Detailing original car.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 156
Likes: 24
Detailing original car.
Looking for some techniques and product usage on cleaning the engine compartment and the undercarriage of an original C3. There are a lot of products out there some and some claim to be safe on finishes but I have my concerns.I just don’t want to put Gunk on it and wash it off. I prefer to do it by hand with little water exposure.I plan on using a soft brass wire or plastic brush for the hardware but I am concerned about the painted finishes. Thanks in advance.
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 4,151
Likes: 98
From: Conroe TX
St. Jude Donor '11
If this is a very original car, you may want to consider looking into NCRS. There are a lot of people with good experience cleaning up original cars. I am personally more of a restorer. I do a lot of sandblasting and repainting to get things to look original, but Bubba had a lot of overspray and incorrect blackout paint on my car when I got it.
Racer
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 353
Likes: 161
I’ve used toothbrushes and simple green on my engine bay and undercarriage clean up. I cut some of the brush handles down for work In tight spaces and I heated a couple of them up just below the head and bent them to different angles for awkward places. I bent one 90* and another 45*. It takes a lot of time and elbow grease, but mine cleaned up well.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 7,656
Likes: 2,469
From: Indiana
Great advice im rags and different brushes...and for really tough areas wax and greae remover..test spots..
warning..the frame paint generally SUCKS, and can be removed even with wayer degreasers and oil soaked for years..brackets and othere coatings generally much much more durable..
when close..spray down with 303 protectant...even areas you cant wipe again will look good and it does a great job keeping old rubber and wires protected and wont harm any finishes
warning..the frame paint generally SUCKS, and can be removed even with wayer degreasers and oil soaked for years..brackets and othere coatings generally much much more durable..
when close..spray down with 303 protectant...even areas you cant wipe again will look good and it does a great job keeping old rubber and wires protected and wont harm any finishes
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 156
Likes: 24
Thanks for all the input so far. I’ve used simple Green in the past at work as well but was wondering if there was anything else out there. On another note nobody seems to know what elbow grease is anymore. I had a guy working for me I told him to put some elbow grease into it and about a half hour later he asked me where the elbow grease was. Without embarrassing him we had a pretty good chuckle.
1967 Pedal Car Champion
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 9,137
Likes: 4,247
From: US-PNW
Harbor Freight sells some decent quality brass brushes in singles as well as sets that have steel and nylon versions. Least expensive place I've found locally.
You may want to add scotch-brite to your list of tools - it does wide expanses more thoroughly than a brush will.
You may want to add scotch-brite to your list of tools - it does wide expanses more thoroughly than a brush will.
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Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,165
Likes: 24
From: Boston MA
Thanks for all the input so far. I’ve used simple Green in the past at work as well but was wondering if there was anything else out there. On another note nobody seems to know what elbow grease is anymore. I had a guy working for me I told him to put some elbow grease into it and about a half hour later he asked me where the elbow grease was. Without embarrassing him we had a pretty good chuckle.