Exterior engine cleaning

[Sydsmith]

My Mulliner 15 came with years of greasy grime all over the engine, underneath the grime the engine paint is tidy, the small area I have cleaned with paraffin looks great, so clean the grime off I must.

I have engine cleaner in stock and a pressure washer, but, my drive slopes downward and is made of nice clean brick pavers. At the end of the drive is a cross grating/gutter which leads the rain off into the land drain system and onwards to a local stream.

Clearly even if I was prepared to sacrifice the pavers, which is not an option, it would be very wrong to let the gunge run off into the drains.

Has anyone solved this problem especially the containment and disposal of the nasty waste?

[classiclife]

Hello Syd,

Many recycling centres will take this type of waste if in a sealed container and marked accordingly. In fact many of the centres in East Sussex are only taking such waste {at the moment} as it's problematic to store at home. May be worth a few calls or some online checks with local depots.

As for containing the washed off liquid, you could make a box and line that with something such as DPM; in which the engine could be placed. Once finished the fluid can be transferred in to containers and the DPM disposed of at the centre.

Regards.

Richard.

[Sydsmith]

Thanks Richard, the engine is still in the car and containers are a problem as I guess we are talking quite a few gallons, but your idea for a catcher will work. Will look at this again tomorrow if the rain keeps off. Syd

[classiclife]

Hello Syd,

I have tended to use GUNK either brush or aerosol - the latter can be quite lively when it comes out of the tin !! The amount used will not be as much as you think and leaving it on for awhile tends to benefit the cleaning process.

It is the cleaning down with water afterwards that increases the amount of waste product. Perhaps a local farm may have a spare 25L / 50L tin going spare and that could be used to store the waste afterwards. It would then be a case of decanting when you have smaller containers to take to the tip and it will be worth asking what their max drop off is at any one time.

Under the circumstances I cannot think of anything else at the moment.

Regards.

Richard.

[Salmons]

I use petrol to wash down the engine I have it in a bowl and use a paint brush, as the dirty petrol runs down the engine I collect it in an old washing up bowl. When the job is finished I put the dirty petrol into old plastic milk containers and after it has had a few weeks to for the dirt to settle I strain it off for re-use. The sediment in the milk containers dries up and they can go into general waste.

We too have a tidy brickweave drive which is a nuisance because I can no longer jack the car up on it.

Salmons

[Brian-H]

Get a kids' paddling pool and lay some of this sheeting on the inside of the paddling pool when it's inflated https://www.coruba.co.uk/rubber-sheetin ... ubber.html

[marchesmark]

There's a much easier solution: https://www.bilthamber.com/surfex-hd

I've used Bilt Hamber stuff for years, there's nothing anywhere near as good. Once you've tried Ferrosol, you'll never buy WD40 again. Likewise with their waxes - forget Auto Glym. Their clay bar - unlike most, it works with water, no need for expensive fluids. Use a clay bar on your car, follow up with Auto Balm and I think you will be astonished at the result - I was.

Surfex is a multi-purpose degreaser. Used in different concentrations with water, it tackles a huge amount of jobs. best thing about it? It is biodegradable, so you can wash off the engine and neither your pavers or the environment will suffer.

Mark

[classiclife]

I agree Mark, their stuff is excellent - I was unaware they have this product.

Will certainly bear it in mind when the time comes.

Regards.

Richard.

[NickDeAth]

Just to add to the replies. When I have had to do a similar exercise ( although it wasn't on nice brick paviours it was on concrete) I put a large thick plastic sheet under the front of the car covered that with some layers of corrugated cardboard and then used either spill dry or sand to absorb the solvent. You then have a solid to dispose of rather than a liquid. I disposed of this in the non recyclable at the local tip.

Nick

[ranald]

Hi, I’ve used Swarfega Jizer in spray form. As far as catching the liquid I find cement mixing trays which can be bought (especially multi buy) quite economically. Or large shallow plastic trays can be bought from garden centres although these tend to be more expensive. All the best, Ranald