[Peugeot]

Hi all,

I've had some very nice looking engines in the past. However, for me to be happy the engine has to BE clean - not just look clean from the top. I've found the only way to do this is during part of a mechanical fix where parts are removed for a repair. I've spent countless hours with WD-40 and QTips going at baked on rash on everything from engine blocks to individual bolts. To me, there's a fine line between detailing and restoration.

Although I've found cleaning engines with QTips almost theraputic in the simplistic beauty of taking the smallest part and bringing it to "almost new" results are important. I also realize that for the pro who's time is money, this level of stuff is pretty phrohibitive.

I was thinking that a good tool to have would be some sort of an open-cell foam "block" mounted on a wooden dowel. This dowel could be quite long if necessary (12" +) in order to get hard to reach areas. I'm thinking the open cell configuration would be good as it could be swirled around in your cleaner of choice to remove the nasty stuff and back at it you go.

I haven't seen anything remotely like this at detailer's stores/sites. Usually with something this funky, I find myself pressing some other purpose-built tool into service.

Anybody have any thoughts on this?