Spring cleaning

[greatbear]

With the weatherman predicting crappy weather for Saturday, I did not expect to get much done outside. As it was, the weather was quite nice, and some much needed spring cleaning took place. A full truckoad (no kidding) of flattened cardboard boxes got taken to recycling. A full 55 gallon bag plus a partial one filled with styro packing peanuts I took to the bewildered (yet always happy to receive them) folks at my post office. Being that Jeff and I do so much internet and mail order buying, the fallout of packaging collects in no time. All the styro blocks and materials will have to find some other disposal method.

It was also time for me to tackle the soapy disaster in the trunk of The Strat. The half-quart or so of mega-concentrated dishwashing soap collected in the spare tire well, soaping up just about everything on it's way through the well. Trying to figure out a way to not waste the soap, I pulled everything from the trunk, filled the well with several gallons of water to dilute the soap, then bailed it into buckets to be used for cleaning the cars and trucks. It seemed a wonderful idea. And it was. It also begun the inside-out, bottom-to-top detailing I like to give my vehicles in the spring. Taillights were removed, housings cleaned, the trunk scrubbed and shop vac'd clean, then onto the engine bays of three of my rolling stock. Rinsing the soap from the carpet and the spare tire cover panel took about a half hour of continuous water blasting. It looked as though I had a foam party in my driveway afterwards.

People who know me well will know that I prefer to have the engine compartments of my vehicles clean enough to eat from. So, with the soapy water, engine cleaner and other goodies, I cleaned up three engine bays:


The Strat ('00 Dodge Stratus ES)


The '03 Mini Cooper S and all it's mods


The '07.5 Chevy Silverado Duramax, All 365hp/660lb-ft of diesel goodness.

Okay, the last one was a bit of cheating, it did not need a lot of work to look spiffy, since it's so new. And yes, I added a second alternator, just because I could.

Today was cold and windy, and I did not feel like washing these vehicles as I was hoping to do. Instead, Jeff and I took a trip to Carmax for kicks to see what was available. Jeff's commute , though not that long, is a killer in gas mileage since his S-10 does not exactly sip fuel with it's big V6, oversized tires and the roof visor. There was a lot of cars in decent shape, but nothing truly stood out that was not already sold or either too expensive or with way too many miles. There were some nice Cobalts, quite a few Pontiac and Malibus, an unusual blue Camry, a couple Solaras, and a couple Dodge Calibers. The pretty green late model Stratus Jeff saw on the intarweb had been sold. Other interesting cars had manual transmissions, which Jeff does not do. After some walking around, kicking tires, picture taking and a little bit of seat time, we had lunch then did our grocery shopping for the week. The funky weather put me under the weather somewhat, so I rounded out the day with some household tasks, a nap and other sundry nonsense.

Comments

[sfmini.livejournal.com]

Other than myself you are one of the few people that keeps a clean engine compartment. People think I'm nuts to spend a couple of hours twice a year or so cleaning it out.

Oh, maybe I am nuts.

[normalcyispasse.livejournal.com]

I appreciate this! Terri's always making fun of me for keeping my vehicles clean -- including engines -- but dammit, it makes a difference to me.

[jrjarrett.livejournal.com]

I'm so jealous, your engines ARE ones you could eat off of.

I spent the weekend replacing brake calipers, and I still have squishy brakes. I must have some air still in the lines...grr.

[(Anonymous)]

So pretty ...

I like the sound of the nap with Phil better though.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

You could remind her that clean engines and such make for less grease that might get tracked into the house and spread over clothing, not to mention keeping things clean and checked upon makes for more trouble-free motoring. ;)

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

We are both nuts then.

I sometimes get the same sort of comments from mostly coworkers. My comeback is usually "It's a guy thing, you would not understand". Being that most of those offering commentary are male, it makes for delayed reaction on their part. X-D

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

I sometimes resort to 'see-saw' bleeding calipers that seem to be stubborn about relinquishing all the air inside. I'll remove the caliper from the spindle, then fit a shim of wood or an old pad baking plate that's much thinner than the rotor, or simply fit my piston retractor into an empty caliper to allow the piston itself to go to full extension (without moving past the seal), then pressure bleeding the system on that side while shaking the caliper to dislodge the air bubbles. Retracting the piston will back-bleed the system, and any air bubbles that might be trapped in proportioning valves, ABS controllers or master cylinders will show up on the way back through in the master cylinder reservoir. If my diagnostic scanner and the vehicle itself supports it, I run the ABS bleeder routines as well.

I added stainless brake lines to the Mini, along with drilled rotors and Axxix ceramic pads. The brakes are dreamy.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

I dunno, the engines are quieter while idling than when I am napping. Including the diesel!

[sfmini.livejournal.com]

I always get the "only a gay guy would dust his engine". The MINI engine compartment is so tight that I actually accomplish most of my cleaning with the same canned air I use on the computer.

[wrascalism.livejournal.com]

Lordy! Those engines look showroom new! I'm supremely jealous.

[growler-south.livejournal.com]

Actually, only a gay guy *would* use canned air on his engine.

I must admit I've been tempted... quicker than getting the compressor out!

[growler-south.livejournal.com]

Sick. I love it.

I've just discovered the joy of the waterblaster for cleaning engine bays- like the BMW I did just this afternoon. Misted teh whole thing with orange-oil based degreaser/cleaner, let it soak a bit, then waterblasted from top to bottom. Lovely. And quick.

[cutepacub.livejournal.com]

The next time ya'll are up in Lebanon, swing up to Klick-Lewis in Palmyra. I dealt with Alex Petroff. It was absolutely the best experience I have ever had purchasing a car. And their cars are all cherry, even with some miles on them. I can't recommend them enough. And ya'll know I'm a bastard to deal with when it comes time to buy a car :)

[msclwolf.livejournal.com]

oh my.....terribly impressed (claps)

The bf is the car nut of the house. I am afraid I let mine languish fairly unloved, am not very good. The only one I doted on was a '79 MGB GT I had. I only ran it 6 months of the year, loved it. Was not practical when I moved though (sob sob) no public transport out here whhaaaaa

[jeffbriggs.livejournal.com]

Is the inside of your house this clean also???
If so shawn and I would like to propose marriage......

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

Sadly, the house is not as clean as my engine compartments. While not a pig sty either, there is dusting to be done, isolated messes that linger around too long, and the basement and garage are disaster areas. I'm working on it though.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

I have to take turns driving each vehicle so they get used, if they sit the brakes rust and dust collects. I need to reclaim my garage so I can keep idle vehicles there.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

Wonderful too for undercarriage cleaning as well. The weather took a turn and got too cold and windy for me to keep on washing, but the week is warming up, and I have a couple buckets of soapy water still. lol

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

It helps that the detailing happens at least once a year. And judicious use of WD-40 keeps castings and other bare or plated metal looking good for a long time (that's one of my secrets!).

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

We dont find ourselves back in Lesbanon much these days, when in PA it's almost always up at Jeff's parents' place in Dornsife, and recently a hockey game in Hershey. We've only started looking around now, we'll keep options open.

[rockybear02.livejournal.com]

HMMN very nice Phil! I'm hoping for a productive day today in the yard - if I get really good - I might break into cleaning Carm's Subie. With it going 150 miles a day - it sure does build up some crud...

[jeffbriggs.livejournal.com]

For some reason I beleive you are.....pretty impressive.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

Carm and Carm's car will thank you for it.

[rockybear02.livejournal.com]

I think you're right - the Forester is all nice and shiny again. The carpet got shampoo - and I even wiped down under the hood with WD-40...

But wow has he got the stone chips - that aluminum hood takes a beating....