Steam cleaners?

[1969Mk3Spitfire]

I have a confession………

I’ve bought a Ford.

OK, now it’s out in the open, may I seek advice opinion from the esteemed members.

Under the bonnet, steering and suspension of my Spitfire remain immaculately clean post resto. I tend to spray and bush with Screwfix degreaser then flush with water from a Screwfix pump action spray bottle.

My new car is in original condition but under the bonnet needs a deep clean. I was thinking about degreaser plus steam cleaning. Anyone know of a domestic duty garage steam cleaner?

Many thanks.

[dougbgt6]

1 hour ago, 1969Mk3Spitfire said:

I’ve bought a Ford

I also have a Ford, 1 litre of throbbing power! It’s a Fiesta and a very good car.

I also have a steam cleaner, well several steam cleaners, they don’t last long!

No.1 is used exclusively for the kitchen floor. No.2, the floor bit having broken, is used for all sorts. Softening up peeling wall paper prior to repasting. Motor car bits cleaning. De-limescaling shower tiles. 

They are cheap as chips and well worth getting one just for the car. 

Doug

 

 

[PeteH]

11 minutes ago, dougbgt6 said:

De-limescaling shower tiles. 

I fell foul of that, we had Spanish Tiles in our shower, "someone" used the steam cleaner on them and especially the grout, end result was the glaze lifted, equals a new shower, or in this case a full wet room (£££££££££`s😭😂). Now relegated to a shelf in the shed, must look at it for cleaning the engine though?.

Pete

 

[Pete Lewis]

a spray of gunk or hyperclene , Jizer  and others a good wiggle with an old brush and wash of with hot water in a can works 

pressure washing best avoided especially getting water into electricals 

a gentle wask off over a hot engine and it all dries nicely , but i dont advocate anything wet and  pressured in the engine bay 

unless you want a load of trouble the next day   

 

[ahebron]

Never ever pressure wash an engine, it can lead to all sorts of issues especially with modern vehicles.
As Pete says a good spray cleaner then wash with water.
Modern engines tend to have places that water can pool and stay so I go over with a low pressure air line to blow the water out that doesnt go with running the engine.

[Unkel Kunkel]

I don’t have a steam cleaner but do have an ancient Bosch steam wall paper stripper which seems very  versatile at doing other jobs after the end attachment is  removed.

[Bordfunker]

I bought a Polti Vaperetto about 10 years ago with the John Lewis vouchers I was given when I left ( I know! Go figure)

Managed to kill a washing machine with it, but it has been brilliant at blasting all the crud off of, and out of the Herald’s engine over the last month.

Just spray or brush on some Gunk, as Pete says, agitate with a brush, and then blast off with the steam cleaner.

I’ve found it takes about 3 cycles of cleaning to get everything really clean but that was the insides of a 50+ year old engine.

Karl

[Peter Truman]

Don't know if this should be here or in "Blonde Moments"

when living in the UK early 70's, I used to clean the engine down with petrol and a brush, had done for years, anyway this time on the Vitesse I did it then wiped the surplus off with paper toweling, left the toweling in the engine bay and fired her up woosh the toweling caught fire and fell down between the engine and chassis rail, fire in the hold!

Oh Sh+t, panic, what to do me thinks, so pushed car backwards and stamp fire out, from then on used Gunk remover, brush and water!!!

As I said "Blonde Moment", still have the same car, engine never been out!  

[Pete Lewis]

17 hours ago, Peter Truman said:

engine never been out!

only the flames were OUT  

had the same  panic when a quick tack weld on a  nice waxed and repaired door set the carcass on fire flames 8ft high   wonderful  but it never pickled the paint   took a week to clean up the extiguisher powder it goes  ......... everywhere  

Pete

[ahebron]

And please remember brake cleaner containing Tetrachloroethylene when heated can create phosgene which is very similar to 'mustard gas'
This would mainly be if you used it to clean metal before welding.
 

[JohnD]

Similar effect when I went to weld new metal into a wing that had Ben 'repaired' by filling with melted bitumen.     With the addition that burning, melted bitumen works like Napalm.   Sticks to your overal and skin and goes on being bloody hot even when you beat the flames out.

[Peter Truman]

I know its a bit of thread drift, but a storey re mustard gas, in the early 70's I worked for the TV&CWB water board in the NE of England, I looked after the main water harvesting system/area of Cow Green, Hury & the Lartington Treatment Plant down to Darlington & the Broken Scar Treatment Plant.

On the books for years was a proposal to extend a stand alone small potable water system to supply the villages south of the A66, the scheme drew water from the Stoney Keld Spring, disinfect it and pump it into supply, the route was via road and across farm land, the road section passed an old WW2 RAF Chemical Warfare depot, we were advised by the MOD that all comtaminates had either been burnt off or dumped at sea, our trial test holes indicated all was OK, also the local farmers hadn't any past issues. Two days into the main laying the site inspector panics two men have got blisters on their hands!! the medico's at Barnard Castle advise its mustard gas contact!!

We stop work and the boss contacts the MOD, I can still hear the phone conservation and at the other end I remember SH*T, next morning the boss is in London urgent meeting, by 11AM he rings take a supply from the Lartington retic system at Bowes Service Res the MOD will pick up all the costs, We all work overtime negotiating with council and the local farmers re the new route and crossing their lands, how much, don't worry our pockets are deep! I did hear the MOD built a cut off drain before the runoff entered the river and put a small treatment process there for base loads, high run off would be diluted I assume.

Other stories re that job were the bull that chased me when I was choosing the route, the farmer said he was friendly! & we cut the main east west phone line after being given clearance on site to dig by their inspector! I believe phones comms had to be rerouted via the midlands. Sometimes Mr Murphy works overtime!!

My daily transport at the time was my Mk2 Vitesse, still with me and wrapped up in my garage here in Melbourne. 

 

[Colin Lindsay]

On 13/09/2022 at 11:20, 1969Mk3Spitfire said:

I have a confession………

I’ve bought a Ford.

I like Fords! Currently on my fourth Focus / Mondeo and daughter has a Fiesta.

For engine cleaning go to a car wash at a nearby garage, spray the engine bay with Gunk, let it soak in (wash the rest of the car whilst waiting!) then open the bonnet and hose off with the garage's very powerful professional washer. Unless you go mad round the electrics or blow a connection off, it's always worked for me.

Shortly I've to go disconnect the battery on the Fiesta, the bluetooth stops working periodically and has to be reset by leaving the battery off for ten minutes or so.

 

[1969Mk3Spitfire]

On 17/09/2022 at 08:41, Colin Lindsay said:

Had an XR31 back in 1990, ran it for about a month, hated it! Sorry! Sold it for £200 less than I paid for it.

When I posted a picture of my new Ford in the “my other car” section you commented the above…….now you’re saying…..

1 hour ago, Colin Lindsay said:

I like Fords! Currently on my fourth Focus / Mondeo and daughter has a Fiesta.

🤣🤣🤣

[Colin Lindsay]

3 hours ago, 1969Mk3Spitfire said:

When I posted a picture of my new Ford in the “my other car” section you commented the above…….now you’re saying…..

🤣🤣🤣

It's not the Word of God, just my opinion. Play about with variations such as "I never used to like certain Fords" or whatever. Yes, hated the XR3i. Totally. Loved the comparible Fiestas that were about in those days, had a 948 version (under 1 litre anyway) didn't fancy the Mondeo though drove quite a few, but hated the XR3i both as my individual car and the model itself.

 

[Unkel Kunkel]

16 hours ago, ahebron said:

phosgene which is very similar to 'mustard gas'

 

Both  highly toxic - otherwise not similar.

[1969Mk3Spitfire]

10 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said:

It's not the Word of God, just my opinion. Play about with variations such as "I never used to like certain Fords" or whatever. Yes, hated the XR3i. Totally. Loved the comparible Fiestas that were about in those days, had a 948 version (under 1 litre anyway) didn't fancy the Mondeo though drove quite a few, but hated the XR3i both as my individual car and the model itself.

 

……….your opinion normally carries sway 😁

My first brand new car was a Fiesta, loved it.

The Blue Oval has a huge and loyal following, sometimes defying logic. I recently watched an episode of Bangers and Cash and there was a feeding frenzy over a wreck of an RS2000. I had RS Escorts continuously from 1987 to 2016 and regretted selling my last one. I then spent the next 6 years looking for another.

Ford and Triumph both spell nostalgia for me. I’ve driven Audi diesels, mostly as company cars, for many years. I bought a new A3 diesel earlier this year and it is unbelievable good, but, only a Triumph or a Ford from the 60s to 80s can put a smile on my face.

[Colin Lindsay]

1 hour ago, 1969Mk3Spitfire said:

……….your opinion normally carries sway 😁

Depends on who you ask!! Er Indoors may beg to differ! (IIRC she made me buy the Xr3i in the first place. My revenge was buying her the 948 Fiesta. I even had to fit a rear wiper to it, it was so basic)

[PeteH]

FORD`s???. Don’t ask. OK well. I think the score is 14(ish) in total, not counting the 2 Company Escort Mk3`s, Base Models, as "befits" one’s lowly status as perceived by management.  Started with a 1955, Ford Thames 5cwt Van, Mk 1 Consul, Mk2 Consul, Two Mk2 Escort estates, a Mk 3 Cortina Estate, 2 Litre Capri 2 Ghia in Orange, Two series2 Granada`s 2,8 estate and a cracking White Ghia X pack with full leather interior. Most of the others, essentially Mk 1 Escorts where "acquired" via “friends” in the “trade”, for conversion to rally cars. I was an enthusiast rather than that competent but it was a lot of fun, even if hugging trees on forest stages!!. Got too old for that sort of shenanigans. So retired (Dis?)gracefully and built an old bike up for a pile of parts.

Pete

 

[mark powell]

Apart from 'run of the mill' Escorts and Focus(es) or should that be Focii?  I have had a couple of Ford 'Beasties'   I miss both of them.

  

[PeteH]

Nice. Whats the "mill" in the white one?. Is the Convertible a Galaxy?

Pete

[mark powell]

Zodiac had a Raymond Mays conversion with triple SU's and 6 branch manifold.  And yes, Galaxie convertible. Canadian import, I believe. Should have been a 360 cu in, but someone had fitted 302 cu in.  Shared the same PCD wheel stud measurement as the Zodiac, so sometimes swapped the wheels over! 

 

[Clive]

2 hours ago, mark powell said:

Zodiac had a Raymond Mays conversion with triple SU's and 6 branch manifold.  And yes, Galaxie convertible. Canadian import, I believe. Should have been a 360 cu in, but someone had fitted 302 cu in.  Shared the same PCD wheel stud measurement as the Zodiac, so sometimes swapped the wheels over! 

 

Did you like teh Galaxy?

I ask as I drove one in teh states a few years ago. A friend had one from new (69 or 70 I think) and loved it. But I rated it as possibly the worst car I had driven, zero steering feel, handled like a boat adrift on the sea and probably mighty quick. The bit I did like was the bench setas, there were 6 of us in it no problem at all. 

The other dreadful vehicle which I rate as bad was a series 1 landrover, but that was down to its total lack of comfort. I understand they are useful, but at a cost!

[mark powell]

Series 1 Landy....  Drove one with a trailer and horse from Norfolk to Surrey and returned a couple of weeks later to collect said horse. So about 550 miles for both trips.   An experience, to say the least.

Bear in mind the steering set-up on the Series landy, a little bit of play or stiffness and you had to steer it like a ship...

The Galaxie, Yes, handled like a boat, but a whole lot of fun! 

 

[PeteH]

"steering like a boat". Exactly how the Vauxhaul Cresta, featured in last weeks Bangers and Cash was described, That and wrecking your knee as you got in!. Same with the Old Mk1 Victors too. Aquaplane did a tripple carb conversion and full head rework, for the Zodiac and Zepher. School pal who was an RAF J-Tech. Had the convertible, power hood, tripple carbs, the whole business. I used to get to "mind it" for him when he did a stint abroad, Great "pulling" macihine!!.

Pete