Topic: What did you do to your car today?

[EV Dan]

Some love for the 323i & Passport today, doing the spring cleaning on both, washing the winter mats & installing summer ones. Weather is kinda shitty though, windy as & keeps blowing in some sun showers.

Nice pink siding though. (not you, the neighbours) 

[Dante]

Put the summer wheels on the GTI and washed it in and out.  One rear wheel was seized pretty bad and it was a struggle to take it out. I need to find some time to clean up the rust & paint the hub and use some anti-seize in the future. I decided to stop being lazy and do my change overs going forward so I can keep an eye on things... Will also shop around for some used VW OEM alloy wheels to get rid of the steel wheels - they will be done after next winter. There are some options on Kijiji right now - 16" OEM from a regular Golf and a set of 17" VW winter alloys.

[SeaBlueS4]

 Finally had some free time to start attacking the TR6 front suspension. Been meaning to replace bushings etc since I got the car, do decided to do them, shock and springs at the same time. What a PITA - suspect much is original and not been undone in ~ 50 years!

[SeaBlueS4]

Finally had some free time to start attacking the TR6 front suspension. Been meaning to replace bushings etc since I got the car, do decided to do them, shock and springs at the same time. What a PITA - suspect much is original and not been undone in ~ 50 years!

Part 2...

[ktm525]

Awesome. I hate bushing work.

[Gurgie]

That's tedious work... great job!!

[SeaBlueS4]

That's tedious work... great job!!

Yes, very tedious and dirty - thanks! My wife thinks I am mad!

Q for you...and others: what would you suggest to do with the wishbones, brackets, mounting area etc. They are all heavily caked in grease, dirt and some rust. Thinking of a rough clean, remove all the loose rust then just coat with my "rust stop" primer that can be painted direct to the rust, and may be some black tremclad after that?

This isn't and never will be a show car, just want to stop (or slow down) further deterioration and make it look "decent". Sand blasting would be ideal, but I don't have one and some of parts that need it cannot be removed.

The part I showed I just put in my ultrasonic cleaner and then wire brushed the loose crap off.

[Firm]

I'd do exactly what you suggested; to prep get yourself a few of those wire brushes that go on the end of the drill, get a few different sizes so you can get into the awkward spots. That'll make easy (but messy!) work of the crud on them and should take them mostly to bare metal. Then prime/paint.

[Gurgie]

I'd do exactly what you suggested; to prep get yourself a few of those wire brushes that go on the end of the drill, get a few different sizes so you can get into the awkward spots. That'll make easy (but messy!) work of the crud on them and should take them mostly to bare metal. Then prime/paint.

That seems like the way to go... and quite a few rags/cloths to get the grease off

[Firm]

I'd do exactly what you suggested; to prep get yourself a few of those wire brushes that go on the end of the drill, get a few different sizes so you can get into the awkward spots. That'll make easy (but messy!) work of the crud on them and should take them mostly to bare metal. Then prime/paint.

That seems like the way to go... and quite a few rags/cloths to get the grease off

Oh yeah, rags and lacquer thinner to wipe the parts down after you've wire brushed them.

[PJungnitsch]

If you are going to go to all the work of cleaning it you might want to try POR. Very effective

https://www.por15.com/POR-15-Rust-Preventive-Coating

[SeaBlueS4]

If you are going to go to all the work of cleaning it you might want to try POR. Very effective

https://www.por15.com/POR-15-Rust-Preventive-Coating

Thanks... is POR-15 really that good?
I use this stuff, at $10 / can vs $80 for the POR-15 at Crappy Tire..

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/rust-check-rust-killer-236-ml-0477957p.html

[PJungnitsch]

That's 946 ml of POR, which is a lot from what I remember. It's pretty thin

This kind of thing would probably be more useful, a small container plus the etch and cleaner:

https://por15canada.ca/store/super-starter-kit.html

It is pretty amazing stuff. I used it to line a rusty gas tank.

Just if you get it on your skin it will be there for weeks

[Golly]

I can't attest to the rust-check stuff but POR15 is good stuff.  You can brush it on and it leaves no brush strokes.

[2JDM]

Did a quick wipe down of my engine bay. Anyone know how to remove the salt from the exposed metal area by the oil filter?

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[Gurgie]

Did a quick wipe down of my engine bay. Anyone know how to remove the salt from the exposed metal area by the oil filter?

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I think that's the aluminum pitting, not salt. Bella's 323i is the same.   

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[2JDM]

Did a quick wipe down of my engine bay. Anyone know how to remove the salt from the exposed metal area by the oil filter?

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I think that's the aluminum pitting, not salt. Bella's 323i is the same.   

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Oh okay, this whole time I thought it was salt buildup. Car has never been rust proofed before - body and undercarriage doesn't look bad.

[Firm]

Yeah, that's corrosion from moisture on the aluminium...my SLK had it in that spot and the car never saw salt. I've never tried, but I figure some metal polish and a bit of elbow grease would remove the worst of it, maybe use it with one of those little polishing wheels for a drill.
I still need to do the engine bay in the XKR - it's currently embarrassing for a car that otherwise looks so good. 

[rrocket]

Yeah, that's corrosion from moisture on the aluminium...my SLK had it in that spot and the car never saw salt. I've never tried, but I figure some metal polish and a bit of elbow grease would remove the worst of it, maybe use it with one of those little polishing wheels for a drill.
I still need to do the engine bay in the XKR - it's currently embarrassing for a car that otherwise looks so good.

I don't recommend that way...a polish.

Otherwise you have to do the whole thing so it's uniform...and the areas where there's no pitting will have a higher luster.

It's just really really hard to get it uniform.

There's no real product for this anymore...people use to use naval aluminum jelly.

You'd want a cleaner at the least...but steer clear of a polish.

Even using a wire wheel or steel wool or scotch brite pad the results are often not uniform.

So it's either do it all and do it well...or don't touch it.

[Arthur Dent]

My oldest boy sold the Toyota Tercel and bought himself this 2010 Mazda 3 hatchback.