Yet another problem (this time with cleaning)

Dagon · Post by **Dagon** » 11 Jan 2007, 07:31

While I've figured out my rims for the most part now, I've run into another problem. After detecting a bit of rust in the wheelwells, I decided to clean them out and give the rust a sand-and-gal job. Unfortunately, that's where the problem has shown up.

Being a '73 HQ, its' been picking up dirt in its' wells for a good 34 years, which obviously has lead to much of the dirt taking on a steel-like consistency.

Now, currently I've been working the dirt off with a wirebrush, but its' going to take an extremely long time (6-8 hours per well) to get the job done. Anybody know some kind of chemical cocktail I can use to make the job not take longer than building my own car?

Grez~Supra_RZ-S · Post by **Grez~Supra_RZ-S** » 11 Jan 2007, 12:48

Unfortunately no, I had a similar problem with my AW11. Thats the bad thing about restoring old cars, there arent really any short-cuts.

Post by **GT3x24x7** » 11 Jan 2007, 14:23

Was there really a need to start a new thread for this?

Dagon · Post by **Dagon** » 11 Jan 2007, 14:56

It's a pretty seperate topic - bodywork versus rims, but if you feel like it should be merged, go ahead.

SomeKindOfMonster · Post by **SomeKindOfMonster** » 12 Jan 2007, 03:51

Try sandblasting, or even hitting the wells with a high pressure cleaner. Being a HQ, the inner guards should be removeable, which i'm guessing you've already done. Also be certain that it is dirt and not the sound deadening some of those ealy girls had, that look like caked on dirt. Probably the best way would be to hire someone to give the inner guards a good sandblasting, and then just spray them with some deadening. We are doing up an S1 valiant at the moment and every single panel had to be blasted, but they came up looking brand new

darknight788 · Post by **darknight788** » 12 Jan 2007, 07:29

at the truck shop i work at we use a specila type of brake cleaner that is close to acid as you can get without it being called acid. it might be too strong tho since it will melt your fingers and if the metal bodywork is rusted it will eat that away. it will dissolve a grade 5 bolt in 2 days

xHaZxMaTx · Post by **xHaZxMaTx** » 12 Jan 2007, 08:04

Sounds a lot like an acid to me. Then again, anything with a lower pH than that of water (7) is an acid.