Grime Removal
12-10-2018, 04:00 PM
#1
Pro
Thread Starter
Grime Removal
Im planning on replacing all rubber bushings and hoses on my ‘62 ‘vette
Drive train including engine will be overhauled and repainted where necessary. The frame, suspension, and fender wells are really grungy. Should I just have the underside steam cleaned or is there a solution I should use to clean the underside? I don’t want to remove any protective coating, and I prefer not to paint if it’s going to look out of place with the body.
12-10-2018, 04:18 PM
#2
Team Owner
If it'll help, you don't have to worry about any protective coating.
12-10-2018, 04:48 PM
#3
Team Owner
Some use a pressure washer (like DZAuto) others use Simple Green and Tub'O'Towels....
I've done both before...
I've done both before...
12-10-2018, 05:54 PM
#4
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A good high pressure steam cleaning will do just fine, but be prepared to get dirty. 
Dennis
Dennis
12-10-2018, 05:56 PM
#5
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Steam cleaning is by far the best approach. Don’t do this:
Trying to be cheap and resourceful, but ending up with a “hold my beer and watch this” moment, I hooked up my cheap Home Depot electric pressure washer directly to the hot water heater and cranked the heat up to 200 (that’s got to work, right?) to power steam clean the grimy undercarriage of my 1988 LR Defender prior to the LS swap. Everyone knows LRs don’t ever leak fluids (not, that’s how they mark their territory). Anyway, it was a horrible mess, but rust free under the crust of normal LR excrement. I put on waterproof overalls, booties, heavy rubber gloves, and in a true spark of brilliance, the whole head and face shield that came with my sand blaster. I taped up all the gaps with duct tape for good measure. Now well armored and ready for battle, I put the truck up on jack stands in the corner of the driveway as high as I could get it and got to work. For ten seconds it was a brilliant idea. Immediately, my warrior helmet fogged up to the point that I didn’t notice that the thermally bonded hose from the pump to the wand disintegrated. What I did notice was a sudden loss of water pressure, yet I could hear the pump running even as I let go of the wand trigger and a godawful pressure on my buttocks along with severe heat as if I was on fire! I quickly learned that my waterproof coveralls were actually “water resistant” and no match for 1600psi of hot water. They melted and in a flash of old lady in spandex at McDonalds ordering hot coffee, I was dancing around the driveway trying to separate my red hot jeans from my sensitive parts. Apparently, that was pretty funny to the wife who came running out of the house to tell me that steam was coming out of the kitchen faucet just in time to see her husband tear his pants off and do the Irish jig in the driveway. She was amused. Don’t do this at your home.
Trying to be cheap and resourceful, but ending up with a “hold my beer and watch this” moment, I hooked up my cheap Home Depot electric pressure washer directly to the hot water heater and cranked the heat up to 200 (that’s got to work, right?) to power steam clean the grimy undercarriage of my 1988 LR Defender prior to the LS swap. Everyone knows LRs don’t ever leak fluids (not, that’s how they mark their territory). Anyway, it was a horrible mess, but rust free under the crust of normal LR excrement. I put on waterproof overalls, booties, heavy rubber gloves, and in a true spark of brilliance, the whole head and face shield that came with my sand blaster. I taped up all the gaps with duct tape for good measure. Now well armored and ready for battle, I put the truck up on jack stands in the corner of the driveway as high as I could get it and got to work. For ten seconds it was a brilliant idea. Immediately, my warrior helmet fogged up to the point that I didn’t notice that the thermally bonded hose from the pump to the wand disintegrated. What I did notice was a sudden loss of water pressure, yet I could hear the pump running even as I let go of the wand trigger and a godawful pressure on my buttocks along with severe heat as if I was on fire! I quickly learned that my waterproof coveralls were actually “water resistant” and no match for 1600psi of hot water. They melted and in a flash of old lady in spandex at McDonalds ordering hot coffee, I was dancing around the driveway trying to separate my red hot jeans from my sensitive parts. Apparently, that was pretty funny to the wife who came running out of the house to tell me that steam was coming out of the kitchen faucet just in time to see her husband tear his pants off and do the Irish jig in the driveway. She was amused. Don’t do this at your home.
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59BlueSilver (12-11-2018)
12-10-2018, 06:54 PM
#6
Race Director
That's a funny, funny story Factoid - and timely. At least speaking for myself I can see some of us trying something similar with equal results. Now we know better.
My own lessons learned - I would not recommend steam cleaning on a car you are not planning to strip completely down and restore. Before I started disassembly of my car bac in the early 90s I took it down to a local garage and rented their bay, lift and steam cleaner to clean the entire underside of my car. Other than a complete mess, it worked pretty well but when I dropped the car back down and opened the door it was like a tropical rain forest inside and maybe even raining in there - not sure. Gauges fogged, everything moist, hot, ughhh. I basically had to do the Ace Ventura head hanging out of the door window for the first half of my drive back home.
My own lessons learned - I would not recommend steam cleaning on a car you are not planning to strip completely down and restore. Before I started disassembly of my car bac in the early 90s I took it down to a local garage and rented their bay, lift and steam cleaner to clean the entire underside of my car. Other than a complete mess, it worked pretty well but when I dropped the car back down and opened the door it was like a tropical rain forest inside and maybe even raining in there - not sure. Gauges fogged, everything moist, hot, ughhh. I basically had to do the Ace Ventura head hanging out of the door window for the first half of my drive back home.
12-10-2018, 07:22 PM
#7
Race Director
Pretty funny, Mark. Hope there was no permanent damage to any rare parts.
12-10-2018, 08:10 PM
#9
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12-10-2018, 09:40 PM
#10
Pro
Thread Starter
Once I get it steam cleaned, should I paint the frame? What color? I'm painting the rear end, springs, front suspension and tie rods, drive shaft, and engine bay. All body parts will be bright black. Engine bay will be matte ("velvet?") blackI want to leave body paint original, I don't want to remove body off the frame.
That was an amusing anecdote. Woulda made one hella DIY video.
Bob
That was an amusing anecdote. Woulda made one hella DIY video.
Bob
12-10-2018, 09:45 PM
#11
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Factoid, I have tears running down my face. 
You could not have scripted it any better. Glad you were ok. I used a professional steam cleaner unit on a '74 Formula Firebird on a lift, had goggles on and a hat. Clean as a whistle! Dennis
You could not have scripted it any better. Glad you were ok. I used a professional steam cleaner unit on a '74 Formula Firebird on a lift, had goggles on and a hat. Clean as a whistle! Dennis
Last edited by Bluestripe67; 12-10-2018 at 09:48 PM.
12-10-2018, 10:29 PM
#12
Just be super careful if you pressure wash and don't hit the fiberglass! Use a fan spray! I hit a nice patch of lovely crude last year when the city was redoing the highway and hit about a mile of cement cutting and water... I used a citrus solve and a dish scrubber and 2 weeks of work.
12-11-2018, 06:01 AM
#14
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Thanks, Factoid That’s exactly how I planned to clean my car’s underside. You saved me from a huge pain in the he ****.
Steve
Steve
12-11-2018, 08:58 AM
#15
Le Mans Master
Factoid - Great story, I'm still laughing...but now just can't seem to get rid of the 'visual' in my mind of the old lady and the spandex ordering coffee :-O.
Back to the OP, back in the 90's when the cars were already stripped down and unable to be moved to a wash facility, I did it the old and extremely slow way, I suited up, laid a lot of plastic sheathing on the garage floor and proceeded to wipe the underside down by hand with enamel reducer. Came out nice but holy cow, took forever. Good luck.
Mike T - Prescott AZ
Back to the OP, back in the 90's when the cars were already stripped down and unable to be moved to a wash facility, I did it the old and extremely slow way, I suited up, laid a lot of plastic sheathing on the garage floor and proceeded to wipe the underside down by hand with enamel reducer. Came out nice but holy cow, took forever. Good luck.
Mike T - Prescott AZ
12-11-2018, 10:17 AM
#16
Pro
Thread Starter
Basically what I'm interested in doing is removing the grime off the natural patina, if that makes sense. This car has been setting for forty years. Lotsa dust and cobwebs, old rubber. So I'm leaning towards renting a steam cleaner. I'll warn the fab shop of the perils in trying to economize or improvise in home made steam cleaners. :-)
Bob
Bob
Last edited by 6T2Vette; 12-11-2018 at 10:18 AM.
12-11-2018, 11:58 AM
#17
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Happy I could provide a necessary safety service to this fine community. Next time I’ll share the hazards of using POR15 without gloves and then urgently needing a bathroom break half way through the job. That **** does not wash off!
12-11-2018, 12:11 PM
#18
Race Director
A nice semi gloss, or satin, black would work well for a color. The semi gloss is easier to keep clean.
A putty knife scraper, etc will help with the greasy dirt accumulations. I would first go to dollar car wash and spend a 4-5 bucks on a high pressure rinse under the car, and perhaps on the back side of the engine behind the dizzy (don't get it wet, take some paper towels to dry the inside of the cap if you do), and the rest of the engine compartment if it needs attention..
Your driveway will thank you, Back in 1995, I decided to rebuild the entire front suspension on my car, got it out, used a hand car to wheel it to teh street and used some Gunk engine degreaser and a high pressure hose to clean it.
23 years later, you can still see the black high water marks on the concrete curb gutter, and on my old driveway, and the side walk from the crud I washed off.
BTW, You can spray the Gunk stuff on at the car wash if you have any greasy areas. Be careful of wet brakes when you leave.
Spend some time scraping those kingpin supports before heading to the car wash.
When i first scraped my front suspension in ~1982, I took about 5 gallons of greasy dirt to the dumpster. There was so much grease and dirt you couldn't make out the control arms from any other parts.
Doug
A putty knife scraper, etc will help with the greasy dirt accumulations. I would first go to dollar car wash and spend a 4-5 bucks on a high pressure rinse under the car, and perhaps on the back side of the engine behind the dizzy (don't get it wet, take some paper towels to dry the inside of the cap if you do), and the rest of the engine compartment if it needs attention..
Your driveway will thank you, Back in 1995, I decided to rebuild the entire front suspension on my car, got it out, used a hand car to wheel it to teh street and used some Gunk engine degreaser and a high pressure hose to clean it.
23 years later, you can still see the black high water marks on the concrete curb gutter, and on my old driveway, and the side walk from the crud I washed off.
BTW, You can spray the Gunk stuff on at the car wash if you have any greasy areas. Be careful of wet brakes when you leave.
Spend some time scraping those kingpin supports before heading to the car wash.
When i first scraped my front suspension in ~1982, I took about 5 gallons of greasy dirt to the dumpster. There was so much grease and dirt you couldn't make out the control arms from any other parts.
Doug
Last edited by AZDoug; 12-11-2018 at 12:19 PM.
12-11-2018, 12:15 PM
#19
Race Director
So, Have you had "adventures" like this your whole life?
Doug
12-11-2018, 12:22 PM
#20
Drifting
Steam cleaning is by far the best approach. Don’t do this:
Trying to be cheap and resourceful, but ending up with a “hold my beer and watch this” moment, I hooked up my cheap Home Depot electric pressure washer directly to the hot water heater and cranked the heat up to 200 (that’s got to work, right?) to power steam clean the grimy undercarriage of my 1988 LR Defender prior to the LS swap. Everyone knows LRs don’t ever leak fluids (not, that’s how they mark their territory). Anyway, it was a horrible mess, but rust free under the crust of normal LR excrement. I put on waterproof overalls, booties, heavy rubber gloves, and in a true spark of brilliance, the whole head and face shield that came with my sand blaster. I taped up all the gaps with duct tape for good measure. Now well armored and ready for battle, I put the truck up on jack stands in the corner of the driveway as high as I could get it and got to work. For ten seconds it was a brilliant idea. Immediately, my warrior helmet fogged up to the point that I didn’t notice that the thermally bonded hose from the pump to the wand disintegrated. What I did notice was a sudden loss of water pressure, yet I could hear the pump running even as I let go of the wand trigger and a godawful pressure on my buttocks along with severe heat as if I was on fire! I quickly learned that my waterproof coveralls were actually “water resistant” and no match for 1600psi of hot water. They melted and in a flash of old lady in spandex at McDonalds ordering hot coffee, I was dancing around the driveway trying to separate my red hot jeans from my sensitive parts. Apparently, that was pretty funny to the wife who came running out of the house to tell me that steam was coming out of the kitchen faucet just in time to see her husband tear his pants off and do the Irish jig in the driveway. She was amused. Don’t do this at your home.
Trying to be cheap and resourceful, but ending up with a “hold my beer and watch this” moment, I hooked up my cheap Home Depot electric pressure washer directly to the hot water heater and cranked the heat up to 200 (that’s got to work, right?) to power steam clean the grimy undercarriage of my 1988 LR Defender prior to the LS swap. Everyone knows LRs don’t ever leak fluids (not, that’s how they mark their territory). Anyway, it was a horrible mess, but rust free under the crust of normal LR excrement. I put on waterproof overalls, booties, heavy rubber gloves, and in a true spark of brilliance, the whole head and face shield that came with my sand blaster. I taped up all the gaps with duct tape for good measure. Now well armored and ready for battle, I put the truck up on jack stands in the corner of the driveway as high as I could get it and got to work. For ten seconds it was a brilliant idea. Immediately, my warrior helmet fogged up to the point that I didn’t notice that the thermally bonded hose from the pump to the wand disintegrated. What I did notice was a sudden loss of water pressure, yet I could hear the pump running even as I let go of the wand trigger and a godawful pressure on my buttocks along with severe heat as if I was on fire! I quickly learned that my waterproof coveralls were actually “water resistant” and no match for 1600psi of hot water. They melted and in a flash of old lady in spandex at McDonalds ordering hot coffee, I was dancing around the driveway trying to separate my red hot jeans from my sensitive parts. Apparently, that was pretty funny to the wife who came running out of the house to tell me that steam was coming out of the kitchen faucet just in time to see her husband tear his pants off and do the Irish jig in the driveway. She was amused. Don’t do this at your home.