Cosmoline....the goo the bad and the ugly..how to get it off.

[75USCarrera]

I finally put my 2003 996 Cab 2 up on my lift and i noticed the whole engine was coated with black and beige sticky gunk. Well after doing a little research on our beloved site, I determined this stuff was cosmoline. Does anyone have any idea why Porsche still puts this stuff on? It can't be for reasons of rust prevention because most of the this stuff was on the engine and most of it was on aluminum. Not to mention that my car is 7 years old and it seems that this stuff is a magnet for everything dirt!!! So, did i open a can of worms. I began by removing a little bit....and underneath that nasty stuff were beautiful aluminum components....

Then things got ugly, gooey and slimy as I embarked a journey of removing this stuff...

For those of you who have researched removing cosmoline...

Things that don't work or are very inefficient as referenced by other threads....

Steam--Does nothing. I would imagine the engine components get very hot and cosmoline is obviously meant to have a very hi melting point.

3m Adhesive Remover---very volatile. It usually evaporates before it does any good.

Guitar pick..not for playing guitar but for scrapping. It may work but it would take years to remove the stuff...like cleaning a bathroom with a toothbrush...

Orange solvent, simple green, tire and wheel cleaner....these do not work effectively.


What did work......

Wurth Engine cleaner and degreaser. This stuff literally melts cosmoline. If it wasnt for this stuff, the job would have have never been finished.

Diesel Fuel. Amazing. This is not volatile so it does not evaporate. It is a little oily but very effective.

P21S Total Auto Wash. This is a very nice orange solvent that work great once the cosmoline was off.

Gibbs Penetrant and Surface Conditioner.

3/8 Wooden dowel (16 inches long)....I sanded one end flat like a slot screw driver and rounded the other end like a drum stick. It worked great getting into little corners and indentations. It wont scratch.

Brushes....Toilet brush (long handle and 360 degree brushing) , long bristle brush, small kitchen brush.

Old microfiber clothes and old microfiber mitt

So...the process for removing cosmoline is....

1. Spray with Wurths generously. Let is sit for 30 minutes and spray again. Repeat spraying 4 to 6 times or more...over a three to four hour period.

2. Take a microfiber towel and a small bucket of diesel fuel and begin taking off the cosmoline. It will melt off. The diesel fuel with get thick as you wring out the microfiber towel repeatedly in the diesel. You will need to use fresh diesel as it gets to thick and sticky with all the cosmoline. You can also use the brushes dipped in diesel and scrub. Protect yourself because it sprays everywhere with the brushing...but very effective.

3. Re apply Wurths if there is still thick stuff that hasn't melted and then use more diesel.

4. Once 99 percent of the cosmoline is off. The surfaces will be oily from the diesel fuel. Spray the P21S Total Auto Wash at full concentration. Then use a microfiber cloth and mitt to rub all surfaces. I also took some P21S and diluted it in a bucket with warm water and would rinse the mitt and towel in that.

5. Sprayed the whole bottom of the car with distilled water. I used a spray bottle set to a strong stream...because i was in the garage...It would have be fun to use my power washer...but i didn't want to get everything all messy.

6. Once dry...I coated everything with Gibbs.

I can tell you there are still bits of cosmoline everywhere. But now its easy to search out a spot and use the wooden dowel to scrape it or a bit of diesel and wipe it....

And now for the pictures....I have to say i am very pleased...I did not take any before pics..i wish would of..but i think we all know how black and nasty that stuff can be.



--The set up--

--Really just the beginning--

--Sticky drippy gooey---

--Starting to come off---

----and...now...SWEEEEEEEEEEEET----














Brutal job but worth it for me!!! An amazing therapy session!!

Now onto the front struts!!

[304065]

Next time. . . Zymol Strik. . . great for removing cosmoline in preparation for spraying on . . . wait for it. . . Tectyl, or LPS corrosion inhibitor!

For a non-concours car I would coat the living snot out of the bottom of the car. All those pretty aluminum bits. . . corrosion waiting to happen.

Nice work!

[75USCarrera]

Here is a picture at a local concours event.....



Greg
-------------------
75 US Carrera #354
03 996 Cab 2
69 Camaro Z11 Pace Car

[Cooper911SC]

Great Job!! I did 4!! 993's this last summer for customers!

I agree it is worth the crazy amount of effort...esp. since I was on the clock

Here is what worked for me. My average removal time was around 30 hours for the 4 wheel wells and the whole undercarriage.

On aluminum and steel parts I used Wurth Brake Clean and Wurth "Parts Cleaner" (Contact Cleaner). The latter is a MUST for the painted calipers.

On the painted surfaces (wheel wells) I used Beauty Shine solvent. This is a VERY mild version of saftey solvet. It can be used on paint and plastics. Dealerships use it for new car "get ready".

I recommend papering the floor of the shop.
I found small stainless and brass bristled brushes from Harbor Freight to be critical. I also used flat scrapers and occasionally a screwdriver.
I also used "no scratch" 3M scrubbing pads/sponges

Satey glasses and rubber gloves are also your friend!

After the cleaning I apply a coat of synthetic wax to the whell wells and underpan as well as other suspension components.

Here are some before/after pics.












Happy detailing, Cooper

[sc_rufctr]

Great write up. Thanks...

The like idea of using diesel. Cheap and relatively safe.
I've used mineral turpentine to clean up my gearbox, engine and engine bay.
And to get the really stubborn bits off I've used acrylic thinners. (very flammable)

As tempted as I am I'm a bit hesitant to clean off the rest from the underside of the car because....
I know it doesn't look great but one thing to be said for Cosmoline is that it does an excellent job of protecting anything it is sprayed on.

[Cooper911SC]

I can't agree more about how well cosmoline protects stuff!

The 993's were all '96 cars with low miles...however, everything I cleaned off looked like new. All of the plating is fresh and shiney.

On our 993 I have only done the wheel wells and the front suspension...because I rebuilt it.

Coop

[Grady Clay]

The easiest, least offensive and least expensive (by far) is plain ol’ ******** Solvent available everywhere.

Your ‘cosmoline’ is actually ‘Tectyl’. Search Pelican on that name and my screen name.


Yes, fresh Tectyl collects road dirt. Your car was probably special ordered and driven from the first day possible. Cars that had a delay, particularly in hot weather, between manufacture and eventual delivery had time for the (********) solvents to evaporate out of the Factory Tectyl. These cars still have the amber hue and didn’t collect much road dirt unless in terrible environments.

I’m in favor of retaining the Tectyl wax protectant unless the car is to be shown in a concourse and never exposed to the ‘elements’. The other situation is a race car where everything needs to come apart regularly. My ’68 911 still has much of its original Tectyl after 40+ years. Usually I applied fresh Tectyl when I changed components – like suspension, engines, transmissions, etc. After 40+ it still has the original cadmium plating on the underside hardware – thanks to the Tectyl wax.

Maintaining full Tectyl coverage on magnesium castings is critical and required in the Factory Workshop Manual and other Factory directives to dealers.


When my ’68 was new, corrosion abatement was an insignificant afterthought. Over the years, corrosion reduction has become the norm and even a primary manufacturing concern. Much is required by German law. I hope it wasn’t lost on Porsche management (not engineers) that the 911 is continuing to outlive many of their careers.



What to do?

A ‘squeaky clean’ 911 underside is a beautiful thing. To many that is more (or ‘as’) important as the paint finish. To many other aficionados, that communicates your dedication to the machinery and not just the ‘bling’. To most owners it is the appreciation of the fine car Porsche gives us. Some of this ‘cleaning’ is all about learning the car.

Part of the FUN of our owning these cars is we can clean, take them apart, put them back together, add subtle changes and enjoy the process. Owning and enjoying a Porsche is a complex issue. It is different for everyone.

What makes these discussions useful is everyone can benefit from every other owner’s experience. We all learn from others enjoyment (and mistakes).

I personally enjoy the technology (down to the most minute detail), driving (and racing) and ‘tinkering’. I appreciate the appearance of a finely detailed 911 and probably as vane as any driving into the Country Club. I am mostly ‘stealth’ VERY high performance, even on the track. I like being the “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing.”


In this situation I have maintained or replaced the Factory wax protection (Tectyl) over the past 40 years. I have a gallon container for large situations and aerosol cans for ‘touch up’. This may not be for everyone – perhaps just ol’ me – but I’ll share my experience.

My racer only gets some WD-40 when wet but ‘lacquer thinner’ clean when on track (heat transfer). The difference is this car never sees out-of-doors except when on track. Our street 911s have an entirely different set of issues. They need to deal with the road environment – successfully.

Sorry for being so long-winded.

Best,
Grady

[MBAtarga]

Grady - can you place spaces between the letters of the "*****" edited name?

[304065]

Ha! Wayne has his competitor's name in the profanity filter! $ T 0 D D A R D

[Grady Clay]

S-t-o-d-d-a-r-d S-o-l-v-e-n-t

This solvent has been an industrial staple for a century and more - with this name. No relation to CAS.
I'll call the Pelican-office in the morning.

The 'Gronk' just emailed me some images of his 917 Longtail being "FARO" laser scaned at his home. Aparently you can get 3-D fly-by images from a few Meg of scans. I suspect more to come. I'll leave it up to him to post.

Best,
Grady

[Pete000]

It amazes me that it probably takes about 3 minutes for the guy to spray that stuff all over the car at the factory and it takes about 50 hours to get it off !

Nice clean up job. Having a proper lift is a big help. I did my C2 on jack stands no fun!

Are you entering "Full" class and how did you do ant your event ?

I think it is so nice to see a fully detailed under carriage sand the "Goo"!

Isn't it fun cleaning the "burnt Goo"

No more winter driving that car !

I coat all my under carriage with a great product called Amzoil MP doesn't attract dirt or dust and protects raw alloy.

[jurhip]

I am not a concours judge, nor do I know the theory of what show cars like these are trying to achieve. But, wouldn't a concours prepped car be cleaned of dirty cosmoline/tectyl then reapplied with new clean stuff to achieve a perfect factory state?

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by jurhip

I am not a concours judge, nor do I know the theory of what show cars like these are trying to achieve. But, wouldn't a concours prepped car be cleaned of dirty cosmoline/tectyl then reapplied with new clean stuff to achieve a perfect factory state?

x2... That's what I would have thought.

You'd get even more points for mimicking the spray pattern from the factory.

You'd want to take lots of pictures before removing any of the coating but...
The best solution would be to get some period pictures but I can't imagine anybody
bothered taking pictures of a 911s undercarriage as delivered.

[aldente295]

Before I put my freshly-rebuilt magnesium-cased 915 tranny back in, i gave it a liberal coatimg of fish oil. I dunno if this is just an Aussie thing or not? but this stuff ssprays on and dries to a hard finish. A Jag racing friend of mine put me on to it, swears by it.

And yes, it smelled real fishy for a few days...

[75USCarrera]

It certainly has been a lively debate. I purchased this car new from the dealership in September 2003. The car was pretty feature rich and was pricey for a cab 2. It sat on the dealer lot for at least 8 months. So the tectyl or cosmoline I would guess was as dry as it could have been. I have driven this car on sunny days....some driving trips where it was it was in the rain. She has 10,500 miles.

Well...I do wish i would have taken a picture before I started because this stuff was nasty. In certain areas, the material had tried to a white color. In other areas it was black and grimy. I did try several things to try to clean it...without success, so I made the decision to remove it. Maybe people here know how to clean it. For me, after seeing what was underneath it, I really enjoyed finding this buried treasure. So I have changed my mind...tectyl is wonderful! It did keep everything really nice over the years so I could spend massive hours cleaning and now have a beautiful piece of machinery to show for it. I will never enter this car in a national concours, but I have entered in local concours events. I know for the local events, they seem to be interested in dirt and dust. So, I guess its clean now!! I am going to keep it coated with gibbs and wipe down the bottom a few times a year. So I imagine it will stay very nice. I do enjoy that.

At my next concours, I am going to get out my mirrors, place them under the car and enjoy the view!

I would be interested if anyone knows how to clean tectyl...I think I will try to clean on the front struts and see how it turns out.

Greg
-------------------
75 US Carrera #354
03 996 Cab 2
69 Camaro Z11 Pace Car

[tcar]

Originally Posted by aldente295

Before I put my freshly-rebuilt magnesium-cased 915 tranny back in, i gave it a liberal coatimg of fish oil. I dunno if this is just an Aussie thing or not? but this stuff ssprays on and dries to a hard finish. A Jag racing friend of mine put me on to it, swears by it.

And yes, it smelled real fishy for a few days...

Fish Oil is in the base for Rust-Oleum paint.

[Pete000]

Most Concours judges want the cars better than as delivered condition. In many Case's they pick on imperfections such as excess glue on the floor boards under the carpet. I had this happen to me at the parade this year. I argued it came from the factory that way and they said it is messy and should be corrected. Needless to say any chips, scratches, dings = points off. Any dirt, dust, lint = points off. even water spots in the gaps of doors or lamps can be points off.

The problem with the goo is it gets dirty as all can be and when they touch it their hands get dirty = points off. So all you can do is remove it and wipe the parts as clan as you can so when they touch it nothing gets on their hands. Even the oil preservative is risky as it will get on their hands. This why I like the Amzoil MP product it dries non oily and wont attract dirt, yet still protects the metals.

True concourse cars generally don't get driven much and when they do they get cleaned a lot before an event.

I saw a car that was taken off the truck at the Porsche dealer brand new. They prepped it at the dealership put back on the trailer and taken to a PCA concours event and it lost ! The owner was furious saying how could the car be any more perfect "Its right off the truck from the factory !" I think the judges even hit him for the clean goo looking messy.

It's an insane amount of work, but the cars look so good when taken to that level.


If I was buying a brand new Porsche I would special order it with no Cosmoline added just like the factory race cars come.

[KNS]

I had Tectyl on the underside of my BMW and I've removed most of it with no worries about rust, etc. I had previously lived in an area that would get occassional snow and the associated removal crap on the roads that go with it. I always rinsed off the underside of the BMW and to this day there is not a hint of corrosion on the bottom of the car.

It was my understanding that this is only applied for the ocean-crossing and the marine environment that the car is exposed to for a few weeks (even though it's in the container).

I believe that if you check the underside of a VW from Germany and one from Mexico, the Mexican built car will not have the Tectyl. Perhaps someone can confirm/deny?

[75USCarrera]

Pete000

I was just on Amsoil's website and there are two products. There is the Amsoil MP (Metal Protector) and Amsoil MPHD (Metal Protector Heavy Duty). Have you tried the MPHD? It seems like it would be a good product for the undercarraige. I seems like Gibbs, but Gibbs is a little oily. Let me know...

AMSOIL - MP Heavy Duty Metal Protector (AMH)


Greg
-------------------
75 US Carrera #354
03 996 Cab 2
69 Camaro Z11 Pace Car

[Tonka]

I also did mine but did use a steam cleaner and it did great