Nelly`s Nightmare Vacation: Part 1 ? The Nightmare Begins

**imported_gewb** · 09-08-2009, 06:50 PM

Part 1 ? The Nightmare Begins

Well, I have returned from my 3,000+ mile trip to visit family. I had packed a small amount of "daily detail stuff" to keep Nelly (my `07 Sonata) clean on the trtip: 6 MF cloths, 2 oz. DP rinse less wash, interior detail spray, tire dressing, etc. Before leaving I put on another coat of Fuzion, dressed all of the rubber seals, dressed the tires/wheel wells and detailed the engine compartment. Nelly looked great!

But nothing could have prepared me for the nightmare that awaited Nelly.

On the morning of the second day we had a heavy rain storm. OK, not so bad as the water just blew off the Fuzion at highway speeds - until I entered Missouri on I-70. The rain came down hard onto 75 miles of freshly paved asphalt. All of the oils floated to the surface of the road and the 70 mph traffic (idiot drivers!) emulsified the oils and created a cloud that enveloped Nelly. EVERY square inch of any surface exposed to the outside was coated with this oily goo. The coat of Fuzion, and likely the NXT sealant, washed away with this "solvent". To add insult to injury, the sun came out for a few hours and baked this stuff on the finish.

That evening I couldn`t even attempt to clean Nelly as it was once again poring rain and lightening pounded around me while under a tornado watch. At this time I had no idea what the true condition of Nelly`s skin was like. The next morning I had a chance to evaluate the damage...it was bad...a brown film covered everything, dark brown streaks made the hood look like a zebra, the door wells were a mess, all of the glass was oiled over and the engine compartment was coated with this film of oil. Touching the car left a light brown oily film on my finger and brushing clothing against it did the same.

I took Nelly to a high pressure car wash ("wand" type). Most of us know about the strong soaps used in those places...well, after $5 worth of quarters I gave up - it didn`t even TOUCH that cr@p!

A couple hours later the skies opened up again only this time it was worse - came pounding down in sheets - visibility was about 150 feet. That didn`t wash off a bit of that stuff! I continued to my final destination.

The next morning I got up early and hit up the chain auto stores in the small town I was in - Pep Boys, Advanced Auto Parts and Auto Zone. I explained my situation and, much to the credit of all three stores, each said they had nothing that would work for me. I decided to try the DP rinse less, which had worked well for me in the past, but I knew I needed more MF cloths. Picked up an eight pack of Vroom towels (and a gallon of distilled water) at Target, added them to the six towels I brought from home and went to work.

Five hours and 13 MF towels later I could touch Nelly without getting oily...I left the engine and wheels for when I got home. (BTW, once home it took me 3 hours to wash out those MF cloths, first by hand in Oxi-Clean which turned a murky brown, two rinses, the first was tainted brown then a wash in concentrated Simple Green which also turned a brownish-green, two rinses, and a final machine wash in Oxi-Clean; at least 6 of them are still pretty trashed and will be relegated to wheel and tire duty.)

The return trip wasn`t quite as bad but I did get rain on almost-fresh asphalt for about 50 miles but nowhere near as bad as the trip out...but the bugs were almost as bad!

Once home the first order of business was the bugs. I used a bug wash product I picked up a few months ago at China-Mart ("Purple Power" product) along with the mesh scrubber on my dreadlock MF sponge and it worked great - BONUS!!! - it SEEMED to remove the oily film from the nose of the car! I washed the entire car with that stuff and the scrubber (and watched the white foam turn nicotine brown as I rinsed it away), washed it off with Meg`s shampoo, used a blower and MF cloths to dry, then washed Nelly again with DP rinse less. I also used the bug wash on the wheels/tries followed by a Meg`s APC 6:1 wash.

I used a stronger solvent on some of the trim to ensure the oil film is gone (Rust-Oleum Wax and Tar Remover used in some body shops), then did an IPA wiped down of the door/trunk jams, underside of the hood, under the lip of the rear facia and around/in all of the badges.

Upon returning to Colorado, this cleaning took two long days (almost 18 hours) but Nelly appeared ready for a polishing.

AFTER commercial high pressure car wash. (The "clean" spot is where I wiped with a MF cloth.)

(Oil inside the door sill was just as bad - no pics.)

Marks left after accidently brushing against the door (now on my wife`s clothing).

On to the return trip - BUG GUTS baked on in the Kansas and Colorado sun.

Wax and Tar remover

The one good surprise of the trip!

The bug wash / shampoo clean up results.

"Reflection" in trunk lid after all the washes.

What was left after the multiple washes ("enhanced" to show up in the pic but you get the idea).

The IPA Clean Up.

Door jam - after.

Under door handle - before.

After.

End of handle ? before.

After.

Trunk jam ? after.

Can`t forget the cabin air filter that was installed lily white NEW just before the trip! I washed it with Meg`s APC and dish soap ? water turned dark gray but after two washes the filter was usable (no pic).

On to Part 2 ? Nightmare Becomes a Dream

(to be continued)