InTheAir

Well, I've wanted to do this for about the last year and especially this summer--clean the wheel wells to remove the 10 years of nastiness that is grime, grit, grease, oil, cosmoline, and a bit of tar. The previous owners never got under the car, but instead just brought it to the dealer for service. Obviously, dealers don't clean.

In March, when I got under the car to replace the suspension, I was confronted with the horror that is my wheel wells. Since March is not the time for outdoor washing sessions here in Michigan, I ended up replacing the suspension and putting off the undercarriage cleaning.

Well, today was the day to pay the piper. With g_murray's recent post, it was enough to push me over the edge. I went out and bought 6 cans of Gunk Citrus Degreaser, some brass brushes, some nylon brushes, and some brake cleaner.

After removing the wheels and soaking the wells with degreaser (about 20 minutes), I pulled out the power washer (2300PSI) and started at it. You would not believe the amount of crud that came out of those wells! I repeated the process 3 times per well, including scrubing the problem areas with the brushes. After I was done, I dressed the wells with Aerospace 303 Protectant and moved to the wheels themselves. Although they had some attentions a few months ago, it was time to scrub again.

You can see from the pictures below, it has been quite a transformation. It certainly isn't full concours level, but it is a HUGE improvement!! (MORE PICTURES HERE: http://www.pbase.com/jlsphoto/porsche_wheel_wells )

InTheAir

After looking at these, this pair is probably one of the best for comparison:

Cy

Jeff,

That is a HUGE difference!! Looks great! Not sure if I would ever go quite that far, but fully appreciate the effort and results.

Couple of quick questions. First, do you think the degreaser and/or power washer forced water has any negative consequences when/if it gets into the suspension joints? Do you get everything relubed afterward? Second, you mention that you're onto the wheels next. I'd be interested in how bad your starting point is, what you're using for the work, and the results. I've got a couple of sets of Kinesis wheels that have some really nasty baked on brake dust and other crude on the inside of the wheel and I'd like to do something to bring them back to reasonable shape.

Kind regards,

Garth S

Very nice Jeff! I've been thinking along the same lines after g_murrays detailed concours prep .... but more of a 'show & shine' level job with a jug of Simple Green, Citrus spray bombs and a pressure washer. You've convinced me ....

Edgy01

A very nice job! That's a nasty area! (One little photography tip,--run on the new rotors a few miles BEFORE you shoot the after shots,--then they will be rust free!)

InTheAir

Thanks.

Many times I have considered that, but instead of ~mounting 4 wheels, lowering car, torquing all lug nuts, driving, rejacking the car, removing the wheels, photographing, remounting the 4 wheels, lowering the car, torquing all lug nuts~....... I think you guys can use your imagination on what shiny rotors would look like.

InTheAir

I was sure to keep the gist of the pressure away from the joints. So, without the pressure from the washer forcing water in, I don't think the citrus degreaser has enough "umphf" to penetrate the seals. The citrus degreaser is safe for rubber, thus I don't think it will do too much harm, if any.

With regard to the wheels, I already did them. A couple of them were VERY bad to begin with. While I was waiting for the degreaser to dwell on the wells, I sprayed the citrus degreaser on the inside of my wheels and then let them dwell for 10-15minutes. After which, I used a sponge with a mild scrubby on the back to gently scrub the wheels. I didn't push very hard but instead just let the degreaser do the work. After being sprayed off, there is a little bit of cosmoline on the interior surfaces here and there and I did not scrub the grooves along the BACKSIDE of the spokes, but overall they are 90-98% clean.

InTheAir

The water's fine, jump in!!

ceboyd

wow.. I'm not sure I'd ever get mine that clean... I'd probably just put more undercoating on instead to cover up the old crap.. lmao

Marv

Wow!!!

I'll be over with two beers and you can do mine next!

LAURIER

Jeff...Looks great! Makes you feel better, right?

Pedro356C

Jeff....you are my hero!!!! Oh Boy!!!!This is beautiful!!!!

Marc in AK

My bathroom isn't that clean......BUT, 1 mud puddle and it's over......looks good!

AndrewM

Where did this event take place? Your garage floor is spotless. Did you manage to do this in a coin operated car wash? ( I don't think so) What became of all this crap you washed off?..

Tim Wasmer

What was it.................Wheel Well Day?

I worked mine over and after a long DIRTY day my results are good but not as good as yours. There were a few places where stuff just would not come loose.

Yours looks new. Great Job