Well hello all, and Happy Holidays to all.. My question is I have a 57 oldsmobile I am redoing and was wondering what is the best way to clean the firewall and the frame before I paint it. It has 30years of dirt and grese build up.. Thanks

 

I have used dish soap as a degrease r & toilet brush takes time but in expensive

 

After I pull a engine and you have some gonads I always hooked a chain up to the roller and towed it up to the locall car wash,Sprayed it down with degreaser and then went after it with the power wash setting.................Jerr

 

I used GUNK degreaser first on the thick greasy stuff. Let sit a little while, then hose off. After I use dish / laundry detergent mixed with water for the last step. Toilet brushes work good due to the long handle and big head. Other size brushes for smaller areas.
Using hot water is a plus, epecially if it is cool outside.
High pressure water is best if possible.

 

I use my pressure washer and put degreaser in my lawn sprayer to soak the grease beforehand. scrub the hard stuff with a thick brush. Takes a couple of times but works well.

 

Diesel fuel ( $5 gal, the cheep way out. ) works good, and wipe down with orderless paint thinner. Sand and paint.

 

Well I been scrubbing and scrubbing by hand for days now and man is it work. The problem I have is I love to use my power washer but the car is up on jack stands in my garage and its like 10 degrees outside with alot of snow..Any other Ideals ?

 

A lot of guys use oven cleaner. I used it on some oil on my driveway and it worked pretty good. If you are repainting it should be okay. Put a plastic tarp or drop cloth under the car to catch the mess. When you have all the crap off, wipe it down real good with lacquer thinner. That weather factor does make a difference. Good luck on this.

 

Ouch... That blows the water outside part...

Thick strong paper towels like viva or scotts rags on a roll, solvent, putty knives, nitrile gloves on your hands, and catch pans with kitty litter below.

 

I had about an inch of grease all over the frame and fire wall on my Olds. I used a cleaner by ZEP! I got it from Home Depot and it worked awesome.

here's a Link with a picture: http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/s...k=P_PartNumber

A couple important things...wear rubber gloves when you use it!!! It contains a compound called Sodium Hydroxide that emulsifies and degrades organic materials like oils and grease. It's commonly used in Pulp and Paper production to breakdown lignen in wood fibers.

It's a basic solution and will surely do some nasty work to the skin on your hands if you get it on them. I was using it to clean some of my parts and didn't realize that I had gotten a hole in one of my latex gloves. It soaked my hand for about 30 mins. and the skin was just melting off. Point is...BE CAREFUL!!!

Here's the MSDS Sheet if you're interested: http://www.zepcommercial.com/msds/ZU0856.pdf

Anyway, if used properly it does wonders!