Dirty/Stained Paint, What to do?

J

jeepnut24

New member
Im in the long process of slowly cleaning up my 90 GTI and I have hit an area that I can't figure out what to do. In side the back hatch, and in a few other "hidden" areas the paint has gotten stained/really dirty. I tried an all purpose cleaner and it really isn't budging at all. Any suggestions? Its a single stage white paint from the factory. Not to concerned in the long run as its going to get resprayed. Id just like to clean it up some so it is more presentable while I fix the mechanical side. I HATE a dirty car. I removed several pounds of dirt/grease from the engine bay.



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Car for reference...

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Vdubby18 said:
I want your car. :D
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Why thanks. Its getting a VR6 swap this winter/spring and then a full respray next year sometime.



The other side doesn't look as clean. The rear quarter panel needs to be replaced due to a poor previous repair. Right now I just want to learn to detail and make what is there more presentable.
 
You need a light polish or some AIO/cleaner wax and some young fingers to get in there and clean that up. Klasse AIO, Jeff's Werkstatt Prime would be good choices. Or even Swirl-X from WalMart.
 
jeepnut24- Welcome to Autopia! Yeah...very cool care :xyxthumbs



I'd be using a decontamination system (AutoInt/ValuGard's "ABC" or the FinishKare version) along with clay, and *then* either an aggressive AIO or a polish that works by hand.



The acidic portion of the decon. system will have a little effect on the rust and will help with the rust stains on the paint.



Then I'd treat the surface rust with a rust converter and Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator to keep such stuff under control until such time as you have a pro fix it properly.
 
Can you find some Bright Boy Metal Polish? It's a liquid and has an ammonia smell to it.



Do this. Wash the dirt off the area you want to work. Rinse but leave wet, then use a cellulose sponge and Bright Boy and clean off the stain. Rinse and dry. There will be some very light scratching from the metal polish but it will take the stain out of the paint and leave you with a surface that should polish out with an all in one polish. It's quick and easy. You'll notice on the Bright Boy it's good for fiberglass. I use it on boats where there are rust stains because it's safe fast and effective.



Robert
 
Wear gloves and try a solvent like Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits.
 
I think Ill start with a different APC and some Goo Gone. Then move up to a cleaner wax, and then if all that doesn't work something stronger. There is very little rust stainning so that isn't too much of an issue in the trunk.



Can someone give me some more info on a "decontamination system" from a few posts up? I haven't come across that terminology/technique/product yet.
 
Jeepnut,



When you get through with the other options re-read my post. BTW, when you use the Bright Boy Metal polish, you rinse it off and dry. It will be fast and effective, though not nearly as entertaining as some of the other methods.



You've got rust stained white paint. The ammoniated polish will cut the grease and remove the rust. If you do it gently you should be able to rinse, dry and wax.



In full on curmudgeon mode,

Robert
 
WhyteWizard said:
Jeepnut,



When you get through with the other options re-read my post. BTW, when you use the Bright Boy Metal polish, you rinse it off and dry. It will be fast and effective, though not nearly as entertaining as some of the other methods.



You've got rust stained white paint. The ammoniated polish will cut the grease and remove the rust. If you do it gently you should be able to rinse, dry and wax.



In full on curmudgeon mode,

Robert
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Two follow up questions...

Where can I find this Bright Boy Metal Polish?

And if the stains are rust, why are then not rust colored? They are a dark gray and look more like overspray than rust. There are several small chips in the paint elsewhere with rust colored rust stains??? :confused: And I will certainly try the this option for those areas because they are clearly rust stains. I just don't think these are rust stains...:confused:
 
Most hardware stores have Bright Boy or the equivalent, I just found out they changed the name, it's now called Brilliant Metal Polish. The ammonia in that metal polish will cut the grease and other stains very effectively. Just scrub like you would a dirty sink or something and rinse. If you don't want to run that residue into the gutter, then seriously, good for you, just take a damp sponge and wipe up the residue.



I looked at your pictures and could see what looked like a combination of rust and grease stains. Brilliant Metal Polish, formerly Bright Boy will cover all those problems like a broad spectrum anti-biotic.



When you're done, you're going to have a lot of spare time. Please, get back to us and tell everyone how it worked.



Robert
 
I'd worry about the toothbrush marring up the paint something awful (OK, maybe I'm too paranoid about that :nixweiss ).



Jakerooni- I was thinking about the orange stains; to me they look like rust stains from runoff coming from the areas of surface rust. Yeah, the black stains probably are just mold/etc. in the pores of the paint.
 
Well here is an update. 10 points for the Scratch X 2.0 suggestion. I stopped by wal-mart on the way home, I drive right bye it everyday, and picked some up. Needless to say it worked pretty well. A few of the bad spots took a few applications, but it got about 90%. I tried it on a few of the rust stains elsewhere and it got them too. Im more than pleased at this point. There is still a "ring" brown/orange stain on the paint where it meets the trunk seal though?? but it is 110% better than it was before.



2 Questions now...

Do I need to go over the area with some type of sealer/wax?

How do I keep it from coming back?



As for the toothbrush, well the rest of the paint is in VERY bad shape so no big deal. I just HATE having such a dirty car and Im going over it taking care of what I can easily/cheaply fix. Eventually it will be resprayed.





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One more question, what type of cloth/towel should I use to work the scratchx into the paint? I used a microfiber towel because it was close at hand. Is something that might work better? Ive got quite a bit more sq ft to cover. :)
 
MF towel is by far the towel of choice. You did great there. I would use a MF towel and hand rub in a little wax to the area now. You can use paint sealant if you have some available. Should keep it from coming back for awhile. The root cause of that issue is dirty seals and rubber boots. The cleaner you keep those the less you have to deal with the dinge issue like that. Again great job on the clean up looks good from here.
 
Jakerooni said:
MF towel is by far the towel of choice. You did great there. I would use a MF towel and hand rub in a little wax to the area now. You can use paint sealant if you have some available. Should keep it from coming back for awhile. The root cause of that issue is dirty seals and rubber boots. The cleaner you keep those the less you have to deal with the dinge issue like that. Again great job on the clean up looks good from here.
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Thanks.



That leads to another question. What do I use to clean, restore the seals and rubber boots? I haven't come across that info here yet.
 
well you have two issues.. The cleaning part can be handled a number of ways. If the rubber is still in good shape simple APC will work. If it's however older and dirtier you might need to step up to alcohol wipes. (same thing they give you to clean off your wiper blades) This however will have a drying effect on the rubber so always go back over it with a conditioner. for cheaper OTC stuff 303 areospace protecant is good. I've been playing with HD's protect for a bit now and it's holding up quite nicely. Even crap like armor all is better than nothing if you can't get to anything else for the moment.
 
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