Engine Cleaning

My son has decided that he wants to clean up his VW engine, both top and bottom. I read somewhere about some stuff you can spray on, let sit for a while, and then wash off with water. Any experience?

Depends if you are taking the engine out to do it. Easiest is to spray some "Yuk-off" (or whatever you call degreaser there) all over, leave it for a bit to soak in, and spray it off with the hose set to a hard blast. Pull off the plug wires from the distributor cap and cover the distributor with a plastic bag, tied under, so you don't get any water in it. Also tie some plastic around the alternator to keep water out. And avoid squirting too much behind the engine pulley, there are slots there which pull fresh air into the sump. And I use a toothbrush and degreaser or kerosine to scrub off the really stuck stuff. Let the engine dry for a while, then give it a run to really dry it off. It's then a good time (a few days later) to crawl under and look for oil leaks, such as the flywheel gland nut (usually wet around the bottom of the engine at the front), push rod tubes etc...

Drop the engine, remove the shroud and clean it out. Fan too -- they pick up a lot of crud over the years, especially with the missing engine seals, as some of the cooling air is coming from under the car, rather than the slots under the window etc. You might find there is some gunk on the oil cooler air entry side too, and cleaning this off will help with summer cooling.

Yesterday I parked the Bug on the street, a couple of feet from the curb so I could crawl under it, then jacked up the rear end and put it on jackstands. Then I put plastic bags around the distributor, carburetor and alternator and sprayed the entire engine, top and bottom and behind (in front of) the fan housing with Gunk Foamy Engine Brite engine cleaner -- then washed it all off with the hose about 20 minutes later. Worked pretty good. Now I should be able to tell where the oil leaks are coming from. I'm afraid I've got leaking push rod tube seals.