I've been working a ton on this car the past 4 months or so going through a lot of maintenance items. As I go, I just clean like mad. That lower oil pan for example took me about 3 hours of scrubbing while laying on my back last weekend as a "prep" job for replacing the oil pan. With the belts off, the crank pully got cleaned up, etc. You get the idea... clean like mad as you go... of course that's why a "simple" job takes me 4 times as long as anyone else
The engine / car has currently 183.9K miles on her and she is at the point I'd drive her cross-country and not think twice. She was bought in Texas and has been in Dallas all it's life