One thing I have never quite been able to satisfactorily figure out with ANY of my cars is addressing the engine compartment. I probably am more OCD than most folks in that I always spend some time cleaning whatever places I can get to on on the engine and surrounding area but these is still so many areas that I can never easily get to. I was particularly sensitive to this when I had my Corvette with the clamshell hood whereby the entire engine compartment and wheel wells were exposed and I would spend some time with rags and simple green getting what I could but then I would see photos posted by the really dedicated detailing folks that would put me to shame.

How do you extreme OCD guys get to all the nooks and crannies in the engine compartment? I suppose one way would be to spray some engine cleaning gunk and then hose down somehow with a focused spray but that gets me nervous and still might not get into all of the areas.

Doug

 

I don't obsess too much about the actual engine, because it's mechanical and oily, and is therefore 'supposed' to get dirty (and nobody sees it). I like to keep the inside of the bonnet (hood) clean and do occasionally wipe down the black plastic parts in and around the engine bay, but that's about as far as I go.

 

With all of my other vehicles I take them to one of those self serve car wash places where they have the power washer wand and I spray down the under hood compartment with the "tire wash/engine clean" solution which is very low pressure then I use the regular "wash" feature on the less delicate areas which blasts off most of what is there, and then I use the "spotless rinse" feature which is relatively low pressure to wash off the more sensitive areas. Then I rinse out the whole area with the "spotless rinse" setting and then when that is done, I spray it down with the "wax" setting.

I actually did this on my Jag when I first got it and cleaned it up very well. Subsequently, I have heard people say not to spray water under the hood of our Jags because of the sensitive electronics. Maybe I got lucky, or maybe I knew what I was doing because it did not create any problems. I haven't had to do it again, now it is just a good wipedown on the areas I can reach, the rest is still very clean.

 

Okay, so I got home this afternoon to finish my exhaust tips since I was drawn into doing it by reading all the posts this morning. I did not take "before" pictures, but suffice it to say that the outer rims and the entire insides of both exhausts were completely black. After some scrubbing with metal polish and 0000 steel wool, you can see the results in the photos below. I was a little surprised to see how poorly welded the insides are, you can't get them perfectly clean because the deep wrinkles in the welds are just not accessible, but they look 100% better and now I've added one more chore to my carwash routine.

 

 

Excellent job. Look much better I did a similar lift on my old tips, and as I said the only problem I had was that they began to tarnish around the weld and the 'wrinkles' on the lip. That's why I gave in to my urges a few weeks back and bought some brand new ones.

Guess what you're going to be thinking about for the rest of the week

 

Thanks a lot, Frog (said sarcastically), I'm already reeling from thinking about taking off the wheels and cleaning the backsides; I have to stop reading this thread! Immediately!!!!

 

Don't stop reading, lest ye become one of those other people that just don't really care what thier cars look like.

 

And remember that when you take the wheels off, you'll need a special, slightly abrasive sponge or cloth to do the back of the spokes, because they have a rough texture.

Once you get onboard the OCD express...

 

Don't forget, when you get the back wheels off, that allows access to the part of the exhaust that you can see from the side. Looks nice when it is polished.

 

Excellent point, well made. That 6" strip of exhaust you can see when the wheels are on has to SHINE.

 

Great job

The + side is now that its only a quick wash / wipe down to maintain them the way they are......The hard work has been done.

As for the wheels?
Do yourself a favour and look to buy "Sonax FULL effect wheel cleaner" with no acidic additives it lifts everything off your rims leaving them as good as new with NO scrubbing.

 

Ditto.

 

I've just remembered another one I'm guilty of: I always put the shelf in the boot (trunk) on the upper level to get a nice even floor, but the slits in the carpet each side of the shelf annoyed me. So, I sourced some identical carpet and cut out one large piece to cover the entire floor area. No more lines

 

You didn't buy the proper Jaguar boot carpet or liner.



The boot material barely justifies the description as carpet. It's dreadful rubbish and difficult to clean. Why Jaguar have persisted with this coarse fibre for so long amazes me.

I had a proper leather bound carpet made for my last XJ8 but haven't yet done this for the XK8. That loses me a few points on the OCD scale.

Graham

 

The one in the middle looks nice, but it's got the dreaded lines in it. I put rubber in my van, not in my Jag

 

Taking off seatbelts tonight to soak in dawn then to soak in washing soda. Dirty seatbelts look bad.

 

ARRRRRGH! This thread is driving me crazy.

When I bought the car in November, we had it up on the rack at the dealer inspecting the underside. I was amazed at how clean it was. Even the painted body components looked clean and nice. Now, as the poor thing has been out on the winter streets a few times, all I can think about is how dirty the undercarriage must be. Thanks a lot for fueling my OCD

 

Hi George,
You are very welcome.