I would go ahead and just use your dish soap on the engine followed by a brush and use degreaser if you have it. You do not have to dress the engine but it does make it loook better. And to dry the engine bay you can use Old T Shirts.
I am in the process of restoring this ol gal and am at a point where its simply disgusting to work on. I replaced the water pump last week and 50% of the time spent was with a bottle of purple power (i think thats what its called?) and a flat head screwdriver to scrape mounds of crud from where I needed to work. As a joke I told my friends who came to spectate 'Hey I think I found an engine in here!' I also recently pulled the distributor out of the engine as it has a broken drive gear (in the mail) so I figured I would clean it up while I had it out. I found that Dawn blue dish soap and a toothbrush made quick and excellent work of cleaning up followed by a light layer of Ballistol (superb gun cleaner/oil) to protect. Is there any reason I shouldnt take a toilet brush (new of course) and go to town on the engine bay with more dawn dish soap? The car is inoperable at the moment so taking it to a carwash and pressure washing is not available.
Ultimately my goal is to have a show quality clean engine bay without havin to pull the block.