Undercarriage cleaning / detailing.

[Astouffer512]

I`ll start off by said Covid-19 is really starting to annoy me. The only thing ho.ding up closing on our house is the title search and my local courthouse is closed for the time being.

That being said I`m off work for the next month and if we can close soon I thought I`d utilize the asphalt sloped driveway to clean and detail the undercarriage on our fusion in the next few weeks.

I have 2 Jack stands I figured I`d jack up one half of the car and clean and then switch to the back half.

I figured I`d foam it good with a soap and some degreaser / APC, then get a bu ket and spray bottle and really get to cleaning. What do most do when finding any rust if present? Clean it good with a wire brush and use a rust converter? What about protection after the clean? I`m assuming I`ll find a lot of detail and plastic. Is there a one use product I an use to protect everything?


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[Accumulator]

I`ll start off by said Covid-19 is really starting to annoy me. The only thing ho.ding up closing on our house is the title search and my local courthouse is closed for the time being.

Oh gee, sorry to hear that...such things have been kinda transparent to us so it`s easy to forget what others might be going through.

I thought I`d utilize the asphalt sloped driveway to clean and detail the undercarriage on our fusion in the next few weeks...

Ah, one of my favorite Detailing Topics A sorta-short response follows:

I`m wondering how new/used it is...that`s gonna be the Big Factor.

I have 2 Jack stands I figured I`d jack up one half of the car and clean and then switch to the back half.

That should work fine, it`s how I`ve done most of ours.

I figured I`d foam it good with a soap and some degreaser / APC, then get a bu ket and spray bottle and really get to cleaning.

Go straight to the APC since this is apparently the first time you`ve done the underneath; don`t waste [resources] with a too-gentle approach. Have brushes and don`t-care-about-`em quality mitts/etc.

What about protection after the clean? I`m assuming I`ll find a lot of detail and plastic. Is there a one use product I an use to protect everything?

IME the easiest thing is to use KAIO for post-cleaning prep if you want to go that far. Similarly, I like to do a coat of Collinite 845 since it lasts a while and works on any surface (though I don`t let it dry of plastics, rather using a wipe-on-wipe-off method).

Then (or all by itself if you don`t bother with the above), maintain it with a SprayWax. I use Meg`s UQW most of the time.

THEN...it`s all about keeping it that way

What do most do when finding any rust if present? Clean it good with a wire brush and use a rust converter?

That`s a whole `nother, involved topic! Hopefully you just won`t find any significant enough to require work. I sure hope you don`t need to resort to things like wire brushes (and I kinda lean towards grinding with a diamond burr rather than using the wire brush).

I`ve basically quit using Rust Converters (the one I really liked has been off the market for years) as other approaches have come such a long way recently.

To chemically treat rust I like Rust Bullet`s Metal Blast.

For the "Paint Over Rust" approach, rather than POR15 I prefer KBS Rust Seal, which works incredibly well for me. It`s not very UV-stable but that might not matter underneath.

You could go over that, or use by itself, Eastwood`s Black Heavy Duty Anti-Rust. It`s an undercoating that dries almost like a satin/matte black paint. Most importantly, it works well over *mild* existing rust.

I`ve been *VERY* pleased, i.e., more than just "satisfied" by far, with some pretty half-@$$ed approaches using the above products. Things stayed nice much longer than I`d ever expected when I did a not-usual Accumulator-level job on a rusty Blazer I had, and it stayed nice through its time with its next owner too. That one was 99% just "clean and spray the Eastwood Black HDA-R", never thought it`d work as well as it did!

[Astouffer512]

Accumulator, your thoughts on using a spray on rinse off coating for the undercarriage protection? Something like Gyeon Wet Coat?

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[Astouffer512]

Oh gee, sorry to hear that...such things have been kinda transparent to us so it`s easy to forget what others might be going through.



Ah, one of my favorite Detailing Topics A sorta-short response follows:

I`m wondering how new/used it is...that`s gonna be the Big Factor.


That should work fine, it`s how I`ve done most of ours.



Go straight to the APC since this is apparently the first time you`ve done the underneath; don`t waste [resources] with a too-gentle approach. Have brushes and don`t-care-about-`em quality mitts/etc.



IME the easiest thing is to use KAIO for post-cleaning prep if you want to go that far. Similarly, I like to do a coat of Collinite 845 since it lasts a while and works on any surface (though I don`t let it dry of plastics, rather using a wipe-on-wipe-off method).

Then (or all by itself if you don`t bother with the above), maintain it with a SprayWax. I use Meg`s UQW most of the time.

THEN...it`s all about keeping it that way




That`s a whole `nother, involved topic! Hopefully you just won`t find any significant enough to require work. I sure hope you don`t need to resort to things like wire brushes (and I kinda lean towards grinding with a diamond burr rather than using the wire brush).

I`ve basically quit using Rust Converters (the one I really liked has been off the market for years) as other approaches have come such a long way recently.

To chemically treat rust I like Rust Bullet`s Metal Blast.

For the "Paint Over Rust" approach, rather than POR15 I prefer KBS Rust Seal, which works incredibly well for me. It`s not very UV-stable but that might not matter underneath.

You could go over that, or use by itself, Eastwood`s Black Heavy Duty Anti-Rust. It`s an undercoating that dries almost like a satin/matte black paint. Most importantly, it works well over *mild* existing rust.

I`ve been *VERY* pleased, i.e., more than just "satisfied" by far, with some pretty half-@$$ed approaches using the above products. Things stayed nice much longer than I`d ever expected when I did a not-usual Accumulator-level job on a rusty Blazer I had, and it stayed nice through its time with its next owner too. That one was 99% just "clean and spray the Eastwood Black HDA-R", never thought it`d work as well as it did!

You asked about age: vehicle is a 2012 Ford Fusion

In regards to APC....could I use Super Clean Degreaser? I`m also assuming I want a bucket with some car wash soap as well?

What is the best way to dry it out underneath? I dont have forced air all I have is a gas leaf blower....probably not going to be enough room to get that under there

For the 845 how many applicators do you typically use for application?

Rust bullet metal blast. I see I can get it in 28oz / gallon / 5 gallon pails. I definitely do not need a 5 gallon pail, do you think 1 28oz bottle would suffice (assuming surface rust is minimal)

If I choose Rust Bullet should I then top it with the Eastwood`s? Do you use the aerosol or do you buy the quart and paint it on?

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[Accumulator]

Astouffer512- This is kinda a laundry list of responses/clarifications/ideas, hope it`s useful...

- I don`t know enough about Wet Coat/etc. to comment. I *was* just thinking this morning that something like Griot`s Ceramic 3-in-1 might be great and a better idea than the 845, must an idea you might consider

-OK, a `12 may have a bit of...work...to get done, but I`m still hopeful that there won`t be any awful rust. The smaller bottle of Metal Blast oughta be fine, though if you need a "clingy" product you oughta look into somebody`s gel. The Oxisolve (?sp?) I have is, AFAIK, no longer on the market

-Some APCs are such dedicated Degreasers that they don`t clean up other messes too well, and I don`t know from Super Clean (either! I`m just not up-to-speed on many of today`s products ). If you use something effective you shouldn`t need the regular shampoo except for maintenance, everything oughta clean up fine with the APC

-I`d just dry it as best you can with rags/etc. I`ve never been under a Fusion, but I bet it`ll be kinda simple under there (many modern cars are)

-I don`t need many applicators for 845/etc. as things are reasonably clean after the APC/etc. and it`s just not a critical situation IMO

-The idea behind using the Metal Blast first is to do *something* about the rust prior to the rustproofing. I wouldn`t be all Autopian-meticulous about it

-I would *NOT* use Rust Bullet`s paint-over-rust product for this!!! I`ve used/liked it OK, and would consider it fine for some jobs, but *not for this* If you want to do some of that Painting over Rust, I`d use something else because of how the Rust Bullet works (can explain in detail if necessary..) and IMO the KBS Rust Seal is the best for this particular job

-The Eastwood HDA-R is best sprayed, so I`d get the aerosols. You can spray it into a container to paint on any areas that call for that. It cleans up/off with solvent

I`d plan to do this in stages. First, I`d do a Big Cleanup..and just see how that goes and what you learn. Then plan to do a much easier/quicker 2nd cleanup when you "do the job proper". That way you`ll be making more informed decisions, and if you have any Qs after the cleaning (I sure wouldn`t be surprised ) you can get answers before spending more $ or time. I`m 100% certain that this will be the best way to do it, even though I recognize that it probably seems like dragging the whole thing out and wasting your time (which I`m equally confident won`t be the case).

I`m really hoping that after it`s clean you`ll find that it doesn`t need all *that* much, I`ll actually be a bit surprised if it doesn`t turn out that way.