Bonded Contaminants issue

A

AudiOn19s

New member
Guys:...rather embarassing to dislose this but I've created quite a mess on my own personal vehicle. I've been badly in need of a rear brake job on the Audi for about a month. I went to do it on three separate occasions only to find somethine else broken or myself missing a vital tool every single time. Regular work and detailng got very busy and I drove the car for 3 weeks with metal on metal contact in the rear...and without even having time to wash the car (or think about the consequences).



I finally got the brakes finished and went to wash the car when the horror struck me...there's 3 weeks worth of bonded brake rotor contaminants All over the car. I've never seen it this bad in my life. The car has been outside for the entire 3 weeks and has been rained on several time and the contaminants have started to rust in the clear.



I spent the better part of 3 hours claying, polishing (rotary and PC), claying agagin, polishing again...and for the most part I've removed all of the contaminants except on the rear. I went through an entire 200G clay bar removing the contaminants that are coming off like rust.



The back of the car is still a horrible. The plastic rear bumper and the rear of the trunk are soo caked with this stuff that Clay's not even beginning to make a dent. I clayed the rear bumper and I kid you not it feels like 80 grit sandpaper. The clay doesn't even glide across the surface it's that bad.



So...what to do with the rear of the trunk and the rear bumper?...wetsand?



Also the wheel from that corner of the car is done...3 attempts with Wheel acid have only made a marginal dent...i may have to have the wheel refinished.



Thanks for any help with the remaining problem areas.



Andy
 
Yeah, and do it sooner rather than later! Wolfe has a similar problem with his VW and even the ABC w/clay didn't completely eliminate all the ferrous contamination; it just keeps coming back :( Once it gets enough of a toe-hold you can be SOL.



You can also try using a bug sponge (instead of clay) while the acidic "B" step is dwelling, or so says Ron K. at AUTOINT . I'm not touching *my* paint with one of those, but then I don't have a big contamination issue either.
 
Thanks guys...I'm trying to get the ABC or FK system delivered ASAP...can't believe I was dumb enough to cause this.



Andy
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Sounds like you need to try the FK or AI decon systems, claying during the acid step as Accumulator recommends.
Click to expand...





Yep !!



I used it on all these (33 in all) that are parked adjacent to train tracks and it worked really good to remove a very thick layer of rail dust that was bonded to the tops.





1841bus.jpg
 
Wetsanding would be your next step.



I have heard too many arguing reviews over the decontamination system (ie: soaking your car in kerosene just bleaches the rust, not fully removes it).



A buddy of mine did one step worse, his brakes failed 1 mile before the mechanic in his Explorer. Very scary and very stupid. Long story short, the truck was full of rust and it was before I was a die-hard detailer. He brought it to our body shop (close friend). He wetsanded the whole trunk, compounded, polished, and glazed...It looked brand new and yes, it removed all the rust.
 
Guys...looks like there will be more than one lesson learnred in this ordeal for me...Lesson 1: No matter how busy you are it's not an excuse to let required maintenance slide. I'm often times too proud to let anyone else work on my cars for anything as I prefer to do all of my own work. With my schedule I need to learn to pay someone else to do the work when my schedule doesn't permit...you'll see my hosed wheel in one picture that will be a reminder until I can get the spare (curb rashed) rim on the car.



Enough of that moral. Found the FK system relatively close to me and drove an hour to go get it. Tried it on the car and while it took out alot of the contamination it did not clear up the rear bumper and trunk like I had hoped. Sooo...onto the wetsanding option. I don't have much experience with it...for me it's too much of a liability to do on customer cars so I just don't do it. My "buddy" who does paint work said to come down to his shop and he'll show me how it's done.



I get there and observe as he wetsand the roof, rear bumper, trunk, and rear fenders that still had minor contamination issues. He wetsanded with 1500 grit 3M paper, then followed with 3M rubbing compound on a 3M white waffle pad on the rotary at around 1600 rpm. Under the florescent lights in his shop the car looked good. I told him that I'd take care of the remainder of the finishing work when I got home and went on my way.



The next morning when I got the car out in the sun I see the disaster that really was left behind and now I have to fix another mess.



Here are the shots of the current condition of the car...tell me what needs to be done.



In my opinion from researching the wetsanding should have been finished with 3000 grit...and likely a sanding block as well. BUT then again alot of this looks like it could be rotary induced. I attempted to use my rotary with a cutting pad and everything I own (OHC, PG, SSR2.5, SSR3) and all I've manged to do is dull the surface and not take out any of these markings.



Sooo...do I need to get a sanding block and some 3000 grit and start over?...or should this come out with the rotary. Keep in mind this is Audi clear hence it's not exactly easy to work with.



Thanks for any additional help. I will come out of this a better detailer in the end with and expanded skill set...I'm determined to get it right. Luckily I have you guys to leverage for knowledge unlike the issue I'm having with a stored procedure this morning at my "real job".



Andy

during:

wetsand2.jpg




Picture of roof. Wetsanded with 1500 and polished with white waffle weave 3M pad and 3M rubbing compound. Untouched by me at this point.

wetsand13.jpg




Picture of Trunk Lid. Drivers side where it's dull I've attacked with nearly everything I own with very little progress.

wetsand15.jpg




So that you guys don't think that I'm crazy...this is what the remainder of my 140,000 mile paint looks like...not perfect but not bad either (excuse the fact that it's a little dirty this morning).

wetsand11.jpg
 
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