[QB93Z]

When I bought my yellow 1994 ZR-1 last May the engine was very stained with splotches of water or cleaner staining, and streaks on the cam covers from seepage of oil or water . The car has 94,000 miles on it and the stains could be just age but they were a major appearance distractor.

I was afraid that the only way to make it look better was to remove the plenum, throttle body, coolant tubes, and cam covers and get they powder coated.

Since I had nothing to lose, I decided to try to clean the engine and see what happened. I figured that since the engine is painted, I would treat it as if it was a stained hood or fender. My plan was to try car polish and then try wet sanding.

I started with Simple Green cleaner and it didn't remove any stains.

Next I used Adams Swirl and Haze Remover with a micro-fiber cloth. I put a few drops of the Swirl and Haze Remover on a cloth and with one finger I rubbed the painted portions of the engine working on a small area at a time. When the cloth became black from removing grime, I "rinsed" the area with Simple Green and polished with a clean micro-fiber cloth. And repeat as necessary. And repeat! And repeat!!!!!!

It took me six hours to do the whole engine.

The results were very satisfying. I removed almost all of the staining and the surfaces have a nice shiney, well care-for look.
The finish color may be slightly darker than original, but it is not too bad.
Here are some after pictures (I never took before pictures):







Here is a close up that shows some of the areas I still need to work on:



Jim