Engine Detail of my 2003 Mach 1, F21 Reviewed....PICS!

66temp

New Member
Established Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2005
Messages
331
Location
West Palm Beach, Florida
Hey guys, well I thought I'd do a quick writeup today on what you can do with an "el-cheapo" can of tire foam from pep boys or your local superstore....

My process usually goes something like this:

1. Make sure the engine is warm, and then hose the motor down with water, and after that, spray on your degreaser or AIO cleaner to help loosen up all the gunk...
2. Let that sit for about 1-3 minutes (depending on how dirty the motor is)
3. Preferably pressure clean off (If not just hose off/brush with your misc brushes in order to properly remove all of the grease/grime/dirt)
4. While wet, spray on your tire foam and close the hood
5. Open the hood 15-20 minutes later and wipe everything down, the tire foam should be dissolved and everything should look pretty good!

(I didn't degrease my engine as it was already fairly clean, just some dirt and dust here and there, so I just lightly pressure washed the motor before I dressed it with F21)

In review of the F21, its a cheap, nice product that can get you pretty nice results if you know how to use it (its so easy its ridiculous!) and I love how the plastic/rubber feels when its dry, its very smooth and not greasy to the touch at all...I've done this before with AA and I thought it was a little glossier/greasier but I prefer the matte look and I think this will help repel some of the dirt and dust!!!

IMG_6604.jpg


Before/Afters:
IMG_6584.jpg


During Foam stage :chuckle:
IMG_6585.jpg


After:
IMG_6587.jpg


You can see here where I hadn't wiped the hoses down, thats why when the foam has dried, I soak a mitt with some of the tire foam that I'm using and gently wipe everything down that I can touch
IMG_6588.jpg


IMG_6589.jpg


So there you have it! Here are two pics that I took that I thought were cool, they just looked too pretty not to post!

IMG_6591.jpg

IMG_6594.jpg


Thanks for looking guys!!!! :coolman:
 

crizzut

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2005
Messages
2,043
Location
idontknow, california
didn't expect to see it clean and shine that well, I definately need to try that sometime. Did you have to pay careful attention to loose spray on the paint or was it pretty easy to direct the tire foam?
 

66temp

New Member
Established Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2005
Messages
331
Location
West Palm Beach, Florida
crizzut said:
didn't expect to see it clean and shine that well, I definately need to try that sometime. Did you have to pay careful attention to loose spray on the paint or was it pretty easy to direct the tire foam?
It's fairly easy to direct the foam, but I usually wash the car after I foam the motor down, so if I do happen to get any foam on the paint, it just rinses right of when I close the hood and wash the car!
 

Wishing4Cobra

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2004
Messages
7,147
Location
SoCal
my honeycomb and shaker is starting to fade a little, is that going to work? Engine bay looks clean man!
 

lloyyd

Cobra-less again
Established Member
Joined
May 13, 2006
Messages
2,549
Location
Nashville, TN
Wow, that looks good. I used that S100 motorcycle cleaner from the Harley shop. It works good too, but you have to use the dressing to make it shine.
 

jlauth

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Nov 19, 2005
Messages
1,286
Location
Indianapolis
Do any of you know if this would affect my N2O solenoids and micro switch? I would make sure to cover the MSD window switch, but would the rest be ok. By the way thanks a lot for this write up. I am gonna go pick up my car because winter is almost over, and this is what i am doing first.
 

crizzut

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2005
Messages
2,043
Location
idontknow, california
you don't need to worry about covering the wiring as long as you don't plan on starting up the motor with water on it. You N20 solenoids should fine as long as the engine is warm, and you simply close the hood to let the water evaporate from the existing heat.
 

66temp

New Member
Established Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2005
Messages
331
Location
West Palm Beach, Florida
Wishing4Cobra said:
my honeycomb and shaker is starting to fade a little, is that going to work? Engine bay looks clean man!
Not sure, it might bring it back for a couple of hours, but you are probably going to need to dye the shaker back...I treat mine every week in hopes of trying to keep it from fading! :mj:
 

Kevin the Clean 1

1 CLEAN 04 SNAKE
Established Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2003
Messages
12,571
Location
Campell, California
66temp,

I love the after picture man. But, but one small comment. I have always heard that putting water on a hot engine could be a bad thing... Just my .02 cents man... :dw:
 

66temp

New Member
Established Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2005
Messages
331
Location
West Palm Beach, Florida
Kevin the Clean 1 said:
66temp,

I love the after picture man. But, but one small comment. I have always heard that putting water on a hot engine could be a bad thing... Just my .02 cents man... :dw:
I never pressure clean the motor at full operating temperature. I'll normally just get it WARM so all of the grease gets loosened up, and then I'll wash it down, after this I'll start the engine to help evaporate all of the water off ;-)
 

drewbhot

SVT member
Established Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2006
Messages
163
Location
Va
Engine looks really clean man. Nice. One thing I like about that F1 is, yes it does clean well, but it also seems like it repels dirt longer too. May just be me, but if I use it on my wheels, they don't get brake dust on them the next time I wash the car, if I don't use it, they have brake dust on them after a week or so..
 

66temp

New Member
Established Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2005
Messages
331
Location
West Palm Beach, Florida
drewbhot said:
Engine looks really clean man. Nice. One thing I like about that F1 is, yes it does clean well, but it also seems like it repels dirt longer too. May just be me, but if I use it on my wheels, they don't get brake dust on them the next time I wash the car, if I don't use it, they have brake dust on them after a week or so..
It definately does help keep everything cleaner for longer...Since its a tire dressing, it is designed to help repel dirt, it doesn't dry greasy at all and leaves a nice natural glossy look to the surface.
 

OhIIICobra

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2005
Messages
2,373
Location
USA
That stuff works good. Just bought some and did both cobras and my wife truck. Much better than simple green!
 

Kevin the Clean 1

1 CLEAN 04 SNAKE
Established Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2003
Messages
12,571
Location
Campell, California
66temp said:
I never pressure clean the motor at full operating temperature. I'll normally just get it WARM so all of the grease gets loosened up, and then I'll wash it down, after this I'll start the engine to help evaporate all of the water off ;-)

Thanks for the clarification. That makes sense the way you do it... ! :beer:
 

CobraKindaGuy

New Member
Established Member
Joined
May 26, 2004
Messages
1,405
Location
US of A
I've been using NO TOUCH tire spray since 1997 to clean my engines. Always did a fantastic job. I will have to try the F21 and compare.
 

Kevin the Clean 1

1 CLEAN 04 SNAKE
Established Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2003
Messages
12,571
Location
Campell, California
CobraKindaGuy said:
I've been using NO TOUCH tire spray since 1997 to clean my engines. Always did a fantastic job. I will have to try the F21 and compare.

I have been using that product for years too. Please let me know which is better! :dw:

;-)
 

OhIIICobra

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2005
Messages
2,373
Location
USA
91 FOX 5.0 said:
im pretty sure tire dressing is flamable... doesnt seem like a good idea to me

Good point. I did a little test sprayed some on the driveway and chucked matches at it. :burn: In it's foamy state yes an open flame will ignite it. Once the foam has subsided about 10 seconds, the residue will not ignite even with an open flame applied directly. If your engine is slightly warm and lightly sprayed with water I think the risks are further minimized.

If it was that dangerous average Joe would have blown him self up while accidentally spraying on or near hot brake parts.

Take this advice with a grain of salt and if you blow up your neighborhood I take no responsibility.:-D
 

Users who are viewing this thread



Top