wiping my bottom, to drop or not to drop or should I just sub it out? Options

[theleschyouknow]

hello all seeking a little advice or direction.
I recently had to replace a broken clutch pedal clevis pin and while investigating and diagnosing that I "accidentally" made a clean spot in the 40 years of oil and dirt and grime covering my transmission & my tin & my shocks & my engine & my cvs & well you get the point pretty much everywhere on my underside. After several weeks of maybe getting an hour or so a day in on it I've basically got half the tranny cleaned up- muffler and he's are a bitch to work around!

current state


drivers side & bottom end for reference where it started (pass side of trans was actually worse)


I really want to start taking stuff off like the muffler and he's (sure make that valve adjustment a lot easier (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif) )and, God help me, I'm thinking how much easier it'd be if I just dropped the trans, but I'm more than a little freaked out about that. I'm a remove and replace wrench at best and my projects generally end up taking much longer than expected. The stories of broken exhaust studs and helicoils and while I'm in theres weigh heavy on my mind.
It's really too hot to drive it right now but my commute is short and I really want to!
Sorry to have made a short story long but here is the crux of my question(s)

Should I just start (carefully) trying to remove as much shit as possible and see where that leads (is there a gulp! smiley)

or

Should I take it in & pay someone else to clean it up. I'm looking at a local place called Zim's Autoteknik who seem to have a good rep working on classic & late model Porsches and all German autos for that matter

Also thinking about ditching the hand scrub with LAs's Awesome Cleaner and going with some kind of all over spray on engine cleaner with a water rinse off any thing I or whoever should take special care around if that's the route?

appreciate any thoughts or advice especially from those who have gotten in over their heads before. thanks

cjl

[mepstein]

I would spray with easy off and drive it to the do it yourself car wash but I'm sure there will be 10 posts on why that is a bad idea. Diesel fuel works well too. Again, probably not recommended by people smarter than me.

[76-914]

Clean it yourself and enjoy the journey. You will discover things you previously overlooked or dismissed. It's the first step. Take it.

[Elliot Cannon]

Pull the car over a big piece of plastic or cardboard and spray the krap out of it with carb cleaner. Don't get any onya. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[JawjaPorsche]

Cans of brake cleaner then hard water spray.

[Hank914]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

What they said. Diesel or brake cleaner (but they have to be properly disposed of) or just the Flaps Purple bottle.

Every oil change I spray the purple all over the underside engine and tranny, wait 2 minutes, then I rinse it off with a spray bottle filled with hot water. I do this while jackstanded in my garage. Side benefit: garage floor gets cleaned also, and I then just hose it into the driveway as it is biodegradable.

[theleschyouknow]

thanks for the replies I'm cool with spraying it with x and then a spray hosewater rinse I'm concerned about the hole(s) on the top side of the trans (and other places?) & water getting in there and -73 2.0- I've got a tear in the rubber side shift linkage cover also worried about water in there
those areas I can plug or cover anything else under there that doesn't play well with excessive amounts of water? or cleaner?
paint? rubber? other holes/entry points to the internals?
thanks
cjl

[mikedsilva]

great thread!
I'm new to 914 world but only a couple of months ago, i started doing similar to you.
I would remove the muffler and HE's. Start at the back, and just be methodical in what you do. I use cheap rubber gloves to reduce the gunk getting all over me.

Have a space set aside to put the items so they don't get in the way.

If you have space to use a hose, that is the best and fastest option to remove the most gunk... Perhaps reverse onto some car ramps.. get some decent degreaser/truck wash on the underside and agitate the thick areas with a stiff brush (your dishwashing brush will work well ).
Hose away!
I think you will still have a LOT left on, but for that, you can crawl under and use lots of old rags soaked in diesel fuel, or kerosene.. but I find my local auto parts store sells heavy duty degreaser that works pretty damn well.

Do you know where the oil is coming from?
Kinda looks like it's coming from EVERYWHERE!!
seriously though, it looks perhaps your rear main seal is leaky?

I had NEVER taken a gearbox off before, but I found this job very doable.
There are only 4 bolts holding the gearbox on the engine... the tricky part for me was how to get the nut off the starter!! took me a while to figure that little trick out.. Pretty clever on the part of VW Porsche though...

[Cairo94507]

I would put the car up on ramps and spray it with simple green or some mild biodegradable grease cutter. I would spray it a couple times and let it soak in. I would do that at the end of the driveway, closest to the street and then take a garden hose and rinse all the junk off and down into the sewer so you don't upset your neighbors. I would do that early in the AM to be as covert as possible.

Either that or have someone follow you to the $1 car wash with the pressure wands and put it on ramps there, spray the heck out of it with your degreaser and wash it all off. For that, a weekday early in the AM might be best.

Anything you are concerned about water getting in take some aluminum foil and wrap it tightly or depending on the thing being wrapped, use plastic bags and tape.

Before my car went to Scotty's to be restored, I took it to a truck yard where they do chassis cleaning on RV's and tractors and they put it on their lift and then steamed cleaned the crap out of it. Lots and lots of stuff came off. Easy-peasy but then again I knew it would be getting restored and just wanted to clean as much off it as I could before it got shipped to Scotty. Nobody likes working on a greasy, grimy car.

[914Next]

I'm also taking on the same task. My car is in great shape but still had 47 years of dust, dirt and oil underneath. I've found that the best approach for me is "a little at a time". Tackle one area...might be one wheel well or even just part of the wheel well. View it as a longer term process and you won't frustrated. I started mine 6 months ago and every month or so, I get underneath and clean a bit more. Might be just an hour or two each time. The early stages involve a lot of heavy grease and rags that will see the trash can rather than the washing machine. As you go back each time though and go over an area again, You'll find that you're more and more impressed with the progress and the "dirty" rags actually can be sent through the washer. I still have more to do but what seemed like an impossible task has become a bunch of small cleaning jobs that I rather enjoy.

By the way, I have used mostly simple green or other biodegradable cleaners.

[Jeffs9146]

One word!


AWSOME

Oh and high pressure water!

Before

After

[mgp4591]

Simple Green and rent a pressure washer with a heater. Spray the cleaner on liberally and let it work, spray it again and wait again... then hit it with the hot high pressure water and don't forget your gloves and goggles. A one piece coverall suit wouldn't be a bad idea either.

[theleschyouknow]

thanks for the responses
I am leaning toward the keep on keeping route one of the reasons I bought my car was to work on & learn on it

jeffs9146 - yep LA's Totally Awesome has all that's been on it so far - spray, let it soak a bit, scrub with stiff nylon brush or green scrubby, wipe with blue shop paper towels
now do it a million times
here's a little tool I made up for nooks & crannies



mike d - any issues removing he's or muffler? I haven't gotten a good look at the he to engine studs but by the looks of the muffler to he bolts I'm guessing they might have some serious seize to them. I hit them with pb blaster every now and then but have yet to put a wrench on them
cjl

[Geezer914]

It's like pulling off a band aid on your hairy arm. You can do it slow, (lots of pain) or fast, (with a little pain). Take it from experience. Drop the motor & trans, It takes 1/2 hr. to 40 minutes at most. Label all the electrical connections. Get a cheap moving dolly from Harbor Freight. Pelican has instructions and a check list. Then you can remove the engine tin for fresh paint. You will find all kinds of crap under the tin and around the cylinder fins. Get a pressure washer and go to town. I would replace the oil cooler seals and the push rod tube seals. You can adjust the valves and replace the valve cover gaskets. When you are done, it will look like a new motor. While it is out, you can check for any rust like the hell hole under the battery, then clean and paint the engine bay. Good for another 100,000. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

[rhodyguy]

do you still have drive-up spray and washes? ramps, rain gear, a couple of cans of brake cleaner and $10 worth of quarters.

[mikedsilva]

mike d - any issues removing he's or muffler? I haven't gotten a good look at the he to engine studs but by the looks of the muffler to he bolts I'm guessing they might have some serious seize to them. I hit them with pb blaster every now and then but have yet to put a wrench on them
cjl

I was careful with mine.. they looked rusty, but they weren't too bad. All I did, was attempt to undo them to see if they were seized or not; turned out that some were a bit loose... and none were seized. I now put some antiseize on the threads to try and make sure they never get seized.
If you have been using PB Blaster, I cannot see any problem if you approach with caution.. only one way to find out!

[theleschyouknow]

still plugging away and got around to cleaning up some suspension pieces
wonder if hans or günter puts these marks on my trailing arms?


(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
cjl

[TheCabinetmaker]

I always work around the he's. If your header don't leak, leave it on. Too much bad juju when removing headers

[theleschyouknow]

my thoughts exactly
if it ain't broke...
I'll keep plugging away

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
cjl

[veekry9]

Hazmat suit,full face mask,gloves,breathing mask.*Do not get any of these materials on or in your eyes and skin.
I've found not all brake cleaners are equal,Gunk™is the power user's choice.
A few pints of naval jelly for the inevitable rust and natural paint brushes to apply.
A supply of water,laundry detergent or Zep Citrus™,bleach and or baking soda to neutralize the acid.
The oven cleaner can mar the alloy surfaces,use lightly in small areas,quickly.It will pull the paint off to metal.
The tar-based sealer used has a modern equivalent in elastomers/polyurethane/epoxy,if originality is not an issue.
A huge effort,on your back,looking up,working in small areas masked off.
The results are worth it tho,a clean bottom,smooth,lighter.
/
*Do not get any of these materials on or in your eyes and skin.

/