The day after I bought the car, I decided to wash the car and clean the engine bay since it was so filthy.
To clean the engine bay I used the following:
-1 old tooth brush
-1 wheel cleaning noodle to reach down to the hard-to-reach areas
-2 microfiber towels
-Spray Nine degreaser
-an empty water bottle
-3 grocery bags
I used the plastic bags to cover the fuse box, alternator and both the front and rear coil pack covers.
It says on the back of Spray Nine container that it oxidizes aluminum, so I filled the empty water bottle halfway with Spray Nine and filled the rest of the bottle with water (1:1 diluted solution). I attached the spray from the orig. container to the water bottle.
Here are some before and after pictures from when I first saw the car at the previous owner's house and after I cleaned it.
I missed some areas but it looked pretty decent overall. I let it sit for a bit with the hatch open to let the water evaporate. I didn't disconnect the battery but I might next time just in case. Then after I went for a drive!
After washing the engine bay, I finally found where the transmission number is located. Thank goodness it's not in the snap ring range either. Here's a picture of my engine bay with transmission number indicating where to look (red circled area):
