Reviving original underside of car

[Mitch S.]

Anybody have a good tip for cleaning the under side of my 61 roadster? Looking for tips on cleaning frame and suspension while leaving the original paint/markings intact as best as possible without doing damage to whatever finish might still be there, thanks in advance, Mitch

[Terry D.]

Re: Reviving original underside of car

Mitch

It might help if we knew what you were trying to get off. Is it grease, road grime , undercoating or just dirt? Most any solvent will take the markings with it.
Terry

[Mitch S.]

Re: Reviving original underside of car

Terry, thanks for the repsonse, i am looking t clean all that you mentioned w/o damaging the original paint and markings. Car has normal dust, dirt, road grime, no undercoating, thanks again, Mitch

[Chuck S.]

Re: Reviving original underside of car

If C1s are like C3s (a BIG IF), then there were no marks to my knowledge on the underside fiberglass, but proceed as if there were. You will find inspection marks (lumber crayon, paint daubs) primarily on the rolling chassis.

First use a soft plastic scraper like a bondo spreader to clean as much of the greasy solids off as you can; if the gunk still moist and soft, it'll come off pretty easily. The hard dry grease accumulation may have to be softened by daubing with mineral spirits or paint thinner. Start your cleaning with Simple Green and hot water. After that, if you are lucky, you will begin to uncover traces of the inspection marks, and you will be able to work around them.

If further degreasing is required (and it will be), work your way into general cleaning with solvents...first mineral spirits (paint thinner), and then finally, lacquer thinner. Lumber crayon marks will survive a light swipe with mineral spirits, but touch them with lacquer thinner, and they'll be gone forever.

After the mineral spirits, you should have the underside fairly clean, but you may still have an oily dirty film on the fiberglass underfloor...a quick wipe down with lacquer thinner will leave the fiberglass looking pristine. Lacquer thinner will not attack your fiberglass with a simple wipe down.

[Mitch S.]

Re: Reviving original underside of car

Tanks, Chuck!

[Chuck S.]

Re: Reviving original underside of car

There may be lumber crayon marks where you least expect them; go easy on the mineral spirits on the steering knuckles and steering linkage until you find them all. I found, to my surprise, white marks all up and down my long drag link. Interesting stuff.