The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Best product to clean/prepare bare metal for paint

Any suggestions?

I recently bought a "new" old dash for my '37, sandblasted it and then tried to remove a few parts but they were really frozen so I ended up soaking the rusty nust, bolts and assemblies in Liquid Wrench...

Today finally I was able to get all the parts off so the dash is almost ready for paint, but now it has some of residual Liquid Wrench and WD-40 on a couple of surfaces as well as some nice greasy fingerprints

What would the best product be to get as much of this stuff off the dash as possible in preparation for primer and paint? Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help...

~Trev

i would use laqure thinner the cheap kind made for cleaning spray guns

Acetone works good too. As with all this stuff be careful and use PPE! Oh and ventilate the area well.

Not sure I have any lacquer thinner around but I do have acetone and know all about the risks of using it... I used to do fiberglass work!

Thanks for the advice guys... I'll give it a shot later and let you know how it turns out!

~Trev

Wash the part with Dawn Dish soap. Blow it off with an air hose, then wash with Alcohol and water 50/50. Then wipe with clean cloth.

Lacquer thinner or acetone evaporates too quickly and you don't have time to wipe off the oils. They dilute the oil, then evaporate out and leaves the oil behind. The alcohol/water, dilutes the oil and holds it until you can wipe it off with a clean rag.

Frank

i'd use 409 first, then wax and grease remover.

Scott

Any paint jobber will have a cleaning solvent specifically for pre-paint cleaning. Mineral spirits will do about as well and costs much less. Acetone and lacquer thinner are NOT good since they dry much too quickly. The idea is to wipe the cleaner off while it's still wet using a clean rag. If the "cleaner" dries before you wipe it, the grease/dirt is still on the surface. That was one of the first things I learned in trade school and it proved to be true in practice.

Well said Tiny