Heavy rail dust removal on a white '08 Vette, by Rasky's Auto Detailing

2008 Corvette, heavy rail dust removal

The owner recently bought this ?08 model Vette new, which had been on the dealers lot for over a year. Over all the car was in great condition with only light marring and a few RIDS, but the rail dust was bothering the owner. He had tried removing it himself using clay, but was unsuccessful. After spending some time on the web researching he was referred to me by another member of a Corvette forum.

After speaking with the owner we set up a time to look at the car so I could evaluate it?s condition. After inspection I felt confident I could remove most, if not all of the contaminates and we scheduled a time to do the car

I will say that I definitely underestimated the time needed to remove the contaminates on this car. Originally I had only factored in an extra 2hrs claying time, but I actually spent just under 6 hours doing it! While some of the specs came off rather easily, most were very difficult to remove and required many passes with the clay. One thing that definitely seemed to help was to change direction of the actual claying after a few strokes.

I?d say 99% of the rail dust was removed with only a few specs remaining that could not be reached with the clay (gap between rear glass and rear hatch).

The owner also wanted the engine bay and door shuts cleaned up.

Process:

Wash ? ONR
Wheels ? P21S Wheel Gel, protected with ZAIO
Tires ? Amazing Roll Off, dressed with Hyper Dressing
Engine ? P21S TAW and ONR, dressed with Hyper Dressing
Door shuts ? P21S TAW and ONR
Clay - 3M Perfect-it III clay and Last Touch as lube
Correction step 1 ? M105 via Flex DA and orange LC pad
Correction step 2 ? M205 via Flex DA and black LC pad
Head lamps/tail lights ? ZAIO
LSP = Blackfire Wet Diamond


Before pics:
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Rail dust was very hard to capture in pics...
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After pics...sorry, the owner showed up just as I finished and I missed a few after pics.

Obviously being white the before and afters won't justify the true difference. :(

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Thanks for looking, :smile:

Rasky
 
Nice work! Finished product looks great.

I once did the same project on a white Ford F-350 Crew Cab Duallie! I also underestimated on time. Man there was a lot of square footage on that beast and the rail dust was everywhere!!
 
Good work getting all that rail dust off! What a chore!!! From your pics they look like huge spots to have to deal with. I thought they wrapped cars - at least the noses before they shipped them to avoid this kind of problem???
 
VERY nice work. What exactly is "rail dust"? Was the dealer's lot next to some train tracks?

Thanks!

Rail dust - When vehicles are transported from the manufacturer by rail, iron dust particles created by friction between train wheels and the track settle on the finish. When exposed to oxygen and moisture, this dust corrodes and become embedded in the finish.

Not sure how it got on the car, whether in transportation or not, but sitting on a dealers lot for over a year didn't help. ;)

Nice work! Finished product looks great.

I once did the same project on a white Ford F-350 Crew Cab Duallie! I also underestimated on time. Man there was a lot of square footage on that beast and the rail dust was everywhere!!

Dang! I think I may have turned down a job that size...unless I had help that is.


Good work getting all that rail dust off! What a chore!!! From your pics they look like huge spots to have to deal with. I thought they wrapped cars - at least the noses before they shipped them to avoid this kind of problem???

Thanks!

I could not capture the rail dust with just my camera and kit lens. I actually took my 7x lighted magnifying glass and held the camera up to it. So the area you are seeing is less than an inch wide! And it was like that all over the top surfaces with the side being a little less contaminated.

It was definitely the worst rail dust job I've ever done.

Hard to say how it got on the car, heck maybe it's not even from a train, but they are definitely tiny rust specs etched into the paint, which showed clearly under magnification. ;)
 
VERY nice work. What exactly is "rail dust"? Was the dealer's lot next to some train tracks?

Rail dust is the small particles flying around anywear near a railroad track due to the continual metal on metal contact of wheels on rails. Years ago when I worked for a RR I used to come back after a 2 or 3 day trip to find it all over my car. You don't need to be very near a rail yard or track for it to build up, especially if a vehicle sits for a while as they do in a Used Car lot. If you don't remove it in a timely manner it tends to weld itself to the finish.

"Rail dust" has kindof become a catch phrase for fine surface contaminents, IMO.... whether it's really metal dust or not.

TL
 
Rail dust - When vehicles are transported from the manufacturer by rail, iron dust particles created by friction between train wheels and the track settle on the finish. When exposed to oxygen and moisture, this dust corrodes and become embedded in the finish.

Ya beat me to it :p

Nice job, as usual. :thumbup: That Corvette is real purdy in white! How'd ya like BFWD? I'm about to spring for a bottle for a look-see, figure on topping it with my fave 845.

Whatcha up to with the Healey back in the corner? Gonna eventually have a writeup on removing accumulated M105 dust from convertible tops and interiors for us? ;)

TL <--- another post to deprive Luster from his just due ;)
 
Ya beat me to it :p

Nice job, as usual. :thumbup: That Corvette is real purdy in white! How'd ya like BFWD? I'm about to spring for a bottle for a look-see, figure on topping it with my fave 845.

Whatcha up to with the Healey back in the corner? Gonna eventually have a writeup on removing accumulated M105 dust from convertible tops and interiors for us? ;)

TL <--- another post to deprive Luster from his just due ;)

Thanks TL!

Blackfire Rocks! I'm already on my second bottle now. :D

IMO I wouldn't top it with anything though. On top of it being very easy to use and good looking, it's the slickest feeling sealant I've ever used, which IMO is it's best aspect. Topping it with 845 will only take away that slick feeling.

The Healey in the back is a restoration in progress....well, been kind of slow lately. :D

I'm trying to get it done in time for Barret Jackson's this year as the owner and I are going to trailer it down there. ;)

No interior to get dusty and the top is getting replaced :D
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Nice job Rasky :thumbup:

rail dust can be a real pain.

Thanks Nick!
 
IMO I wouldn't top it with anything though. On top of it being very easy to use and good looking, it's the slickest feeling sealant I've ever used, which IMO is it's best aspect. Topping it with 845 will only take away that slick feeling.

I'll have a comparison sometime around Thanksgiving. My GF has a black Hyundai mini SUV that's overdue for the full treatment. I'll be doing a comparison of topped vs untopped and see what's what.

RaskyR1 said:
The Healey in the back is a restoration in progress....well, been kind of slow lately. :D

I'm trying to get it done in time for Barret Jackson's this year as the owner and I are going to trailer it down there. ;)

What... and leave Minnesnowta in January?!? Why would anyone want to do that??? :out: Your 3 weeks of summer is long gone by now, I expect :biggrin:

Watched B-J's Las Vegas auction over the weekend. Looking at some of the cars under the lights I'd think a guy with a polisher could make a few bucks out back on some of those cars. There were some swirls visible that just shouldn't be there on cars of that caliber!

TL
 
I'll have a comparison sometime around Thanksgiving. My GF has a black Hyundai mini SUV that's overdue for the full treatment. I'll be doing a comparison of topped vs untopped and see what's what.



What... and leave Minnesnowta in January?!? Why would anyone want to do that??? :out: Your 3 weeks of summer is long gone by now, I expect :biggrin:

Watched B-J's Las Vegas auction over the weekend. Looking at some of the cars under the lights I'd think a guy with a polisher could make a few bucks out back on some of those cars. There were some swirls visible that just shouldn't be there on cars of that caliber!

TL


LMAO! Looking out my window at work today....:cursing:

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Yeah, a lot of the cars at B-J definitely need a lot of help! If we can see the swirls on TV you know they are bad! :D




Nice work, nice car:hurray:

Thanks! :)
 
Great correction work on the vette Chad, is that the one we talk about using the decon kit? It sucks when all that rail rust being on there for so long, but you work show's who's boss! Awesome finish! BTW the driver of the Audi doesn't know how to park...... Sent some snow my way!
 
Hey Rasky! The Vette looks fantastic! I like working on Corvettes so much, I'd almost do them for free...................(not really:biggrin:)

But you're forgetting... you're supposed to send the Vettes to me!!!!!:rofl::):rofl::):rofl:

(BTW...I don't like that last picture at all. Winter starts soon enough around here!:cursing: I'm a hot summer guy. Guess I belong in Florida!:biggrin:)
 
Great correction work on the vette Chad, is that the one we talk about using the decon kit? It sucks when all that rail rust being on there for so long, but you work show's who's boss! Awesome finish! BTW the driver of the Audi doesn't know how to park...... Sent some snow my way!

Yep, this is the car. ;)

The decon kit probably would have saved me lots of time, but personally if it were my own car I would have clayed it as well.



FYI, The guy who owns the Audi is in MY parking spot! That's my front row "no door ding spot"! :D

:rofl: That is the first thing I thought of!

I don't mind this snow, but they have already started with the heavy salting of the roads, so the fun cars are put away for the year. :(

Randy

Thanks again for the referral Randy!

Hey Rasky! The Vette looks fantastic! I like working on Corvettes so much, I'd almost do them for free...................(not really:biggrin:)

But you're forgetting... you're supposed to send the Vettes to me!!!!!:rofl::):rofl::):rofl:

(BTW...I don't like that last picture at all. Winter starts soon enough around here!:cursing: I'm a hot summer guy. Guess I belong in Florida!:biggrin:)

Thanks Bill!


I can't let you have all the nice cars now can I? :D

I belong in the warm weather too!.....some day! Boo Hoo


Hey, wait a minute..........that's RASKY'S car!!!!!:clap::clap::clap::rofl:


LOL...No, see the RL parked at the end spot! :D
 
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