A lot of people like to buy used project vehicles or maybe a daily driver that is in need of a lot of work. These vehicles normally have a lot of work that is needed before they are street ready. They are Projects and you expect that you are going to put a lot of work into them and in the end you will have a vehicle that you can drive and enjoy.
Depending on how much work your vehicle needs there will be different things that you should do when you first get it to ready it for work.
The first thing you want to do is clean it. Unfortunately this is going to be a bit more work than just a sponge and a bucket of soap. You really want to give the vehicle a good cleaning so you can see exactly what work you are going to need to do and so you can work on things much easier.
If you have a pressure washer then you are ahead of the game but you can get it done with a hose and a good spray nozzle. For washing your vehicle you don’t need expensive car wash soap just get a gallon of clothing soap at the dollar store. If you see the vehicle has deep stains and mold growing on it then also pickup a gallon or two of bleach.
For tools you can use anything that gets the job done. I strongly suggest that you apply your soap and bleach with a pump up garden sprayer. It will be extremely useful for the underside of the vehicle, getting in frame rails and your suspension.
Clean the outside of the vehicle a few times and don’t be afraid to use a nylon brush if the paint is already in bad shape. You want to get all of the dirt and grease off the vehicle. Make sure that you do the underside of the vehicle and the wheel wells. Get up under the bumpers and get out all of the dirt that has been packed in there for years. The same goes for the frames of Trucks. Use lots and lots of soap and water.
For the engine bay you want to get a couple cans of engine degreaser. This is basically a strong soap but you want to remove all of the oils and grease off of your engine. Cover your carburetor with plastic kitchen wrap so water won’t get in it. The same goes for your electronics, fuse boxes, distributor cap. Then apply a can of the degreaser and let it sit. Some products suggest letting the engine warm up but if you do this you don’t want to spray your exhaust with the cleaner while its hot.
If you have a pressure washer or a strong hose you can spray the engine compartment down and let it dry. It will probably take a couple attempts to get it clean.
Do the same for your suspension. Suspensions get a lot of grease on them because the parts are regularly greased. But if you are working on your vehicle you need to get that grease off before you start. Engine degreaser and a pressure washer is a good start. You can use soap and a nylon brush but that brush is going to get saturated with grease so expect to toss it if you can’t get it clean.
When getting grease off of your vehicle you want to scrape off the large amounts and then you can even use a cotton cloth like an old tshirt and moisten it with gasoline.. which you should have and contains the same chemicals as cleaners. not dripping wet just moist.
As for your interior start again with a vacuum to remove as much as you can but when it comes to washing don’t be shy to get it wet. You can also remove the seats and wash them out of the vehicle. Use lots of soap and water and a clean brush and sponge. Expect to go over them a few times.
Once cleaning is done and your vehicle is grease free you can move on to attacking any rust.
Attacking Any Rust Your Project Car Might Have
Depending on the amount of rust you have you might end up cutting out sections and welding in new ones but if you have a lot of surface rust you want to get started cleaning that up as soon as you get your vehicle clean of any grease. Grease and Rust are not friends so you really need to clean before you start this part and don’t jump right to it.
There are a number of products on the market that will convert and dissolve the rust so you can paint or work around the area. Rustex Krud Kutter is used by a lot of people I have not tried it but I hear its good. RustMort by SEM is a product I like for premixed product. However I like making my own rust converter since it is so easy. Buy a quart or gallon of Phosphoric Acid 85% strength Food Grade and then you can dilute it by 50% to 80% for treating rust. The Phosphoric Acid you will see is the active ingredient in most rust converters so buying it full strength and diluting it gives you options. You can use it as a spray or you can soak your nuts and bolts in it and it will eat the rust out of the threads. READ THE DIRECTIONS ON YOUR PRODUCT.. and then go around your vehicle and treat all of the rust for converting. A pump sprayer is great for getting into tight places and into frame rails. Rust Conversion does not restore the strength of the metal or make everything rust free like new. Rust causes damage and this product simply stops the rust and allows you to clean the area with sand paper or metal brushes and then protect it with paint.
Even if you are cutting out sections of a quarter panel or floor i still suggest you take this step. After you clean the area you can cut out the large section for replacement and then rust treat the area and if you are not going to get to the damage right away then treat it with rust converter as soon as you get the vehicle that way the process is started.
After you have cleaned and started tackling your rust you can move on to preparing the car for repair.
Freeing Up Rusted Nuts And Bolts
Now that your vehicle is clean and you have attended to the rust you can start freeing up your nuts and bolts. Most people don’t think about doing this but it will pay back later on.
I suggest that you get a gallon of WD-40 since it is relatively cheap about $20 and put it in a spray bottle. Then you should go around your entire vehicle and spray any nuts and bolts you can find. Even if you don’t think you will be removing them now or for a while the penetrating oil needs time to work.
Most people will spray a rusted nut and expect it to come off after waiting only a few seconds or minutes but that is not how this stuff works. Its not magic, the longer you can saturate these nuts the better the result.
So take a few hours if needed and hit every nut and screw and bolt and hing and spring. Whether its a leaf spring shackle bolt or a radiator hose clamp. Spray some WD40 on it because at the very least its not going to hurt it and at best its going to make your life so much easier.
You can also use used motor oil for this and it might work better in some places.
Final Note
These three basic steps are going to allow you to get your work done a lot quicker and in a professional manner.
A lot of people that work on vehicles in small shops or at home don’t take the time to think out an entire process. If you are fighting dirt and grease and rust while you are trying to repair something it is going to make the work longer and more frustrating.
Sure you can get your project vehicle home and start doing things like tuning a carb, replacing plugs and driving it around the neighborhood to celebrate and we all feel that way but when it comes down to the restoration you need to do things in a orderly professional manner that won’t make things harder in the long run.
If you install new belts on your engine and then pressure wash the engine compartment you’re likely to cover the belts in grease and then you are buying new belts. The same goes for plug wires and so on.
If you wait until you need to remove your bumper bolts to spray them with penetrating oil then you’re going to strip the head off and end up breaking out the torch. Maybe you would have to do that anyway but maybe with an impact wrench you could nudge those bolts free.
This is just what I suggest after years of dealing with these things. Not everyone will do this. People will mount up all new suspension parts and then have to remove them to repair the rust on their frame and paint the frame and then that sets you back 3 days or a couple weeks waiting instead of just cleaning and spraying down that rust and letting the converter work while you do other things.
So think before you do things and start in with the hardest stuff first and the pretty stuff last.