What's good to use for this process ?

Any helpful hints ?

Thanks !

 

I'm going to do mine this winter. I would start with a good power washing. I plan to do that several times. For all the black I will use Krylon Semi flat black. Not sure what yet for all the other finishes. I will not douse it in black though. I plan to leave the differential and stub axles a natural color for instance.

 

Greetings!
I have had great success with Simple Green.
I did mine in steps. Working front to back. I have
both hot and cold water in the garage and hot water
cuts grime off much better than cold, especially in the winter.

Ideally, If you can get the car in the air, either on ramps or
better yet, jack stands, you will get to it a lot better. I then placed
down a plastic tarp beneath the area in question, using a tall plastic
spray bottle - You can get from the garden center of any department
or box store, sprayed down area with full strength Simple Green.

Let it soak/penetrate for about 10 minutes, re-coat areas
that are heavily soiled. Then, with a tooth brush and a half scrub /
half sponge pad, put on some heavier rubber work gloves, not the
thin plastic surgical gloves, they will rip apart in no time.

I know, its hard to get into some places with the gloves on.
Any cleaner, regardless if its Biodegradable (which Simple Green is)
I assure you, your hands will become dry and the skin will split and
bleed. Not fun.

Then, use some elbow grease and start loosening up the grime.
Don't be too overly aggressive. Paint and the physical composition of
the plastic, fiberglass and rubber can be damaged. Then, with
moderate to heavy spray of hot water, rinse it down.

If you don't have a hot water tap, fill a bucket with hot water and
apply by hand and get the process started and follow-up with the
cold water. The tarp has two purposes, to collect the dirty water
and allows you to pull it out from under the car and dispose of it.

If you are working on Asphalt, Simple Green will make it very
slippery. Like a sheet of black ice. It would be even worse in the
winter. Now, if your like me and have attention to detail, you will get
soaked. You can count on it.

Be sure to wear either disposable or ratty work cloths.
Keep in mind, in regards to the quarter car wash, high pressure
water will find its place in areas you either don't want it in or may
damage old wiring or metal. So be careful.

Have fun!

Rudy

 

I've been using carburetor cleaner....cheap stuff from walmart and paper towels. Cleans quite well. If I get energetic I'll go do some painting today....

 

watch the carb cleaner it has lube in it for linkages

you can use brake cleaner it drys faster and will not leave a oily residue

 

if you use brake cleaner be careful as it is nasty to breath that stuff

 

maybe the stuff I'm buying is so cheap it doesn't have any lubricants.....haven't had any problems with it so far....but I'm glad to be informed.

 

Just my thoughts but I do like Castroil Super Clean but do not breath the stuff lol. And also Purple Power is not bad as well. But to make things go a bit smoother since I have not had much luck with those darn pump bottles is to purchase one of those cheap bug sprayers that will hold a couple of gallons and then just pressurize it and spray where needed. Not as hard on the hands as well.

If you have something that is really really gritty and dirty and you are not worried about the loss of paint you can use Oven cleaner. It will eat through anything.

 

i bought a shark steamer from bestbuy and used it for almost everything on my car. the only downside is you constantly have to refill the water which takes a while because you have to wait for it to cool off but the upside is you only have to use water so no fumes or nasty chemicals to get in your eyes. i pulled my drive shaft that goes from the trany to the dif about 4 months ago and used the steamer to clean it then i painted it and it came out awsome. it still looks good and no orange peals at all. i'll get some pictures of it tomorrow.

 

This was my winter project last winter. Took about a month.

1st. I drove the car up on to 12" blocks. All 4 wheels then secured from rolloing off. Removed the bridiging from front to rear wheels.

Allowed complete access.

Bought a past chemical stripper from Auto Zone.

Got a plastic bucket / 2" brush and gloves and I painted all exposed frame sections / A-Arms top and bottom / Removed transmission brackets and cleaned under neath. Removed E Brake pulley. The key is remove all possibe and clean under the pasrt and clean removed parts away from car. I used a bucket load of tape and news paper and my wife says she is missing a couple of bed sheets???

I removed the rear spring / disassembled / stripped each leaf /

The buy proper grey paint for springs , The drive shafts and rear hsg were painted with Dupli Color Cast Coast Aluminium. The frame was painted with Dupli Color Low Gloss Black. Both are a 500 degree paint.


Before painting , scrap off loose dry paint / sand with a medium to fine grit paper. Prime with high heat primer.

I removed tank also.

If you try to take short cuts and paint around things the finished look is jut not the same.

Good Luck have fun

David

 

Castrol Super Clean will clean anything
Great stuff
Don't let it sit on bare aluminum as it will discolor it but I did my entire engine bay with it and it removed every bit of dirt and grease.
Wear gloves
Simple Green works also and is not as strong as the Castrol
Castrol even removes stains from concrete garage floor
Kurt