oil on bare metal - how to remove?

[yxrancher]

I have chemically stripped a 55 Chev and to preserve (or ruin?) it. I sprayed WD40 on it to keep it from rusting prior to the "next step".

Yes I have been refused by competant quality paint shops - no one wants to touch her now!

One experienced restorer said IF he could get it cleaned off he would not go beyond primer for 6 months to confirm that it actually adhered. No one seems to have employees they would trust to properly undo my big mistake - so I will do it myself. Should I use acetone or laquer thinner, or?

I certainly have learned about Picklex on this site and plan to order some.
After Picklex I will spray epoxy over that.

THis is a great site and I sure wish I woulda found it sooner.
Thanks

[Robert]

You're going to be going over and over this car. I'd suggest a cleaner like Big Orange or something with a lot of D-LIMONENE. Spray from the bottom up then wash from the top down. Steam cleaning wouldn't be a bad idea. Do it until you just can't stand doing it anymore then, get a case of paper towels and some prep solvent and go over every square inch by spraying the solvent on then wiping it clean a couple of times. Change the paper towel every six inches.

After that, I'd talk with a paint rep about what kind of primer might work and do a test spot to see.

Actually, now that I think about it, why don't you get a piece of metal, scuff it up, spray it with WD, let it sit a day or two then try what I said. No matter what, you're in for some serious work, even a figure print on clean metal will cause paint to lift so I'm not as hopeful about this as I'd like to be.

Good Luck,
Robert

[Blaze9t8]

We have a soap at work that we use for removing oils that are applied to stop rusting on machined steel. I'll check to see what it is. And it is water cleanup.

[Len]

After cleaning with Big Orange (or something similar) I'd spray the surface, a few square feet at a time, with a "good" grease and wax remover/solvent cleaner designed to do this type of job. Don't use lacquer thinner or reducer but use a solvent cleaner like RM's Pre-Kleeno by spraying it on a 3 or 4 square foot area then absorbing it off with a clean paper towel then repeat until you do the entire surface. I'd probably do this several times in order to help assure you have removed all of the WD40. Flood the surface to release the contaminant from the surface then absorb it before the solvent evaporates.

The sprayer below is the best tool I've found for applying solvent cleaner but if you only have this one car to do you could just use a solvent resistant sprayer.


http://autobodystore.net/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/USCsprayer.jpg

US Chemical Sprayer Link (http://autobodystore.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=USC70305&Category_Code=PSH)

[Ron H]

Hey Rancher, hate to admit it but...I did the same thing with the trunk on my 57:( . Seemed as though I could not keep up with the flash rust while trying to get every nook and crannie to bare metal. Sprayed it with WD also. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Then I heard of fish eye and a myriad of other horror stories. Guess that is the price of being a new dumb guy;) . Anyhow, what I did was to first was clean the whole trunk with acetone, then wax and grease remover, wet sanded with 220 and a little dawn detergent in the spray bottle, drying each section with more paper towels, followed by cleaning with wax and grease remover, followed by another acetone bath and then again with wax and grease remover. I used lots and lots and lots of paper towels. I did not have as big an area as you though it still took some time. I then treated the entire area with picklex 20 I got from Len and sprayed with epoxy primer. It's been almost four months and the primer seems to be holding up fine so far. Of course, I check it every time I go in the shop, expecting it to be blistered, or laying in the floor or the trunk. So far so good. Now I don't make a move with out checking with the guys here first. Good luck Ron

[Phil V]

Rancher, That WD on the metal is really not that big of a deal. Like one of the guys said - new patch panels come with a thick layer of oil to keep them from rusting from factory to customer. I just use a couple paper towels and some lacquer thinner, wet 'em down good then wipe off the wet panel with a clean paper towel before it has a chance to dry.

Armorall is a LOT worse than WD to get off. If I were faced with your WD'd car the first thing I would do is get a 5 gallon bucket filled with water as hot as you can stand. Add about a cup of powdered Tide regular laundry detergent to the hot water. Wash the car really well starting at the top and work your way down. When you're done washing the whole car then spray it off with clean water and wash it down with hot soapy water again, rinse it off again. Blow dry the car with comrpessed air then wash it down with a good wax and grease remover. Make sure to wipe that wet wax and grease remover off with a dry clean paper towel before the wax and grease remover has a chance to dry. Do that a couple times with the wax and grease remover also. Other than that you should be good to go. If there are any contaminants left on the panels then as soon as you spray on some epoxy primer fish eyes will appear. My experience is that you won't have an problems, short term or long term.

[Lost in NJ]

I just checked my Pickelx container.

It clearly states in bold print that it removes light oil.

Buy some aggressive wax remover and a box of rags from Home Depot and go at it a couple of times. Get a sprayer and understand its job is to float the stuff to the top so you can wipe it off. Fold the rags so you can keep revealing fresh surfaces.

I would flush out the seams first and then work the panel over good.

Than use the pickelx. Pickelx was developed for production use and removing light oil is one of the things it is supposed to do.

When you take the car to the next shop kind of leave out the WD 40 part of the story.

[wes292]

we have a different approach to this matter in my area.contradictory to the usual attitude of heating and warping metal,we have a loal company that bakes hole car tubs to 800 degrees which is a gradule rise intemp then uses a synthetic media blast and strips cars to raw metal.then i usually have them powder coat the entire car with a new epoxy prime designedfor this particular application.no the panels do not warp.done this half dozen times with no problem.i would be willing to bet this would cure the wd problem and you will not believe the clean product you will end up with.

[Len]

we have a different approach to this matter in my area.contradictory to the usual attitude of heating and warping metal,we have a loal company that bakes hole car tubs to 800 degrees which is a gradule rise intemp then uses a synthetic media blast and strips cars to raw metal.then i usually have them powder coat the entire car with a new epoxy prime designedfor this particular application.no the panels do not warp.done this half dozen times with no problem.i would be willing to bet this would cure the wd problem and you will not believe the clean product you will end up with.

What does that process cost?

[wes292]

1500.00 or so complete.yup len i know i was where you are now once too.it does work though almost too well.

[Len]

1500.00 or so complete.yup len i know i was where you are now once too.it does work though almost too well.

What do you mean? I don't understand.

[wes292]

the whole heating the metal thing bothered me alot.but when its done slow and evenly it is very effective.thats all and i am sure you understand the 1500 dollar process thingy.sorry for the confusion