how do you clean off the white salty kind of oxidation from aluminum?

 

Ahhhh the infamous floating Orient Express. It is actually a real Land Speeder................

Use the Force Luke

 

I cleaned the cosmoline off of the engine with a combination of a pressure washer, mineral spirits (get it at home depot in the paint department), a stiff nylon brush, and some elbow grease.

Mineral spirits are a mild organic solvent that will not hurt the paint, or discolor plastic parts.

I would spray on the mineral spirits on a section of the cool engine, let it sit for about 15 minutes, keeping it wet with the solvent, then hit the area with the brush to loosen the cosmoline, and then blast it off with the pressure washer. Repeat until all of the stuff is off.

Here in California, the roads are dry most of the year, and we do not have to worry about road salt, etc. In other climates, I would consider leaving the cosmoline on, unless you want to maintain a concours level car. The cosmoline will keep the aluminum pieces on a daily driver from getting corroded.

 

Aren't you messing with the protection there? The porsche guys told me to keep the gunk there. They put it on for the good of the car even if it does make the undersie look bad.

 

OE, you are my hero. I was just commenting on how clean your car is the other day to Dell (he had posted a photo of his undercarriage to show the engine protection plate).

Which begs the question: even with the jackstands, do you have to lie on your back to clean under that car?

 

When I do the semi-annual cleaning of the bottom side of the car, I first remove all 4 wheels and then use a pressure washer to get off the road grime, then after that has dried, I then get underneath with a spray bottle of Simple green, and a bunch of rags and wipe off the bottom and get in all the crevices. That only takes 5 or 10 minutes. The next step is to use a foam applicator with some tire dressing on the black plastic parts and then buff them up. On the aluminum I use a soft rag to get off any salt leaching that has occurred, with some 00 steel wool on the stubborn parts. I also take metal polish to the muffler cans, wipe down the wheel with 3M General Purpose Adhesive Remover to get the road film buildup off, and give them a new coat of Rejex. I imagine that I spend about an hour or two on this ritual.

 

In my opinion, Orient Express does this "semi-annual cleaning" twice a month!

By the way OE, that was meant as a compliment to you about your amazingly clean P-car!

 

Tim, you know OE loves this! It validates his hard efforts when a Porsche enthusiast web forum singles him out for having an awesomely clean car. I'm jealous. Then again, I'm lazy. Zaino on top is as far as I go.

 

I'd like to offer a note of caution on using Simple Green, it is caustic when long term exposure is experienced and use on aluminum should be kept to a minimum. A comprehensive !!!, rinsing is required when using this product. But then again it does work great when used properly.

 

God a porsche can haunt you when it is dirty. I saw my engine compartment on Sunday when I looked at the oil, it was super filthy and all I can think about is getting it cleaned now. I have got a 700 km trip tomorrow and then it is going into the P service for a 40,000 check up. I am going to ask them to clean it too.

 

While, I have never experienced this, I dilute simple green 10:1 with water before putting in my spray bottle. I works just as good as full strength, and does not leave a residue.

 

For us Europeans what is this green you speak of?

The only green I know goes into cigarette papers and makes people get the munchies.

 

Well, the Grass is always greener on the other side of the fence...

But this Simple Green is a general purpose cleaner that is sold here in the States.

 

I'm actually trying to be a little more comfortable in getting the car dirty these days. This last weekend we went on a drive with the local PCA club on a backroads tour of Fort Baker, the Marin Headlands and Muir Woods, despite the fact that this was the only place it was raining on Saturday! Notice my parking strategically between 2 mud puddles! Driving in the rain is not as nerve racking as I thought!

 

Gary - Good for you! Just keep telling yourself "It's only a little dirt, it WILL wash off!" If you type that on your computer 10 times each day (no copying allowed), in a few weeks you will start believing it.

You are probably familiar with the popular phrase... "Drive it like you stole it!" Well, in your case, for now let's just work on the first part of the phrase "Drive it...." Once you have that mastered, we can help you move on to the second part "...like you stole it!"

Great pics, BTW! Thanks for sharing.