Paying for the sins of my car.

Y

YoSteve

New member
I clayed my car yesterday. I washed a panel, then clayed the panel. Forgive my neglect, my lovely Passat :( it took me almost 4 hours to clay all the rail rust off my car. Did we decide where rail rust comes from? I'll take the dust problems you guys have over this any day.



Moral of the story, don't neglect your car or else you'll pay for it later :) maybe if that happens again, I'll use ABC to get that all off much easier.
 
Was there any consensus which system is better or safer? The Valugard ABC wash or the Finish Kare equivalent?
 
How long have you had the Passat? I'm just surprised that someone at Autopia with nearly 2300 posts would not have clayed his car to remove rail dust when he got it. :nixweiss



Rail dust is just that: dust from rails....most cars are delivered via train. If not removed, rail dust can cause all types of problems, including rust in the paint.
 
i get rail rust after every winter and apparently this summer



I bought it new and get everything off it before every big detail.



Pictures to come :)
 
last winter *hides*



have you ever lived (with a car) in a snowy area? if I lived where there wasn't snow, my car would probably look better than the day I got it. some down south take their weather forgranted.
 
YoSteve said:
last winter *hides*



have you ever lived (with a car) in a snowy area? if I lived where there wasn't snow, my car would probably look better than the day I got it. some down south take their weather forgranted.
Click to expand...



Yeah, excellent point!



I can't even imagine having to drive my pride and joy in the snow!



:scared



If you lived here in SoCal, the fact that you hadn't clayed your car since last winter wouldn't be that bad of a thing. Driving in snow during winter changes everything.



I'm quite happy to live where I do (even though we are suppose to get another rain storm tomorrow).
 
Steve- Any chance that the problem was really "old" ferrous contamination that "came back"? I ask because I haven't had any such problems with the MPV despite heavy winter/bad-weather use, perhaps because I used ABC on our it when it was new.



I'm only now doing its full detail (panel by panel as time permits) after last winter- kept putting it off since my many layers of KSG are only now starting to sheet. No raildust type problems, even after 14 months of nothing but regular washes with spot-claying. Maybe the spot-claying was keeping it clean, but I wasn't consciously doing it for that, just for tar and bugs and I sure didn't clay the whole vehicle.



Oh, heh heh, I was inspired by how long your Klasse lasted on your VW, so I ended up using the MPV for a Klasse durability test.



Bill D- despite my good results with ABC, I'd go with the Finish Kare stuff. Almost certainly safer for the glass and trim and presumably still effective.
 
YoSteve: I get rail rust after every winter and apparently this summer.





Rob Tomlin: That's weird. Where would the "rail dust" be coming from?
Click to expand...



I have a freind who parks his car in a commuter rail lot for his daily trek into Boston. There are also a number of freight trains that pass through this area., and he gets rail dust "blooms" on his car if he parks close to the tracks and doesn't keep his car clean. My guess is that YoSteve parks near railroad tracks on occassion.
 
Rob Tomlin said:
That's weird. Where would the "rail dust" be coming from?



When was the last time you clayed the car?
Click to expand...



If you live where it snows the *rail dust* is now * snow plow blade dust* from the wear on plow blades running on the pavement.



You will accumulate it over the winter and well into the spring.
 
YoSteve said:
so Acc, what's your view on Klasse and durability after putting it on your MVP?
Click to expand...



Heh heh, what do you *think* ;) IMO it's as durable as a LSP could possibly need to be :D Most of the vehicle is still beading just fine, including the hood- which I've spot-clayed for bugs many times. The rear hatch seems to take a real beating; it's was the only panel that really needed redoing. I'm not gonna sweat it over how soon I do the rest of the vehicle, it's still holding up that well.



Of course, I *did* put six layers on there, but still, being able to just wash it for over a year was really great. No, I don't recommend that people treat their vehicles that way, but for the family beater it worked for me.



Can I see a difference between the 14 month old SG and the panels I've redone? Sure. But it's not as big a difference as one might expect. I honestly don't think a casual observer would notice it.
 
Jesstzn said:
If you live where it snows the *rail dust* is now * snow plow blade dust* from the wear on plow blades running on the pavement.



You will accumulate it over the winter and well into the spring.
Click to expand...



That's what I was thinking. It just seems it would be much less than what a car would get by sitting on a train.
 
I hear raildust can travel upto 2 miles. My daily driver is parked within 500 yards of RR tracks and on a regualr basis I find odd colored specks on my paint. Those specks wash off easily but I don't want to know what would happen if they were left to their own desires.
 
Definately know how the winter car thing works, not exactly much fun detailing in an unheated garage in the middle of January. Northern Michigan gets a little cold to make it worth it. Worst part, car lives out side.



I have seen raildust from Plow blades though. If you watchem when theyre driving down the road, every once in a while theyll hit a bump and spark pretty good. One time saw one almost pickup a manhole cover off the road :) Quite entertaining actually.
 
despite my good results with ABC, I'd go with the Finish Kare stuff. Almost certainly safer for the glass and trim and presumably still effective. [/B]
Click to expand...




Just to make a couple friendly points about the Finish Kare Decontamination System and Rail Dust.



First off it is the original system and the only one developed at the direct request of the Automotive Mfg. Additionally it is the only system of its kind that does not contain any harmful oxalic acids which are harmful to trim glass and paint (where it can soften and degrade the clear coat. As for the effectiveness of the Finish Kare system once again it is the only system that has been documented on tens of millions of vehicles where it has been proven effective and without any incident of damage.



As for being a harsh system, it is anything but. A vehicle could be decontaminated using the FK system an infinite number of times without any degradation to the paint film.



As for snow plow dust - This is a first. The source of what we call rail dust can take many forms including actual rail dust from trains, brake dust from cars, common pollution, smoke from factories, foundries, even being near or in line of a flight will result in what we commonly refer to as rail dust.



Why does it occur in the winter? Snow creates a moist environment for the iron oxide which allows it to corrode. Leave your tools out in the snow and see what happens to them. If the same contaminates were present on a vehicle in say Palm Springs where it is very dry the corrosion process would not occur until the surface was exposed to moisture.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top