pcar928fan

^^^^^^
SHUT UP! Someone actually thought that TOTAL POS stereo was something to point out as POSITIVE! OMG! I nearly fell out of my wheelchair when I read that! I was just thinking yesterday when I was driving the car was a TOTAL piece of crap that was and how I MUST get rid of it QUICKLY!

Bob, so glad to have it here and out of K's driveway! We spent two hours cleaning the drivers side wheelwells today... OMG is that thing DIRTY! It won't be much longer! Next week my detail guy will come out and give the paint a great work out and I tell you all the car will need at that point is maybe front and rear bumper covers painted and the hood and that would really keep me happy for a long time!

I'd like to get a full paint job at some point, but I don't think I am going to rush it because the car looks SO GOOD really! Could not be happier with the purchase. BTW Bob, I'll get those aftermarket cats off ASAP and a really nice exhaust in its place really soon!

pcar928fan

So here is what 4 man hours (2 experienced cleaning guys working for 2 hours) was able to achieve. We are not done with this yet though. We still have work to do on the drivers side and ALL the passenger side to do! YUCK! I looked at Elliott about an hour and a half in and asked him where the young guys went that did this for the first time together about 15 years ago! He was not sure, but he didn't think they were coming back! I agree...damn my back hurts! More to do tomorrow though!

Any thoughts on paints to use on the brake rotor hats? Something brush on is preferred as I'd rather not take them off... something available at AutoZone would be good too...there is one close by.

IrishLegend

What did you use to clean with?

pcar928fan

Brian,

Various things... Mostly Simple Green, but I also tried some ArmorAll wheel cleaner and I am really liking that...but I think it is actually to caustic to use on the anodized wheels, but it works better than the SG for the suspension stuff. Really seems to melt the serious road grime away.

For some reason this car is quite a bit dirtier than all my others...despite only 100k miles... I don't even recall the '81 being this dirty and it was also from CA and had covered nearly 120k miles when I got it.

Oh well, just getting to know the new baby is all! I do this to all my cars right after I get them. You really get to know your car that way!

Jon B.

I'm gonna have to do that to mine. Gonna miss your help!

Looks good!

pcar928fan

Drive it to Austin and we will DO IT TOGETHER!!! I'd LOVE IT TOO! Been way to long since we have shared some bonding time in a wheel well! LOL! More pics to come of the other side tonight or more likely tomorrow night.

Erik N

Hi James-
In my experience, after disc brakes get washed and wet, they need to be run so as not to stick and corrode badly at the pads.
I bet you know this already.

dr bob

Wheelwells and liners are visible areas where lots of crap seems to gather. The cleaning really sets off the good cars from the lesser examples in my opinion. Plus, once cleaned, these are very easy areas to keep clean and sparkling as part of any normal car washing. Ditto with the wheels themselves. A coat or two of Rejex on the wheels inside does an impressive job of freeing brake dust when just a soft brush ro sponge is used on them.

Lots of good work there James!

pcar928fan

Erik,

Unless you are an old guy like me, I have been cleaning wheels wells and calipers since before you were driving bro!

Bob, TOTALLY agree with you! Do this once and do it well and then as long as the car is not a DD (or you dedicate a day to doing this each year...and it won't even be to bad at that) it is EASY to maintain! I was just noting that now my S4 needs it again...14 years since the last time it got this treatment. Once ever 10ish years seems reasonable to me!

Here are the final results for the driver side of the car! Thank god new wheels are on the way because the stock wheels now look HORRIBLE by comparison to the rest of the car! LOL!

springman

Looks really good. I did this to mine last January. It was about 40 degrees outside all day long but I was determined to get it done. I spent a good 8-9 hours. I used SG with a lot elbow grease and power washer. It came out nice but did not look as good as yours. Maybe the Armor All Wheel Cleaner is the difference?

pcar928fan

The armoral wheel cleaner is more caustic....don't use it on anodized wheels or parts...today we used something a touch stronger than that even. The level of grease and yuck we were dealing with was unprecedented in my experience! With the harsher cleaner and a power washer you would have been right there.

I was doing the math a bit ago and we put about 4 man hours in to each corner of the car! That is serious work. We have also done this many times before! 2 '88 S4's, twice to my 94 GTS, once to my 92 GTS, once to each of the following, 81, 82, 84!

I am REALLY SORE NOW! We decided next time we do this we will need a lift and a power washer!

Dwayne

Excellent work, James! Love the "Before and After" shots - What a Contrast!! I really like the looks of a clean wheel well and agree it's a lot easier to maintain once's it's clean.

....a lift and a power washer...I like that!

linderpat

Very nice James! I've done this on my cars too. It just seems to drive better when it's clean;-)
Messy job the first time, but well worth it. Makes maintaining things much easier when it's clean too.

Jadz928

^^^^
I keep meaning to do this w/Perl.
Hopefully this spring with jackstands in the driveway.

James, the Texas Euro looks fan-fricken-tastic!
It still amazes me what you picked this car up for. (ugh, bad grammer).
Can't wait to see what you do with the paint!

You mentioned wheels... and you still looking at those red/black ones?

pcar928fan

Wheels were finished yesterday (though they didn't take pics of them as I had instructed) and I should see them next week. The are Carrera Lightweights (like Jon is putting on his 86.5 red/black) but these are gloss black except the rim from the tire to the valve stem which is guards red! NICE! They are my FAV wheels and these should look SO GOOD on this car. I with the paint looked as good in person as it does in pics, but it will eventually.

I guess (excluding wheels, but including shipping) I am $7200 in to this car...if I were able to do all the little things on it that I just can get to to do I'd be $6k in to it and the interior and engine/mechanicals are phenomenal and the paint is presentable. The wheels are YUCK and the tires are SHOT...thus the new CLW's! If I just wanted to do it on the cheap, I'd rattle can the wheels and put some Kuhmo's on them... Would look better than they do now and cost next to nothing. That is certainly not MY WAY though. I will get the wheels pro painted in silver when the car gets painted.