I've been enjoying the bonneville picture thread a lot , some really nice pics of some really nice cars. Many of the street cars i see are covered in salt, how do you guys protect your cars from rusting out due to all the salt, or do you just run a hose over it and take your chances? I hope to go there next year so this is kinda important to me.
A friend of mine puts lawn sprinklers under his car and lets them run for DAYS to be sure all the salt has been removed. Gary
Lots of hours of cleaning for most of them when they get home. Also a lot of guys spray the areas that are going to get hit the hardest down pretty well with WD-40 before going out on the salt. It also depends on how wet or dry the salt is and from what I have read this year it was fairly wet due to some storms rolling through.
I cant find it but Somewhere on here someone posted a product that will nuteralize the salt . Running water on it will just move the salt to a place you cant get to it.
I use Salt Away. Apply it before I head out onto the salt, (usually in Salt Lake City while Big Olds is on a lift getting an oil change. Assures me I can spray in all the nooks and crannies that way). I then hope to hit a rain storm on the way home, then do the gentle sprinkler underneath THEN rinse with the Salt Away again.
There is a product called Salt Away that has a mixing valve that attaches to a hose. I used to use it on my boat that primarily was an ocean boat. Thought I would throw it out there.
Before I leave home, I put the car on stands in the garage and remove all the wheels. Then I apply two coats of a kitchen floor polish. Squirt it on everything you can see, and up in places you cant see and let it drip down. You may want clear goggles on, the stuff does burn your eyes. Then like the cookie maker says, pray for rain on the way home. If you want to remove the floor wax, spray with amonia to remove all the wax. The oscilating lawn sprinker is a big help, move it around every two hours with a broom handle. Let it drip overnight, then get on a creeper and use a bright light and a sharp tool to get what remains. Then WD 40 becomes your new best friend.
Thanks for the info. Hope you don't mind a couple of questions. Do you spray everything? exhaust oil pan, trans etc, or just the body work? Do you use the sprayer salt away sells that hooks to garden hose? How messy is this , i don't have a hoist?
I only have two trips to the salt under my belt but here are my observations. This year it depended on where you drove. The salt was softer/stickier up by the starting line. I only had the truck there once but kept it pretty clean. If you stayed after the rain on Sunday you drove through brine at lands end. I had pretty minimal cleanup when I got home. The bend-mud was worse than the salt for me. I actually think our mild winters and all the mag water they lay down up here is harder to clean and worse on the truck. I did the carwash and bribed the kid to get the wheelwells reall good then went home for an evening of sprinkler time.
Do all of the above but still expect some problems. I ended up rebuilding all the rear suspension on my roadster. Don't go on the salt if your afraid of some fallout.
Several times while I'm there, and definitly before leaving for home, I stop by one of the 2 High pressure car washes in wendover, jack up one side of my truck, and spend a few bucks jet washing as much as I can, then do the same thing to the other side. I leave mountians of salt behind. I've also been real lucky and usually hit a rain storm on the way home. Next time I'm trying the Salt Away.
Mine is an open car with no fenders and the salt gets flung all over, more goes in the car than gets on it. Lots of time running the hose to dissolve the salt in all the hidden places, no high pressure and elevate one end of the car so the water runs out. Then a few hours under neath wiping everything down with a rag soaked in kerosene. Just finished yesterday and the car sparkles, ready for the Billetproof drags this weekend.
First time there after yrs of saying we were going to go.. While building this time I new I was heading for salt, I completely undercoated my car and then sprayed a second and third time with 'Raptor" bedliner product. When I pwr washed the underside I'd say 80% came off, Then I caught some rain in the ride home some more came off, Then I washed like 3 times already...and when I am done fixing all the little knick knack shit that broke on the ride out and back I will pull all 4 wheels and do the lawn sprinkler deal with salt away too... Pretty much only some nuts and bolts that were not coated or unpainted have gotten rusty the rest looks pretty darn clean under there. I was laughing the whole week before and way out because I split a trans cooler line and sprayed the underside of the car with transfluid by accident but left it there.. the front seal on the timing chain cover started to leak a little I tightened the bolts a little but left what leaked out of there as well...and finally in Oklahoma on them shit roads the third member seal started to leak a tad.. so my underside was all coated in oil and grease anyways...I'll clean it all up and deal with it..it made it 70+ yrs already and will probably out last me knowing my luck... What a good time cant wait to go again.
I replicate the salt flats experience here in Michigan by simply driving in the winter. My car now has blisters to prove it.
be it your daily that you drive to watch everything or you have a car that you run for time need to dismantle what you can and clean every nook and cranny-any salt left will eventually start rust. salt away, etc seems to help but, don't just ignore a proper cleaning. heavy duty floor mats for interior help too.
One thing I forgot to mention is the wheels and lug nuts. When I have the wheels off, I put a very light coat of grease where the wheel hits the hub. Steel or aluminum, you need to do this. Then a light smear of grease or anti seize on the threads of all the lug nuts. I know everything says clean dry threads for lug nuts. They guys writting that dont go to Bonneville every year like some of us. I also use a torque wrench to tighten those nuts, set at 100 for steel or aluminum.
Too bad nobody started a "sticky" salt flats racing / spectating tips and helpful hints guide to read BEFORE we went, eh? Gary
I heard these cars were sold quickly after their trip thru the patina bath, before they disolved! Not. I sure hope the owners took the necessary precautions when they got home. Gary
I took my 55 chevy out there two years ago, the car had been in primer for years. I decided last august to paint it, and I ended up removing a lot of the trim, bumpers, etc. I found a few rusty bolts, and a few areas with some surface rust, but it wasn't too bad. All I had done to clean the car after Bonneville was take the wheels off, rinse the underside with a gentle spray of water, chip out the remaining salt I could see, and rinse some more. I do drive the car in the rain occasionally, usually not on purpose, but I put a lot of miles on it so it happens. Being here in the dry southwest probably helps. If you're in a cold damp climate then any salt you leave on it will keep working at rusting things.
I went every night to the car wash in Wendover cost a fortune but was worth every penny also sprayed everything I could see with a pump up sprayer and gallon cans of wd40 must have cost me $150 in total but I have had no rust issues.
Salt X is a lot cheaper. I spent all day after I got home first with a sprinkler then with a hose, then I used Salt X before I left & when I got home. Yesterday there was a lump of salt under the truck in the garage. I dont care what you do you will find salt under them 6 months later, Ive been going there for 27 years. All the new Harley guys will be going into cardiac arrest in a few months when the chrome starts to rust and the aluminum powders up, especially the ones that rode thru the brine at Lands End
One last thought, I saw a lot of fenderless cars - especially cabriolets and unfinished windowless cars - that had tape over the top of the doors to prevent salt from falling thru the window slot at the top door and collecting "unseen" in the bottoms of the doors. Gary
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