1979 Chevy Corvette Engine Detailing Help

[GregCavi]

Hello everyone

My neighbor has a 70 corvette and since he is cheap and think his car is mint condition he wants just an engine detail. It is actually horribly swirled. Someone posted a while back about corvette engines had some kind of electrical box or something that if it got wet then its broke and the engine wont start? Something like that.

When i detail an engine I will wait until the engine is only warm. I will then cover anything that looks electric to me. If there are any filters then I will cover those us as well. I then wet down. Spray with APC and agitate. Then rinse off and apply dressing.

So am I going to be alright? Do i need to be extra careful of this box or whatever. Does it have this box?

Thanks

Greg

[jaybs02]

Greg,
One of the beauties of working on an older car is the fact that they don`t have all the modern spaghetti, on that car the only thing that you will probably have to concern yourself with is covering the Carb (don`t know if they were fuel injected), the distributor and the alternator and possibly the voltage reg, there realy isn`t that much electronics under there, when you look you will see.

It`s a real motor not a computer

Good luck
"J"

[pappy]

i dont know about corvetts but i think most cars wont start if you get somthing electrical wet. I know my boss has said he has done this once but got lucky because he waited awhile and it started. but if you cover everything good and make sure ur not using the stream or full setting on parts of it then u should be fine.

[czwsecurity]

Greg
I think the electrical unit you are reffering to is the optispark unit but that is only a concern on 92 and above corvettes if im correct. (my 86 and my friends 89 dont have them). hope that helps.
Mark

[BlackSunshine]

if in doubt...leave the motor running....i`ve done this many time before with older engines. It will let you know if your in the wrong area. Just spray it down cold..start it up and go to it.....just keep the flow moving and try not to flood anything too much. Feel free to add extra degreaser or acid as you go if the motor heats up too much and dries it up....spray in one hand HP hose in the other(multitasking) I know that all the 79 camaros are carborated..so I would assume that the older vettes are too...but you`ll know obviously when you open the hood. That`s my 2 cents....others may disagree, but this method has been successful for me with alot of older vehicles........good luck and happy detailing. Post the pics when you are done, look forward to them.

[GregCavi]

Thanks!! I still have not done it but I will let you all know how it goes.. with pics too!

Greg