Most liked posts in thread: How I clean a MINI engine bay

^^ wow, looks fanastic.

for me, i try to keep it clean as much as possible by dusting off every now and then using a dry MF towel (DP platinum to be exact).

then apply some of that Prima Nero goodness on the plastic and rubber parts.

 

anyone know how to get rid of the hydraulic fluid that leaked out of my crap ass mount and all over my passenger frame rail!!!! Its hardened into this black nasty crust and I can't seem to get it off. Any help would be great thanks

Steve

 

I bet steam would help... strong solvents are likely to remove paint, too...
Long term soak with Simple Green?
GoofOff? (may remove the paint).

The non-clearcoated paint in the bay comes off WAAAY too easily. Ask me how I know. But I'm good at repainting it...

 

hmmm.. I might have to give this a try over the weekend. my engine bay is pretty dirty. maybe I'll do before/after pics... thanks for the info!!

 

Paul I know exactly what you mean. I decided one day that I wanted to "clean" my engine bay so I picked up a bottle of Simple Green and soaked everything in it. Let it sit for a few minutes and scrubbed some of the paint on the shock towers......OOPS! at least half of the paint was gone and left behind all these scrub marks of what paint was left over. That's why I was hoping maybe there was something else I could use to get this stuff off. Its really nasty looking!

Steve

 

Putting 2 and 2 together, maybe, Mark mentions in OP that he uses a 'solution' of Simple Green. Perhaps watering down helps cut the grime but not the paint removal factor?

 

I think the first step might be to try to physically scrape most (some) of it off with a plastic scrapper.

Then, soak a rag or paper towel with whatever de-greaser you want to use (Simple Green, Goo B Gone, etc.) and let the rag sit on the stained parts for a while (hours maybe). Remove, wipe and repeat.

You might want to line the area underneath with aluminum foil or some other thing to catch any stuff that drips.

I think with this stuff the key is patience! Good luck!

 

I'm still betting that a small portable electric steamer would help on some of this stuff, to "melt" and loosen it so that a mild degreaser could get it off.

 

^ Yes, try that too!

 

So, Paul, what kind of paint are you using? Original touch-up paint, or something that is close to a color match.?.?

I am going to have to paint my "cleaning marks" too.

 

I have three different paints...

1) 2oz brush bottle from Paintscratch.com. Not a bad match for small chips if used with Langka, but not perfect.
2) Dupont Basemaker pint that I bought for some projects - NOT a good match
3) Standox pint that I bought after the dupont failed. Not perfect, but much better match than the other two. It's what my body shop guy uses and he says it's what BMW/MINI recommends for best color match.

But it really depends on what color you have. Cool Blue is very hard to match due to the pearl effect. Most other MINI colors are MUCH easier.

 

Hmm, Hyper Blue might be a bit of a challenge too.

I think that I may tape it off ( the tower and frame rail )and go with a satin or matte black.
Undecided as of now, but it's really annoying that the paint came off that easily.

 

Hyper Blue is EASY compared to Cool Blue. Trust me.
You can get Hyper Blue in a rattle can from minspeed I think...

 

Thanks for that info!

 

I've been cleaning mine for a week

 

In my case (i.e., PW-colored frame rail) the patience is wearing thin. I'm not sure it's recoverable -- the fluid seems to have penetrated and stained the paint. I'm wondering if anyone else has had success getting their PW paint back to presentable after a mount failure.

I suspect repainting is probably the only option. :cryin:

 

so it seems like you were able to get the stuff off. What method did you use??

 

Cosmoline Crud

That glue looking stuff is cosmoline sprayed on at the factory to prevent rust during shipment and storage. A kerosene soaked rag will remove it, but wash and rinse immediatly after using it. If cosmoline dries on plastic it will discolor it. I had good luck with Goof-Off on the fender flares. The real PIA is the stuff inside the hood and trunk brace. :mad2: It stays in there till hot enuf to melt and run out. A +80MPH run across the Mojave in June made a hell of a mess, but seems to have finally got it all out. GOOD LUCK!!

 

Have you taken some polish (Swirl, etc) and a PC to it?

I'd suggest talking to Octane Guy or the team at Detailers Paradise. Sure they got someting for you

 

Do you have a photo you could post?

I would consider TGS91's advice of trying Swirl on it. If I could see a pic though, I could be more specific with advice. Got a pic??

-Heather