Nightmare Vacation Drive (long post)

[gewb]

Well, I have returned from my 3,000+ mile trip back home. A few weeks ago I asked for ideas as to what I should pack for keeping Nelly (my '09 Pearl White Sonata) clean on the trip - I packed a small amount of "daily detail stuff": 6 MF cloths, 2 oz. DP rinseless 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. 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 Rinseless, 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, then washed Nelly again with DP Rinseless. I used the bug wash on the wheels/tries and engine compartment, too.

I know Nelly needs to be polished, sealed and waxed but here is my question:

Should I use a stronger solvent to ensure the oil film is gone (along with all previous wax and sealant)? I have a quart of Rust-Oleum Wax and Tar Remover used in some body shops (manufacturer says to use before sanding a vehicle).

Any other ideas or am I good-to-go with polishing after what I have done so far?


Regards,
GEWB



Bug guts from less than one day of driving.











Oil that I hadn't cleaned - that brown colored streak in the seam is what the entired car looked like!




Bug wash I used.




Nelly cleaned up pretty good.






Wax Remover - should I use it?

[Mike Phillips]

Sorry to hear you had such a horrible experience with the drive, knock on wood as it could have been worse.

If you're going to polish the paint with any kind of abrasive product like a swirl remover then this will effectively remove anything off the surface of the paint.

If you're worried about any non-paint surfaces then try the wax and grease remover and then inspect the results, seems like that would be enough for any rubber or plastic trim. Afterwards get a fresh coat of protectant on these components.

[A4 1.8tqm]

Wow a lot of bugs out there! I would recommend claying before polishing, just to be sure.

[gewb]

Hello Mike and A4 1.8tqm -

Thanks for your replies.

Mike, I think your tack is what I'll follow...do all of the trim first then break out the Flex DA with Menz IP / FP and Wolfy's conditioner before sealing.

A4 - I always clay before polishing but thanks for the reminder 'cause I can be a bit forgetful!

Regards,
GEWB

[A4 1.8tqm]

No prob, I'm always afraid of dirt getting in my pad while polishing. Glad to see Nelly still in good shape after that "nightmare".

[gewb]

Just found some pics I took after trying the first wash...

Regards,
GEWB

[BlackSunshine01]

ewww man thats bad.

[belcherm58]

That is a detailers nightmare for sure.

[sydster]

Glad to see that you got everything worked out.

[Meghan]

Those are some nasty pictures.