Solvent for Audi wax like rustproofing

[imported_pdsterns]

I have some nasty looking rustproofing under the hood of my 85 Audi that I would like to remove/cleanup. It is was amber in color when the car was new and very wax like, it is easy to remove with a scraper or blade in open areas but I would prefer to dissolve it in the tight areas, IPA and paint thinner are not very effective, and I try to stay away from MEK cause I think it could give a rock cancer. Any thoughts?

 

[BobD]

Oil-Flo should work well.

 

[imported_pdsterns]

Never heard of it but looks like it might be good for lots of other tough stains, will give it a try. thanks



PS, I do like your DWG, looks great on black sand pearl

 

[chml17l]

I've used Meguiar's Body Solvent to remove this heavy, waxy, ooze from the body panel gaps of my wife's Audi.

 

[RDAutosport]

I have some nasty looking rustproofing under the hood of my 85 Audi that I would like to remove/cleanup. It is was amber in color when the car was new and very wax like, it is easy to remove with a scraper or blade in open areas but I would prefer to dissolve it in the tight areas, IPA and paint thinner are not very effective, and I try to stay away from MEK cause I think it could give a rock cancer. Any thoughts?

It sounds similar to what BMW uses which is cosmoline, a petroleum based rust inhibitor. Once baked on, it is very hard to remove. BMW dealers used to have a solvent they used to remove it and if that wasn't available, they used kerosene. I have used Oil-Flo before (worked alright on the less cured areas) along with a variety of other solvents. I hear steam may also work. But again, once baked on it is much more difficult to remove.



Good luck.



Regards,



Rich

 

[GoudyL]

I have some nasty looking rustproofing under the hood of my 85 Audi that I would like to remove/cleanup. It is was amber in color when the car was new and very wax like, it is easy to remove with a scraper or blade in open areas but I would prefer to dissolve it in the tight areas, IPA and paint thinner are not very effective, and I try to stay away from MEK cause I think it could give a rock cancer. Any thoughts?

B12 Chemtool. Look for it in a can in the gasoline additives section. It's a blend of pure high power solvents. Classicly it was used to clean carburetors from built up varnish. Good stuff for dealing with sticky/tarry/resiny messes.

 

[Accumulator]

It sounds similar to what BMW uses which is cosmoline...

Wish I could just link to the last thread about this stuff that I replied to...I don't want to say "go search" but I've covered this is some detail a few times. Anyhow...



Correction, if I may- it's not *REALLY* "cosmoline". Cosmoline is simply different stuff that most people have never even seen unless they were in the military.



I have a fair amount of experience with the real cosmoline (still love the smell of that stuff).



What everyone *calls* "cosmoline" is what you're referring to, and you're right, its the same stuff that BMW/MB/etc. use It's a wax-based product that hardens/cures (in a way that real cosmoline never quite does). Wurth and others sell spray cans of it that you can use for touch-ups.



Removing it isn't all that hard, what's tricky is cleaning it while leaving enough there, intact, for concours-correct purposes. *THAT* is tough...I did it on the M3 and it took a lot of work. But to just clean it off-



I clean it off with solvents, AutoInt's New Car Prep, PrepSol, etc. It pretty much just wipes off if you let the product dwell long enough. Applying some heat will speed things along. I really do think you should just put on some rubber gloves and do it that way. You can apply mechanical agitation with something like a plastic razor blade, just be careful not to mar the paint. No need, IME, for anything super-potent, I'd just use regular solvents with a long dwell-time.



Citrus-based products can work but often as not they just compromise it (leaving it milky/crappy looking).



Steam can work but you have to be *very* careful or you'll just get the same milky/compromised result.

 

[imported_pdsterns]

Lots of choices here and thanks but let me clafiy the "stuff". It is under the hood up below the windshield by the hinges on the left and right sides. There are some large drain holes into the wheel wells right next to the "stuff". It is not baked on or hard just very dirty now, still very wax like and easy to remove with a finger nail or a scraper but a solvent would be a better choice in that area as it is anything but flat. I've looked at pictures of other Audi's in the same area's and they all have it.

 

[Accumulator]

pdsterns- Yeah, it's the same stuff my VW Quantum Synchro wagon (US wagon version of your 4KQ) had in the same places (and the same stuff so many other German cars have).



Note that for concours purposes it's supposed to be there, so if that matters to you don't take it *all* off.



Otherwise just get some PrepSol or 3M Adhesive Remover (man is that stuff handy...) and wipe it away. Since it hasn't hardened up in your case it'll be easy.



Eh...you've revived my 4000 Quattro envy I never shoulda sold that VW...

 

[imported_pdsterns]

B12 Chemtool. Look for it in a can in the gasoline additives section. It's a blend of pure high power solvents. Classicly it was used to clean carburetors from built up varnish. Good stuff for dealing with sticky/tarry/resiny messes.

I found some b12 chemtool and the first warning on the label is that it removes paint so I took a pass on that one.

 

[GoudyL]

I found some b12 chemtool and the first warning on the label is that it removes paint so I took a pass on that one.

Just wipe it on and wipe it off, use common sense. Besides you won't be wiping it on to the paint, but onto the layer of cosmoline which is sitting on top of the paint.



It's no worse for paint than getting a few drops of gasoline on it. :bounce

 

[Accumulator]

... you won't be wiping it on to the paint, but onto the layer of cosmoline which is sitting on top of the paint...

I dunno how realistic it is to think that the product will only come incontact with the rustproofing and not the paint.



IMO *everybody* who's into cars oughta have some kind of general-purpose solvent around anyhow, and this situation is simply another example of why.



Get some PrepSol or 3M Adhesive Remover, they won't hurt anything and you'll reach for such stuff more often than you think.



OK OK I'll drop it...but sheesh, I must use those products every week of the year, and not just on the vehicles. That little can of 3M Adhesive Remover will be money well-spent...just used mine yesterday when repairing the hose on a vacuum cleaner.

 

[imported_pdsterns]

Accumulator, No, no, you don't have to drop it, I have IPA and and some paint thinner that I go to all the time, just need to add the 3M stuff. I couldn't live without a solvent on the shelf for sure.



Accumulator, is the stuff that squeezes out from the seams, like where the fenders are joined to body, under the hood the same stuff? It does not look the same to me, the stuff from the joints is sticky like adhesive where the stuff up under the cowl appears and feels like soft wax but not brittle.

 

[GoudyL]

I dunno how realistic it is to think that the product will only come incontact with the rustproofing and not the paint.



IMO *everybody* who's into cars oughta have some kind of general-purpose solvent around anyhow, and this situation is simply another example of why.

If only common sense came in a can.



I mean here we are worrying about if a solvent which will be applied onto a layer of grease and then wiped off will remove paint.



Vs say, applying an abrasive substance and then forcefully rubbing it on the paint with a machine and stiff foam pad. That won't remove any paint at all... :ignore :ignore :ignore



IMHO the best way to care for the car's paint is to use the right product for the job. As you noted, water based surfactants may emulsify into the cosmoline causing it to turn cloudy.

 

[David Fermani]

Just wipe it on and wipe it off, use common sense. Besides you won't be wiping it on to the paint, but onto the layer of cosmoline which is sitting on top of the paint.



It's no worse for paint than getting a few drops of gasoline on it. :bounce

If only common sense came in a can.



I mean here we are worrying about if a solvent which will be applied onto a layer of grease and then wiped off will remove paint.



Vs say, applying an abrasive substance and then forcefully rubbing it on the paint with a machine and stiff foam pad. That won't remove any paint at all... :ignore :ignore :ignore



IMHO the best way to care for the car's paint is to use the right product for the job. As you noted, water based surfactants may emulsify into the cosmoline causing it to turn cloudy.

Clasic example of someone with a scientific background having NO pratical knowledge/understanding of detailing. These people can't put themselves into real world situations because they have ZERO experience with doing the actual process. Flawed knowledge coupled with crap products makes for 1 screwed up vehicle.



Common sence would tell you that if you wipe a harmful product over a surface to remove something that's on that surface,that eventually this product will come in contact with the surface it's not intended to come in contact with. Read any domestic vehicle owners manual produced in the past few years, all have somewhere a statement that basically tells the owner, don't use enamel reducers, paint thinner, lacquer thinner, acetone, toulene, benzene etc on your vehicles paint. Wonder why? B12Chemtool MSDS is a molotov cocktail of this stuff: http://www.berrymanproducts.com/Portals/0/BPI MSDS/0216.pdf

 

[Accumulator]

..is the stuff that squeezes out from the seams, like where the fenders are joined to body, under the hood the same stuff? It does not look the same to me, the stuff from the joints is sticky like adhesive where the stuff up under the cowl appears and feels like soft wax but not brittle.

Heh heh, beats me :nixweiss I can *almost* remember that stuff on my VW..never noticed it on the late '90s V8 we had but that thing was different anyhow.



The stuff that feels like soft wax, well...it *is* wax (at least a big % of it). The other stuff, well, sorry I just dunno.



But I'm pretty confident that the 3M stuff will clean it off, and in a controlled enough manner (assuming a little of that common sense ) that it shouldn't creep back into the joints and wreak havoc with anything.

Vs say, applying an abrasive substance and then forcefully rubbing it on the paint with a machine and stiff foam pad. That won't remove any paint at all...

Sorry, I simply don't follow you there (though I do pick up on the sarcasm). Of course machine polishing with abrasive product and a foam pad will remove paint, *that's the idea*. Done properly it'll remove the paint to the extent desired/required *in a controlled manner*, effecting defect removal and leveling/smoothing/polishing of the surface.



No, you don't want to overdo it, but having done this countless times on many vehicles over the last three+ decades, it's simply not something to worry about in the categorical sense. I still have original paint on plenty of cars that've been polished as needed. Of course, they shouldn't need it very often, which is why it's not a big deal.



And yeah, in some cases the paint simply cannot stand more abrasion and in those situations you don't use abrasives any more...but those situations are pretty few and far between.



I too caution people about overthinning the clear and/or polishing all the time, but it's a matter of degree. I just don't get your seemingly frequent criticisms of machine polishing in general, or maybe I'm reading you wrong.

 

[GoudyL]

I too caution people about overthinning the clear and/or polishing all the time, but it's a matter of degree. I just don't get your seemingly frequent criticisms of machine polishing in general, or maybe I'm reading you wrong.

Nah, I'm not against machine polishing at all. (Infact I just used this Sunday to polish out the CC on my driving car, prior to rewaxing it),



I just get concerned that folks have a tendancy to over do it, since the results are so dramatic. That's why the recent threads on burning clear coat with machine polishers/agressive compounds are so predictable/sad/preventable etc. I'm a big believer in spot treatment with compounds by hand, and then using a very light polish over the entire panel, rather than chasing the entire panel with a medium polish.



Maybe I tend to be a bit dramatic, though. :woot:

 

[Accumulator]

Nah, I'm not against machine polishing at all. ..

I just get concerned that folks have a tendancy to over do it..

Ah, OK..thanks for clarifying. You and I are in agreement after all :xyxthumbs

Maybe I tend to be a bit dramatic, though...

Heh heh, ya just never know how some things come across over the internet