degreaser and a regular garden hose to gently rinse off the bottom.

i would never consider spraying water into my engine compartment for any reason except to put out a fire

If you power-wash a transmission you will push water past the seals. The only time this is O.K. is when the tranny is coming apart for a rebuilt right away. Same goes for the engine.

As others said a hard brush, degreaser and lots of rags if you feel you want to clean the engine. Do a search. There are lots of threads out here where people showed off their detailing jobs.

Ingo

Careful what grease/oil remover you use on the underside of the motor. Gunk for one will turn your valve covers and alike metal parts a funky dull color. Learned that a few decades ago and won't happen again.

I power washed my undercarriage regularly with Krud Kutter and hot water. I set the pressure washer on the lowest setting and nothing bad ever happened...

It's been years since I received this clip but now is the appropraite time to resurrect it :)

‪Scrotum Scrub‬‏ - YouTube

+1

that's the funniest thing i've seen this week.