How do you clean 54 years of dirt?

[blue 58]

I just literally watched $70 worth of degreaser go down the drain. I now have clean looking grease. In all seriousness, I have at least 1/4 inch of grease, dirt, road grime, etc caked on to various parts of my project bird that seems to be literally fuzed to the metal. How does one go about getting all of this off...at home? The suspension and undercarriage is the worst. Thanks.

[jopizz]

Are you sure it's not undercoating that you're mistaking for dirt. Squarebirds are known to have loads of undercoating all over the underside that wasn't put on very neat. If it doesn't come off with degreaser then it's probably undercoating. That will only come off with a scraper.

John

[blue 58]

No, I am not sure. I took the gas tank out today and it was completely coated in something (I thought it was years of road grime). Now that you mention it, maybe thats the undercoating? Would it be on the oil/trans pans as well?

[Dakota Boy]

undercoating was thick on these cars.

Eastwood sells a product that removes it.

Or you could do what I did; 4" wirewheel cup and an angle grinder. It wasnt very much fun, but it turned out nice.

[Joe Johnston]

I remove the first round of the build up of grime with a steamer or pressure washer suitable for using hot water. Many semi truck garages have them, but may not be willing to do the job for you, so check out tool rental outlets. Next would be a std cold water pressure washer. After that its just hand scraping & wire wheel dirty work! Solvents work but get messy, often reseales or smears the undercoating to the metal. I prefer the final steps to be done dry - just my preferance.

A big drawback to using pressure washers is the amount of water that will find its way inside if you have rusted out areas in the floor!

[jopizz]

The gas tanks were undercoated. The pans were not although it's possible some got on it. They weren't very careful when they put it on. It's also possible it was put on after it left the factory. The problem with Gunk or other degreasers is that you have to have the engine really hot for it to work correctly.

John

[Dakota Boy]

The underneath of my car had undercoating everywhere.

it was very old, and came off pretty easily in most places, but a few areas were like concrete.

[blue 58]

Its funny, now that I know its supposed to be there I suddenly don't have a drive to get rid of it. Thanks everyone.