Cleaning wheel wells

Accumulator said:
And the whole undercarriage...every vehicle, every wash (albeit with varying degrees of effort). I keep two floorjacks (and jackstands, for safety) in the wash area of the garage just for this. Amazing the kind of stuff that washes out after just a little use. And it's nice to spot things that are gonna need attention...it's not like the mechanics have to discover stuff for me; I'm pretty well acquainted with how everything's supposed to be and I can usually tell when something isn't right.



Now if I'd just start dressing everything the way some of you guys do...but I tell myself I spend enough time on this stuff as it is :D
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I have a lift in my garage and I'm trying to figure out how I can better clean undersides wth the car up on it...after a pressure wash outside of course...problem being crud and cleaner raining down on me and the floor...thinking about getting another oil drain unit and devoting it to catching cleaner run-off...I could then properly dispose of the residue and not get covered in crud as I work.



Peter... wondering if I need something more aggressive than #83 to prep my subframe mounts..in Denver
 
I do the wheel wells every wash. I use a soft brush and the leftovers from washing the car. My front wheel wells have a plastic liner so they are relatively easy to wash. The rear though is just undercoated and I wind up busting the knuckles a bit back there. Once everything is dry I spray Griot's Undercarriage Spray on and let it sit overnight before driving. Comes out looking like new.
 
What order do most of us like washing the wells and rest of the car: wells /wheels first then car or vice versa? I was always taught to do wheels and wells first so contamination and other nasties from that area doesn't get on freshly washed paint.



Different strokes for different folks huh.
 
I do the wheel wells, wheels and tires after washing but, before I do the final rinse of the car. I guess I could make a seperate bucket of car wash/water for the wheels but, that seems like such a waste when I can just use what is left over after washing. Since I use car wash even if I get it on the paint it is mild enough not to mess with the finish and it all gets rinsed anyway.



As already stated, different strokes for different folks. It comes down to what works best for you. :xyxthumbs
 
Bill D,



You're right about the smooth plastic liners a lot of new cars have. I would not use undercoating on them. Just a soft brush with car wash soap and/or APC is usually all that's needed on them before dressing.



I gathered from Peter's post that he had steel wheel wells as he said the paint was flaking and stuff. That is how my Maxima is, and is why I feel comfortable undercoating them. They're undercoated from the factory, so it just makes sense to me to re-apply if needed. And with the rubberized undercoating, they can even be dressed like the original (I've been using AA lately for dressing wheel wells, and it has actually impressed me).



Hope I didn't confuse anyone in to undercoating their plastic wheel well liners!



Dave
 
Hi Dave,



My old Maxima has ,I think, a combo ofthe undercoating material and a plastic shield.



For really grungy looking wells I read a nice shot of some black spray paint can turn out really nice :up
 
SK2003TypeS- Heh heh, for some reason the part of detailing I *really* get into is the basic cleaning. I genuinely just *like* cleaning dirt off of things. Though I must admit that I do the undercarriages with varying degrees of thoroughness. Still, it's not like any of them are ever left *dirty* or anything, even in the winter. I like to think I don't miss anything but I'm sure I sometimes do.



Peter Crowl- Heh heh, you just reminded me how much I miss the lift in my previous garage! Yeah, it can be nasty with all the crud raining down on you; I just used extensions on a pressure washer (so I could stand back a bit) and worked in a systematic manner so I was moving away from the areas I'd worked. The long wand you mentioned might do the trick.



Bill D- Yeah, I do the wheelwells and wheels/tires first, using a dedicated bucket/tools. Then I do the undercarriage, mostly with the same stuff. I don't seem to get anything much on the rest of the vehicle (except the rinse water) but I still like doing the "nasty work" first.



BTW, doing the undercarriage each time makes it a lot less nasty of a job.



I generally use carwash shampoo on the wheels too (and the wheelwells of the "good cars") and I just keep a sorta-strong mix of it in a spray bottle that I hook over the "wheel/tire bucket" along with wheel cleaner, rubber cleaner, and some EFHI (and some clay stuck onto the lip of the bucket for tar, etc. on the wheels/in the wells). The bucket only contains rinse water.
 
Accumulator said:
Bill D- Yeah, I do the wheelwells and wheels/tires first, using a dedicated bucket/tools. Then I do the undercarriage, mostly with the same stuff. I don't seem to get anything much on the rest of the vehicle (except the rinse water) but I still like doing the "nasty work" first.



BTW, doing the undercarriage each time makes it a lot less nasty of a job.



I generally use carwash shampoo on the wheels too (and the wheelwells of the "good cars") and I just keep a sorta-strong mix of it in a spray bottle that I hook over the "wheel/tire bucket" along with wheel cleaner, rubber cleaner, and some EFHI (and some clay stuck onto the lip of the bucket for tar, etc. on the wheels/in the wells). The bucket only contains rinse water.
Click to expand...



Amen! :xyxthumbs. I can't help but have a strong opinion on this. It's my stubborness creeping in :o
 
Accumulator said:
SK2003TypeS- Heh heh, for some reason the part of detailing I *really* get into is the basic cleaning. I genuinely just *like* cleaning dirt off of things. Though I must admit that I do the undercarriages with varying degrees of thoroughness. Still, it's not like any of them are ever left *dirty* or anything, even in the winter. I like to think I don't miss anything but I'm sure I sometimes do.......
Click to expand...



My weekly washes are mainly focused on the paint. My undercarriage and wheelwells are basically hosed down. Although, I know I should get at them with a brush more often.

:o
 
Ok....I re-did the rear wells on the CR-V. Thought I'd post some of the things I learned.



I felt the need to re-spray them because the exising undercoat was worn through in spots. I pulled the wheels and found the existing coating to be dirt impregnated and as a result dried out.



The easiest way to prep the wells was to scrape the exising coating with a putty knife. It just sloughed off...no effort at all. A small brass wire brush worked well too. I learned this after doing the first one with water and brush which was not the best way to go.



Once the old coating was off, I washed the remaining surface a few times to get any residue off. I masked and applied Bondo brand rubberized undercoating from an aerosol can...availaible at Checker Auto and other such mass merchants.



It sprays thick in a tight pattern so it wasn't hard to stay in the areas I wanted to do. I applied two coats.



I'm happy with the results..the wells look good and I believe will be easy to maintain. The coating is a bit soft as a rubberized product should be...regular washing should help stop the impregnation of dirt, and hopefully slow the process of drying out the coating.



The project took about an hour to prep a well, I let the base coat dry overnight before re-coating, they advise 3 to 4 hours.



I haven't test run the car to see if there's any sound deadening benefit, but I can't see how there wouldn't be an improvement.



I also took the opportunity to deep clean the backside of the wheels and wax both sides with some Megs paste wax I had on hand.





The photos are a bit embarassing...the shock sleeves need to be cleaned again...really showed up on the photo! I'll be deep cleaning the underside in the rear after it's back on the driveway...since it sits up you can really see that area and I'd like it to look nice. Anybody know which paint to use on the back side of the muffler?



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=9231&papass=&sort=1



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=9234&papass=&sort=1



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=9232&papass=&sort=1



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=9233&papass=&sort=1



Peter...experienceing Wellness.in Denver
 
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