Cleaning the suspension and undercarriage

[RyanRA]

I am looking for cleaning solution suggestions to get the suspension and undercarriage tidied up.

I’d like to get close to the pics in this For Sale ad:
http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showt...A21635S000103?p=1939266&styleid=9#post1939266

 

[Mac Attack]

Pay a professional to blast it with dry ice. Seriously, google it and look at the before/afters. You might get a discount if you organize a mini group cleaning.

 

[RyanRA]

Pay a professional to blast it with dry ice. Seriously, google it and look at the before/afters. You might get a discount if you organize a mini group cleaning.

I've never even heard of dry ice blasting/cleaning. Interesting.

Also found this post; thanks...

http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showt...ension-these-days?highlight=cleaning+aluminum

 

[Mac Attack]

This is an example of mine that has been thoroughly cleaned with good old-fashioned elbow grease, brake cleaner, simple green, wire brushes, and Scotch-Brite pads:

I've daily-driven this car for over 70k miles through snow and rain. When I retired it from DD duties, I completely redid the car. That was before I knew the dry ice cleaning was possible. I would have much rather paid someone to clean it that way instead of me spending all that time inhaling those chemicals :smile:

 

[Mac Attack]

Also, be prepared to re-apply some of the black sound deadener after cleaning. It becomes old, brittle, and may probably begin to flake off over time. If you don't have a black car it looks terrible in my opinion.

Between other vehicles, I've used 3M, Duplicolor, and Rustoleum Professional Undercoating in the aerosol cans. My favorite by far is the Rustoleum, make sure to buy their Professional version though. For my latest project vehicle I just bought a few of the cans and brushed it on with disposable chip brushes. It's the blackest, most flexible product IMO. The 3M is very similar but it's 2-3 times the cost.

 

[RyanRA]

This is an example of mine that has been thoroughly cleaned with good old-fashioned elbow grease, brake cleaner, simple green, wire brushes, and Scotch-Brite pads:

Oh, that wheel well looks good. I’ll start off with the elbow grease approach; I haven't yet found someone that does the dry ice cleaning method.

 

[BATMANs]

degreaser and 3000PSI pressure washer has the same effect for the most part.

 

[I_M_Legend]

This is an example of mine that has been thoroughly cleaned with good old-fashioned elbow grease, brake cleaner, simple green, wire brushes, and Scotch-Brite pads:

I've daily-driven this car for over 70k miles through snow and rain. When I retired it from DD duties, I completely redid the car. That was before I knew the dry ice cleaning was possible. I would have much rather paid someone to clean it that way instead of me spending all that time inhaling those chemicals :smile:

Wow that looks great!

What brand rotors are those? Stock size correct?

 

[nsxspdfreak]

I use elbow grease and Mothers Mag Wheel Polish. All the aluminum suspension components, radiator pipes up front, the battery tray, exhaust pipe heat shield and the ABS guard will polish to a high luster. On heavily oxidized parts you can use a Mag Wheel cleaner. Just be careful not to get it on any painted surfaces.
Click here to see photos.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4w4Ktzo3bwoa1N1Y25ITUwxdzA

 

[RyanRA]

I use elbow grease and Mothers Mag Wheel Polish.

Nice work. Thanks for the Mother’s polish tip. Ordering it.

 

[Mac Attack]

[MENTION=34822]I_M_Legend[/MENTION] Thanks! Those are old Brembo rotors in the stock '92 size.

[MENTION=31168]nsxspdfreak[/MENTION] Your car looks really nice. My personal opinion is that there are only a few wheels that look good with formula red, and you picked a good one.

 

[nsxspdfreak]

@I_M_Legend Thanks! Those are old Brembo rotors in the stock '92 size.

@nsxspdfreak Your car looks really nice. My personal opinion is that there are only a few wheels that look good with formula red, and you picked a good one.

Thanks! The wheels on the car do get a lot of compliments, but they've been on the car for a while now so I'm considering switching to Works T7R's just for a change of pace.

 

[nsxspdfreak]

Nice work. Thanks for the Mother’s polish tip. Ordering it.

Every once in while when I'm under the car I pick one area to re-polish. Also, occasionally spraying with Scrubbing Bubbles followed by an immediate rinse with fresh water and wipe down helps maintain the shine with minimal effort.

 

[A.S. Motorsport]

 

[Mac Attack]

Did you blast it with walnut shells to get that matte finish?

 

[Honcho]

Soda blast? Looks amazing.

 

[RyanRA]

Well, I don’t think my aged elbow grease can match these results!

 

[Albert86]

Well Adnan, what's the secret?
That's quite a nice clean up.

 

[A.S. Motorsport]

Well Adnan, what's the secret?
That's quite a nice clean up.

These where degreased, blasted then coated to prevent oxidation

 

[RyanRA]

These where degreased, blasted then coated to prevent oxidation

I know I won't be blasting, but what did you use to coat?

 

[RyanRA]

A blasted NSX...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyKmf-XffAo

 

[Big McLargeHuge]

I find dry ice blasting very interesting, I wish there was a feasible way for an individual to buy or make a machine without spending as much as a car on it. One day when I have my own lift during an engine-out I'll spend the $1k/week for a rental unit and go to town.

I've seen it used in food manufacturing to clean industrial waffle irons about once a week for several years and it hasn't seemed to change the surface characteristics of the irons and has no residue leftover, unlike other media.

 

[Ponyboy]

Dry ice, as a blasting media, seems to be ideal for auto detailing. Do they apply any protection to the blasted parts or is that even necessary?

 

[AlaiCyclist]

Dry ice, as a blasting media, seems to be ideal for auto detailing. Do they apply any protection to the blasted parts or is that even necessary?

The way it’s described, based on the machine and settings is the blasting process should not hurt the substrate.


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[Big McLargeHuge]

For aluminum parts, I would assume the blasting can expose bare aluminum (alloy) which would undergo passivation to form its own protective oxide layer. For a museum or purely show car I would think a strong 2K clear could be used afterwards for maximum protection, but I don't think it would be worth the trouble for most normally used cars. Maybe in a few years the aluminum would lose some luster, but at that point I think road grime would be the #1 problem which coating wouldn't solve.

For the rubber & plastic parts you'd only have to use a normal protectant like 303 or similar afterwards, or just leave it alone. No UV damage under the car.

The hardware (steel bolts & brackets) would be my main concern after blasting, they might end up rusting again if driven in bad weather without a top coat/fluid film/whatever. If they were rusty before blasting then I would expect any protective coating from manufacturing (Dacro, zinc, etc.) would have been consumed already and it would be prudent to add some extra protection. If they were just dirty before, then from the video it doesn't look like dry ice blasting is aggressive enough to remove the coating so I would just leave them alone.

It doesn't look like the Mugen NSX in that video underwent further coating. It already was an extremely clean car (almost zero rust and still has factory paint marks on bolts) so it's probably still well protected on its own.