Wheel wells and oil lines - 86 Carrera 3.2

[ELUSIVE]

Good evening my fellow Porsche enthusiasts -

I've had my Carrera 3.2 for about 3 months now. I've done many projects to fix various things and get it cleaned up the way I want and really starting to make the car my own. I'm about to put on 17" Euromeisters with new Michelin Pilot Sport AS3+ tires. Before I put these wheels on, I figured I would clean the undercarriage and wheel wells a bit. WHAT A MESS!!!!

I started with the right front and spent a few minutes scrubbing.

Here are my questions: Can anyone tell me how this looked from the factory? Was this area covered with undercarriage spray (black)? Was it red like how it's cleaned in the picture below? What about the oil lines? Were these lines exposed metal or were they covered in some sort of protective covering? I would like to get it cleaned up and ideally back to as close to original as possible.




Many thanks!!

Stacey

[AG81]

You cleaned off the 34 years of crud. I did the same.

[ToySnakePMC]

Same here on this ‘76 - along with new bearings and races in the front hubs and new stainless steel flex brake lines with new steel hard lines at the calipers - courtesy of our gracious host!

[FrankM_]

Yeah,
I had to use the steamer in some places to get rid of the crud & cosmoline.
Originally the wheel wells are paint color.
The oil lines were black, I haven't repainted those as I did not want to remove them.
After cleaning I put a coat of Tectyl clear on it.

[Hotshot]

Love this post. I was wondering the Same as I was going to go this today. I have a lost of black coating but also crud. I haven’t had my wheels off yet as I haven jacked the car up yet. Going to do this today.

What did you use? I was thinking soap and water and a hard plastic brush. On the second pic I went through the paint but not the primer on the underneath of my upper quarter panel. Now I have to touch it up for protective sake.

Still I want to see what I am dealing with and remove 34 years of crud.

[FrankM_]

I didn't use a brush but some soap and sponge. Where the deep crud/cosmoline was I used a wheel cleaner spray (leave for 5 min) and then clean it off with the steam cleaner (to make it more liquid). When needed I used a sponge that was somewhat rougher - actually made to remove insects from the windshield. But never a brush !
Be prepared for 1,5 - 2 hrs per wheel well tough if you want them spotless.

[Lyle O]

Originally Posted by FrankM_

Be prepared for 1,5 - 2 hrs per wheel well tough if you want them spotless.

Yes, this is very time consuming, dirty work. Be careful with any degreasers, especially the wheel cleaner ones, as they are high-alkaline and can damage raw aluminum and other metals with over exposure.

[AG81]

Originally Posted by FrankM_

Be prepared for 1,5 - 2 hrs per wheel well tough if you want them spotless.

^
I had about 3 hrs in each wheel well. That did not include additional cleaning that happened when the suspension & brake work was done.

[ELUSIVE]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I plan to spend the 2-4 hours per wheel well and make these look really nice. Heck, they can't look much worse. Anything will look better than 34 years of crud!

Trying my best to get this car super sorted...especially while i'm stuck at home.

Cheers!

[FrankM_]

Originally Posted by AG81

^
I had about 3 hrs in each wheel well. That did not include additional cleaning that happened when the suspension & brake work was done.

Haha yes ! I remember spending half a day on the left front as I removed the fuel expansion tank and the windscreen wiper tank too to really get behind those.

This winter, made work of the belly...

[ELUSIVE]

I started with and will finish the right front today.
Then onto the left front. My windscreen wiper tank is leaking when I fill it up, so hoping to address that issue at the same time.

Pro-tip: Good gloves are required for this job. My hands are filthy.

[AG81]

Originally Posted by FrankM_

This winter, made work of the belly...

I won't soon forget the belly cleaning of 2018.......

[Hotshot]

As we speak I’m doing this, to get to know my car, and clean it. I’m wondering, mines an 86, and they went to the 10 year no rust guarantee. Scubing and scrubbing the dirt comes off but I have a lot of this black stuff. Looks like under coating or a rust proof.

Would this be factory or some PO or dealer in the 80s did?

[FrankM_]

I believe the original stuff (for transport on the ship) was mostly left on, Cosmoline, but that has a brown-amber color to it. I guess the black is something the PO did ?

Hard to remove, that's why I used a steamer. You will have to use some kind of solvent & degreaser though to dissolve it a bit. There must be a post on that in this forum ?

[Hotshot]

I was on long before the dirt was on. Who knows...? I don’t mind it if it protects, just curious as I would want to remove paint.

About searching. I don’t know if I’m doing it right but using the search function I never seem to have luck...

[DaytonaCoupe66]

Nice work on the undersides folks. Looks tidy. I'd be concerned about going too far and exposing unprotected metal to the elements, or using an abrasive tool, but from the photos degreaser and steam appear to do a nice job...obviously from the photos OCD and patience pays off. I started on my '82 this winter but it's clearly going to be a multi-winter project. Removed the taillights / wheels / rocker covers and used a plastic scraper to fill a 10 gallons shopvac with gravel debris stuck to the rear underneath. What a mess. Now approx 25 lbs lighter. Good news = no rot underneath.

[Locker537]

A nylon bristle brush or the various brushes sold as "wheel brushes" will help this task as well.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only person cleaning the wheel wells so thoroughly on these cars.

[AG81]

Originally Posted by Hotshot

I was on long before the dirt was on. Who knows...? I don’t mind it if it protects, just curious as I would want to remove paint.

About searching. I don’t know if I’m doing it right but using the search function I never seem to have luck...

^

Try this......https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=014238775269149376701jolaky8hjg

[3rd_gear_Ted]

As per Toyota/Boeing:
LEAN maintenance philosophy for Kaizen (continuous improvement)

Clean to Inspect
Inspect to Repair
Repair to Improve

[Pigeye]

Citrus degreaser is what I used on my wheels wells / struts - worked ok. Not as clean as the white one above - but close enough.