the cleaning process begins... First the hood and pivoting bar. i hate the pivot bar :mad . it's very springy, if thats even a word. :( There's too much gunk in all the little corners. YUK!!!

I was all excited thinking my car was clean for being nearly 30 years old ... but there are so many people in this forum with crazy clean 320s

If I remove the dirt from mine I think it would fall apart...the dirt seems to be holding the rust together....

I was all excited thinking my car was clean for being nearly 30 years old ... but there are so many people in this forum with crazy clean 320s

I know what you mean, lol.

be careful if you are going to be power washing or spraying the entire engine bay. let the car sit for a while in the sun to dry, and make sure not to hit the distributor.

No worries. ;) I am using rubbing alcohol on the whole motor. Piece by Piece. I doubt power washing would do much in the corners of this car. I am doing all the cleaning by hand. I just hope it doesn't take too long. :embarrasm

:buttrock THIS IS HOW CLEAN I AIM TO LOOK WHEN I'M DONE. :buttrock

I once new a guy who took an E30 and completely removed every nut and bolt from the undercarriage and cleaned the entire car top to bottom ... then re-undercoated the car and put it all back together ... took him a few months though

I once new a guy who took an E30 and completely removed every nut and bolt from the undercarriage and cleaned the entire car top to bottom ... then re-undercoated the car and put it all back together ... took him a few months though

Why? So it can go right back to where it was in a few miles of driving?

Thats what I said ... I can understand a good check under the car for rust or problem spots, but it won't last

If I remove the dirt from mine I think it would fall apart...the dirt seems to be holding the rust together....

Try roof flashing and liquid nails. After a bad state inspection and the jack going threw the floorboard, I used flashing and liquid nails. Plus all the rust,

but now the car's fine...

It already looks good! It's gonna rule when it's done! :buttrock

No worries. ;) I am using rubbing alcohol on the whole motor. Piece by Piece.

Perhaps it would be worth your time to invest in a parts washer, some solvent a nice set of chemical gloves and a series of wire brushes. Going through the whole thing with rubbing alcohol will not be fun, and your index finger will hate you for it. Especially when all that alcohol leaches into your fingers if you're not using gloves.

Rubbing alcohol?

What about solvents, brake cleaner(watch the paint), simple green, degreasers, trichloroethylene, and others...

Rubbing alcohol?

What about solvents, brake cleaner(watch the paint), simple green, degreasers, trichloroethylene, and others...

I used Castrol Super Clean, but stained and left a white residue on the aluminum intake and other parts that were not painted ( I diluted it according to their recommendations)
Now I use Marine cleaner from Por-15, hot water and some sponges and brushes. the best cleaner I have ever used, I even use it on my rims since switching to Hawk brake pads. The only thing I don't like is it leaves you hands all slippery, like if you had baby oil in it :devillook

I once new a guy who took an E30 and completely removed every nut and bolt from the undercarriage and cleaned the entire car top to bottom ... then re-undercoated the car and put it all back together ... took him a few months though
Thats what I did with my E21, but my circumstances just happen to necesitate ground up restoration/assembly of the car anyway (wrecked my car, swapped all my parts into a new shell). I just made sure everything was spotless before it went together.

yeah. Rubbing alcohol is a real pain in the ass. But it seems to do the job better than engine degreaser since it doesn't get all over the place and won't stain my driveway. I am pretty good with cleaning engines. It's the interior that I am horrible at. I am leaving that till last.

I've had my best luck useing Easy-Off oven cleaner and a preasure washer, you have to watch out for your rubber lines though but if your replaceing them anyway, it makes the aluminum shine and will even get the baked-on oil on the inside of your timeing covers, cam cover.

I might try a pressure washer like Matt said. I once used it on my '81 Benz (before she died) and it really made a world of difference.

I used Grease Lighting it comes in a spray bottle... works great

Simple green worked pretty good for me.

i've given CLR a lot of chances, but it's just too messy. alcohol does the job just ok. windex only helps on finishing touches. acetone just sucks out any moisture, including your hands!. i tried the power washing and it left a lot of water spots (should've guessed) which i had to use windex for. engine degreaser stains everything other than the engine. i just can't win. but i won't give up. NEVER!!!

Wanna do my car next? ;)

Wanna do my car next? ;)

YOu probibly need to invest some time into washing your car first.... :nono :D


jk

Wanna do my car next? ;)

HELL'Z YES DOUG!!! I WOULD LOVE TO CLEAN YOUR CAR!!! :buttrock MAYBE IT COULD EVEN LOOK NICE FOR 2006 BF. LOL SERIOUSLY THOUGH. ONCE MY CAR IS DONE IN ABOUT OH SAY 3-4 MOS., I DEFINATELY WOULD LOVE TO DO STUFF TO YOUR CAR. :lol :buttrock

Well, HOPEFULLY by then I'll have broken down and washed, clay bar'd, and waxed the car. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the hood might actually be semi-salvagable, but I'm not counting on it. Besides, it's eventually getting replaced with either f/g or c/f anyway, so no skin off my back.

But hepl with (what's left of) the interior and the engine bay would be great. There is so much dirt, dust, grime and BLAH under the hood, not to mention a bit of re-wiring that needs to be done (had to ghetto rig the electric fan to get on the road to Bimmerfest...).

Can someone say Summer Detail/Tech Session?????

I'd be willing to help with the cleaning of Doug's car . . . actually, I've been pretty afraid of the dirt that's been it . . . And I've actually been finding a good friend in claybar. Let me know Doug . . . .;)

And hey Doug -- maybe we could find some cool cleaner to do wonders with the dash . . . although I can't remember if it has any cracks in it . . . . ;)

Tons of cracks, but I was HOPING to get a gauge clster to cover some of them. Oh well...sorta need a clutch first.

Barry, how is your cleaning coming along? Any pics of it now?

Tons of cracks, but I was HOPING to get a gauge clster to cover some of them. Oh well...sorta need a clutch first.

Barry, how is your cleaning coming along? Any pics of it now?

Oh . . . I will have to look closer next time. And what kind of gauge cluster?

Thanks for giving me info, Doug. ;)

Doug's car got cleaned for the AutoX this weekend, but it still may look . . . well, like doug's 320. At least it is smooth after the claybar . . . ;)

Barry, how is your cleaning coming along? Any pics of it now?

Heres another pic from just the other day. I removed all the black behind the grill and cleaned it of all the grime. i got some dirty fingers. But it looks way better now than it did before. Doesn't it? I can't wait to have the whole car done.

Hmmm....I wonder how much weight I can shave off of my car by removing all of the grime it has in those spots.....DAMN YOU BARRY FOR PUTTING IDEAS LIKE THAT IN MY HEAD!!!

Anyway, looking good. Keep up the awesome cleaning job. Are you gunning for a trophy at Bimmerfest next year? ;)

Oh, and thanks mainly to e30drmr, my e21 did get not only a bath, but a clay bar treatment on all the horizontal surfaces and then wax on the same. Looking back though, that might not have been the best idea. I guess the years of sitting under that tree in the Previous Owner's front yard (almost 2 years really) screwed with the paint more than I thought. After the clay bar process was complete, it was painfully obvious that some of the 'residue' we were seeing come off on the bar was actually paint. The crappy re-spray the PO had gotten for the car didn't seem to stay on too well. Oh well, just adds fuel to the fire for me replacing the hood with either c/f or fiberglass!

Thanks for the credit, Doug. And I like the new sig pic . . . I guess you got time to update that . . . ;)

Doug. With all the grimein your engine bay, you might have to pay a $10 fee to the city dump to dispose of the pile of crud from that engine bay. :D LOL

By the way, Doug. I remember that you hack sawed your shifter. How did you get the knob to hold though?

Your car is looking very nice. Are you cleaning the undercarrage also?

Doug. With all the grimein your engine bay, you might have to pay a $10 fee to the city dump to dispose of the pile of crud from that engine bay. :D LOL

By the way, Doug. I remember that you hack sawed your shifter. How did you get the knob to hold though?
You pay by the pound at the dump....probably more like $20. :D

I hacked the shifter lever but installed a different knob. It just so happens that the width of the inside of the knob basically matches the width of the wider portion of the lever (down to where I cut it). The e21 knobs are screw on, later models (of 3 Series at least) were snap-on, You might want to go with one of those, or an aftermarket knob that has fastening screws on the sides. I've also learned the hard way on the M3 NOT to rely on the knob as something to hold when shift, merely using it as a copmfy place to 'touch' the shifter. Shift knobs have a nasty habit of flying off while doing the 1-2 shift when you get over-zealous....esp in the middle of a race at Neo-Werkes. :(

You pay by the pound at the dump....probably more like $20. :D

I hacked the shifter lever but installed a different knob. It just so happens that the width of the inside of the knob basically matches the width of the wider portion of the lever (down to where I cut it). The e21 knobs are screw on, later models (of 3 Series at least) were snap-on, You might want to go with one of those, or an aftermarket knob that has fastening screws on the sides. I've also learned the hard way on the M3 NOT to rely on the knob as something to hold when shift, merely using it as a copmfy place to 'touch' the shifter. Shift knobs have a nasty habit of flying off while doing the 1-2 shift when you get over-zealous....esp in the middle of a race at Neo-Werkes. :(
You seem to find a way to make a lot of things work . . . and how are you supposed to shift if not holding the knob? Just curious . . . . ;)

. . . and how are you supposed to shift if not holding the knob? Just curious . . . . ;)

That's what she said. lol :D

I am gonna try what you did Doug. Hopefully it will work for me the same as it did for you.

Also, I don't think I will alcohol my undercarriage. I did powerwash the underside a week ago and it did make a world of difference. I didn't know there was acctually blue paint under the car too. :D
I thought it was all black under there. But I did repaint the wheel wells a nice similar "Honda Signaling Blue". Very close color. :buttrock

That's what she said. lol :D


Hahahahaha!! That was good. ;)

FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF:
Cameron - "It is his love, his life..."
Ferris - "It is his fault he did not lock the garage!"

I really like this quote Barry -- great movie!!!! :)

....so is it a good thing I locked the garage and took the keys to LA/Oxnard? :stickoutt

Barry, lemme know if you need help with the shifter thing. I can get dimesions for you before you start cutting (width of shift lever in the different sections so you know what will fit...calipers are good!).

I love that movie soooo much. It still sucks that you have to watch a classic Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder get thrown off a small cliff. But I guess it's ok considering that it is a movie and the cars were really 1975 Corvette roadsters with a kit car body. :devillook lol

Thanx Doug. That would help if you gave me dimensions on where to cut the shifter. I only got one chance at this cutting job.

P.S. Doug. I don't think you need to lock your garage. Not too many people would steal your car. Unless they are like me and want the original Saphir-Blau Metallic brought back. Then I would steal it and take it to a paint shop. And then put it back in the garage. :lol :D Yes. I know. Quite brilliant. lol

Barry, I'm in Oxnard right now, so I'll get you the dimensions when I get home (Tuesday?).

The car that was used in MOST of the shots for Ferris was a Fiat, not a Vette. But again, better that than a true Spyder.

Oh, and the M3 is sitting in the garage next to the 320i....up on jack stands though...:(
(It was an inside joke to e30drmr...at least I hope she takes it as a joke...)

Hahahahahaha!!! Someone might WANT Doug's car?!?!

And no matter what the car was, it was still sad to see it fall out of the garage and see it all mashed up! :eek:

Barry, I'm in Oxnard right now, so I'll get you the dimensions when I get home (Tuesday?).

The car that was used in MOST of the shots for Ferris was a Fiat, not a Vette. But again, better that than a true Spyder.

Oh, and the M3 is sitting in the garage next to the 320i....up on jack stands though...:(
(It was an inside joke to e30drmr...at least I hope she takes it as a joke...)


Better most cars than a true Spyder.

It is VERY SAD that the M3 is still in the garage up on jack stands . . . we NEED to do something about that!

And I don't get the joke . . . about the keys? Or something else? :confused

So your using rubbing alcohol?? I bought simple green, which does work great for dirt... But on the inside of the engine bay there is this thin layer of dirt that you can't hardly scratch off... If you know what I mean.

... But on the inside of the engine bay there is this thin layer of dirt that you can't hardly scratch off... If you know what I mean.

That's where the alcohol kinda comes in. Or, if you're ballsy enough, use acetone. I do on the bay itself, not the outer body or hood though. It does the job, along with dry up your fingers though. But acetone deffinately should work.

Or, using a metal wire brush. lol :redspot

Holy cow... Ok, I thought simple green was working.. Until the layer of dirt that wouldn't come off.. I know not to be heavy with the rubbing alchohol.. But DAAAAMN... That is some good stuff. That works miracles... Although with a rag and my finger, it starts to hurt after a while. trying to get small cracks between wires and things... GRR... You have any tips for me??