The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Big clean up & engine detailing.

Just bought a very original 2 owner 54 hardtop sport coupe...(always garaged, 62k orignal miles!)..
Underneath, the car has lots of caked on dirt..no rust anywhere,what's the best way to remove 52 years of old dirt without using water? Wire brush it? And whats the next step to protect underside of body..an undercoating spray? Where does one start in detailing this dirty filthy engine..(car runs very well) no probs there just want to do the right thing..have all the correct paints from Nat'l Chevy and Chevs of the 40's also. Thanks all.

Why not water?I would use a steam jenny or high pressure water blaster.Just cover the dist and carb.Can't hurt anything.Cover the car with a cover or plastic. :confused:

I use gunk and water as well, if you're a little bit careful, it's not any worse than driving in the rain..

tin foil makes a good carb and distributor cover, then I usually start it up as soon as I'm done..

Break out the hose, it's not gonna melt! These are Chevy's not sand castles.

Good Luck

John

How about those Ice Blasters?
Would be a great way to get the ole Lady factory clean without hurting any paint and without disasemble.

A friend had his engine ice blasted last week.
I was verry impressed.

Frank

I used a putty knife and then a braided wire bit on my drill. The stuff just flew off. Wear safety goggles and a long sleeve shirt buttoned all the way up, gloves and a hat. That old gunk stinks to high heaven and will make your skin stink for weeks....yes..even after you wash...

After I did all that, I still towed the truck on a dolly to the steam cleaner. It was easier to clean with steam and water after that layer of crud was gone.

My $.02..

I used a braided wire wheel or wire cup on a 4" grinder that I bought for $15 at harbor freight. Works great! Then I took it to a coin op self serve car wash and power sprayed the rest off.

I use a 2700 PSI pressure washer. I would use a steam cleaner if it were more available. I don't like getting wet and you get chunks of grease all over you, butit's worth it if you are going to work on them. Keep in mind that it may leak or weep oil worse when you are done, so you might want to be prepared to replace some gaskets. Stay away from the hoses and belts. The water pressure can ruin them quickly.

For the really thick areas I've used a torch to heat the grease, and then scrape it with a metal scraper. (Best to stay away from fuel lines). Then as a solvent I've found that oven cleaner works better than Gunk, and it's easier to clean up.

use:
easy off oven cleaner, spray it on, let it sit and soak in. hose it off.
repeat . . .
repeat . . .
putty knife if needed. and a final touch of a three hour rental of a HOT water high pressure sprayer.
you are now down to a bare metal frame
the checkout person at the grocery store will think you are a great guy (lots of kudo points) for doing what your wifey would do in the kitchen and you can just smile as you leave.
I've used a case on my old 51 and it works great.

evidently, none of us can answer that part..myself included..

I did answer it.
Use an ice blaster.

Not water just frozen co2 that vaporizes when it hits the car.

Come on guys, don`t tell me that you don`t have that in the US.

Here are some bevore-after pictures
Ice blasting

Ice blasting 2

This is not like sand/media blasting. It only removes the dirt/mud/crude/oily-ugly-stuff. It don´t touches the paint. You can leave all the cables and hoses and all in without hurting anything

Frank

Keep the pressure washer away from the radiator too. I ruined mine once trying to clean it up for painting.

When I had to replace the flywheel ring gear and clutch on my '46 2 ton, there was so much mud, gunk, and actual animal pucky under the truck, the transmission actually appeared to ba about twice the size it really was.

It was in January, and it was mightly cold out, and I did all the work right out in the open in the wind.. so pressure washing wasn't much of an option.

I used a few different sized putty knives, some wire brushes, and at least in one spot, a chisel and hammer.. and a whole bunch of WD40.

I bought WD40 in the gallon can, and got a squirter on a hose that you could screw right into the gallon can.. that worked out best, since not being aresol based, you could spray upsidedown, and realy get all around it.

It took a couple hours, but by the time I was done, the tranny was clean as a whistle.. and I didn't have to worry about the stuff freezing while it was loosening up the crud.. and it really penetrated thru the grease and oil soaked, hardened muck.

Not sure i'd use that method for the entire undercarage unless I had a whole lot of time on my hands, and a whole lot of WD40.

In non-freezing conditions, I really like using Engine Brite, then pressure washing it off.. but effective and efficient "no water" solutions are limited.. especially when your trying to clean off decades of road gunk, mud, oil, etc.

I did an archelogical dig on my 47 jeep to remove about 100 lbs of dirt from the frame and tranny. I used a big chisel and hammer, wire brush on grinder, and no water. Puty knifes also got used. Knocked the big stuff off and finished up with wire wheel. You can also get a drill extension and a 1" cup brush to snake it around in the narrow bits.

My 52 Chevy has a pretty Clean Frame and engine but My Plymouth is a Crud Factory. I want to pull the engine, clean and paint it before I even try to remove that Mess. I think that it may be the only thing holding the engine to the frame!

Cliff59

Hey Stovebold, We do have the ice blasters here, but I don't think that we have thought about using it on our vehicles yet. I was doing some research on ice blasting and that looks like the way to go. I found a guy in my home town who uses an ice blaster. I'm going to give it a try.

That ice blasting looks like it costs some big leauge scratch.

I'll be out here in the 'minors' with a hose and Engine Brite!


.... when the weather improves, that is!