This can't be good!

Washed the car for the first time. No high pressure spray or anything. Did run water over the top looking for leaks. No water in interior or trunk area. Washed car on an incline then pulled it in to garage. It was still wet and dripping a little but there seemed to be a LARGE amount of water running out of the car between the rear of the door and the rear fender well. Almost if it had been trapped until the car was on a level surface. Can't imagine this being normal! How did the water get there and more importantly, How is it getting out??

is it a vert ? verts have weep holes that can become plugged over time you can access the weep holes @ the inside rear door jamb (small vent )

Try not to wash your car in this manner.

Greg.

Two things come to mind. If your car rear window does not roll down, then the seal between the glass and the sail panel, or the belt weatherstrip is leaking. The water will accumulate down inside the inner and outer quarter panel at the floor behind the trim panel where there is a drain.

Then again, if the rear window does roll down, it may have been left open a crack in which case the same thing applies to where the water drains out.

A convertible has a gutter system that runs around the entire rear of the top. Pretty much where the chrome is located. When you wash the top or in rain the water goes into the gutter and runs to each side and empties into the inner rocker between the inner panel and the outer skin. There should be a drain hole that the water can get out.

The water also goes between the window and the outer skin. No window felts made will keep water out of the inner quarter. Also the doors are the same.

For this reason I do not use a hose or pressure washer to wash one of these cars. The seam sealer on our cars went on before any paint was sprayed. So when the sealer cracks water gets into the crack and feeds the rust. The cars were not dipped into primer only sprayed so lots of areas are bare metal. The water running from the gutter sometimes gets into the floorboard and goes under the back seat causing rust there. The area around the rear tail light gaskets holds water also and causes the tail light panel to rust out.

I have cars that lived all their life in California that have more rust than a car that lived in Michigan all it's life. This is due to them washing the car in California and feeding the rust inside the panels. Washing your car with lots of water is one of the worst things you can do especially a vert. Just because a car comes from a dry climate does not make it rust free for sure.

The picture is of a vert with the top removed I was sealing up the cracked sealer in the gutter system to stop water from getting in. After repairing the sealer I coated in POR to help protect it.

Thanks all for the replies. I'm breathing a sigh of relief knowing that on a convert water is supposed to drain down and then weep out! Was afraid there was a big ole rusted hole in the bottom of the car that I hadn't found. Bear with me - I'm learning. And thanks for the great Pic's

I've been following David's lead. Little or no water ever touches my car anymore. If it got filthy maybe then.

I get the point of why not to use water but how do you keep the car clean? I drive my car every chance I get and it gets dirty, either dust, brake dust, or road dirt etc. A car duster does not remove this stuff.

He didnt say not to use water, he said not to use a hose....do not spray pressured water on the car because the seals are not tight. A bucket and a sponge and elbo grease is always an option.

Hi Jason,

These days there are several brands of products and varying techniques out there to wash your car in the waterless or (no hose way)

If you use your Mustang as an everyday driver, then yes, it will attract a fair amount of dirt and road grime on the car depending on road and weather conditions when you drive around. In my case, my two Mustangs only get driven on weekends for small cruises out and about. I will never take my cars out driving if the weather looks like rain or is or has been raining. The worst case scenario is when it has not rained in your area for some time and the roads are dirty and greasy. Then, a small to moderate amount of rainfall comes down to turn the roads into a dirty mush bowl. This dirty mush then gets flung up by other cars and trucks and transferred onto your car when you drive around in these conditions. This road grime or filthy road mush gets deposited on your car and gets into just about every crack and crevice - not good at all and very hard to clean properly.

Also, i never use a garden hose or pressure washer to clean my Mustangs. What David has said in his posts is very true. These old Mustangs tend to have water leak issues in one way or another. The last thing you want to worry about is any water finding it's way into the cabin or floor of your car. That is bad news for rusting out issues and smelly, mouldy carpets. It's the same for your trunk areas. David is correct again when he says that these cars were not dipped back in their manufacture days, and so there are hidden or unseen areas that never got coated properly and are susceptible to rusting out. The problem is that when a car gets dirty from normal driving around, it gets chemicals and acid rain lodging on the surface of the car. This happens more so when you live in big industrial cities and air planes flying over head all the time. So when you go to wash your car with a garden hose, you are letting these acids and chemicals wash into all the cavities of your car.Over a period of many washes and time, you will end up getting residue deposits and build ups of these chemicals or acids. They then act as accelerators or promoters of rust in all your inner panels that would not have any proper paint or anti rust coatings on them. It's the same with using straight detergents to wash a car with. They contain chemicals like phosphates in them that actually act as accelerators or promoters of rust in your inner panels. That's why i always recommend using a good quality wash and wax product if you insist on washing your car with a hose. It helps solve this very problem.

In my case, the basic technique i use for my Mustangs is to use either a soft feather duster or a compressed air blower gun and first go around the whole car and dust off or blow off any initial dust or dirty residue. Then i will use a good quality wet chamois (not dripping wet) and gently go around the car, starting from the top and working my way around the car as i go to the bottom areas last. Don't apply too much pressure when doing this process. Also, go to the trouble of washing out your chamois after wiping off one or two panels only. This helps prevent any scratching of the paint and also transferring dirt back onto the car that you have wiped off. You can the use a microfibre towel to follow through straight away to buff up and dry the surface. I like to use a quick detailer spray wax at this point to apply a wax coating to the paint to finish off with. You move in and wipe off and buff off the detailer with a microfibre cloth to bring up a lovely finish. The name of the game is to try and minimize the possibility and not scratch the car's surfaces. If you go about it carefully and use the above techniques, you should not get into any trouble in that regard.

There are other products and techniques out there that are available to make use of. Here are a few references to go with -



Hope that helps,

Greg.

Hey Greg, awesome post. I wish you lived a little closer so I could exploit your wealth of knowledge in person!

I'd like to add that when I had my vert sprayed we went ballistic with the cavity wax, getting into every nook and cranny. I believe this is a great preventative measure but, like Greg, I won't be going anywhere if it's been raining or there is any promise of rain. I have the Hilux for that!

Cheers...

...Mickus

I myself do not use any of the fancy sprays. Not saying anything wrong with them just pricey. I just use big buckets of clean water and rinse the micro fiber towel very frequently and wring as dry as I can. Use very light pressure so not to scratch with dirt on the surface.

You might not have seen the 1973 Q code vert that sold on eBay a few months back. I posted link here. It had never been washed in it's entire life and never waxed either. It only had a little over 5,000 miles if I remember. The finish looked brand new. It was kept if garage in plastic bag so dust was not getting everywhere. It also had argent hood and looked new also.

Like you say some cars are driven and yes you might get really dirty and need to use a hose but stay away from the windows and if a vert keep off the top.

Great info there guys. I will certainly try some of these techniques. I don't drive the car when there is a possibly of rain or inclement weather either. The big issue here is road grime from oil and such as well as dirt and dust and pollution. We have several large factories in town here while it is not so horrible you cannot breathe those pollutants get on the cars finish.

Sorry to hijack the thread but this thread popped up at the most opportune moment, my first wash since assembly. (not me personally, I wash every other Wednesday ::thumb:: )

Knowing that Greg (Austin Vert) is a proficient, meticulous and knowledgeable spray painter I thought I would give his methodology a shot. This was the result, and please note that there was not one resulting swirl:



If I had the foresight I would have taken a before shot. It was dirty, mainly workshop dust with a few small birdbombs, kamikaze bugs, lots of grubby finger/hand/toe prints and some unidentifiable body fluids. No caked dirt or gritty mud.

Thanks Greg! (if you look closely you will see the reflection of Greg's Corona that is waiting for him :thankyouyellow: )

Cheers...

...Mickus

Hi Jason,

These days there are several brands of products and varying techniques out there to wash your car in the waterless or (no hose way)

If you use your Mustang as an everyday driver, then yes, it will attract a fair amount of dirt and road grime on the car depending on road and weather conditions when you drive around. In my case, my two Mustangs only get driven on weekends for small cruises out and about. I will never take my cars out driving if the weather looks like rain or is or has been raining. The worst case scenario is when it has not rained in your area for some time and the roads are dirty and greasy. Then, a small to moderate amount of rainfall comes down to turn the roads into a dirty mush bowl. This dirty mush then gets flung up by other cars and trucks and transferred onto your car when you drive around in these conditions. This road grime or filthy road mush gets deposited on your car and gets into just about every crack and crevice - not good at all and very hard to clean properly.

Also, i never use a garden hose or pressure washer to clean my Mustangs. What David has said in his posts is very true. These old Mustangs tend to have water leak issues in one way or another. The last thing you want to worry about is any water finding it's way into the cabin or floor of your car. That is bad news for rusting out issues and smelly, mouldy carpets. It's the same for your trunk areas. David is correct again when he says that these cars were not dipped back in their manufacture days, and so there are hidden or unseen areas that never got coated properly and are susceptible to rusting out. The problem is that when a car gets dirty from normal driving around, it gets chemicals and acid rain lodging on the surface of the car. This happens more so when you live in big industrial cities and air planes flying over head all the time. So when you go to wash your car with a garden hose, you are letting these acids and chemicals wash into all the cavities of your car.Over a period of many washes and time, you will end up getting residue deposits and build ups of these chemicals or acids. They then act as accelerators or promoters of rust in all your inner panels that would not have any proper paint or anti rust coatings on them. It's the same with using straight detergents to wash a car with. They contain chemicals like phosphates in them that actually act as accelerators or promoters of rust in your inner panels. That's why i always recommend using a good quality wash and wax product if you insist on washing your car with a hose. It helps solve this very problem.

In my case, the basic technique i use for my Mustangs is to use either a soft feather duster or a compressed air blower gun and first go around the whole car and dust off or blow off any initial dust or dirty residue. Then i will use a good quality wet chamois (not dripping wet) and gently go around the car, starting from the top and working my way around the car as i go to the bottom areas last. Don't apply too much pressure when doing this process. Also, go to the trouble of washing out your chamois after wiping off one or two panels only. This helps prevent any scratching of the paint and also transferring dirt back onto the car that you have wiped off. You can the use a microfibre towel to follow through straight away to buff up and dry the surface. I like to use a quick detailer spray wax at this point to apply a wax coating to the paint to finish off with. You move in and wipe off and buff off the detailer with a microfibre cloth to bring up a lovely finish. The name of the game is to try and minimize the possibility and not scratch the car's surfaces. If you go about it carefully and use the above techniques, you should not get into any trouble in that regard.

There are other products and techniques out there that are available to make use of. Here are a few references to go with -

Click to expand...

Thanks for the great praise Mickus!

My poor head is swollen too much already me thinks.

What product did you end up using visa vie the wax detailer?

That gloss level, holdout, and gloss retention on your paint work looks really sweet.

Hard to tell in the pic - so what did your painter end up doing with the clear coat to get it to that level, or to put it another way how much peel is in the final coat?

Greg.

Praise given when due Greg ::thumb::

Bowdens Clean detail followed by Meguiars Ultimate Quik wax.

PPG G7 primer (awesome product), Deltron BC base x 2, Deltron HS D812 clearcoat x3 wet on wet with some resulting peel. Blocked and flowcoated with the D812 x 2 mists then heavy coat about 2 months later and voila, no peel off the gun.

I better get those Coronas in the fridge eh?

Cheers...

...Mick

Thanks for the great praise Mickus!

My poor head is swollen too much already me thinks.

What product did you end up using visa vie the wax detailer?

That gloss level and gloss retention on your paint work looks really sweet.

Hard to tell in the pic - so what did your painter end up doing with the clear coat to get it to that level, or to put it another way how much peel is in the final coat?

Greg.

Click to expand...

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet Mick!

You're singin' my song with that setup!::thumb::

Lovely flow and no need to flatten out and cut again.Off the gun delicious. Denibbing and cuttiing/polishing would be a breeze i would think. I love's me PPG!::thumb::

Fantastic Mick, just fantastic! and the beer's sound great too!

Good choice of products there as well. I like Bowden's stuff for performance and quality, and Meguiars does a good job too. The pedestrians will bar up for sure when they see you comin'!

Greg.

Another for the Bowdens products, infact I have just about all of their stuff ( I purchase the main ones in 5lt packs) as I've personally found it to be the best product out there, especially for the price. I know Dan personally and how they come about making their own products. Unlike just about every other car care product company, they actually keep finding ways to improve their products, when a new one comes out I try it and usually blown away by them and report back to them on my opinions. Unlike most car care products, theirs doesn't use salt in theirs, that's right most use salt which we know what it does to metal over time.

I get asked all the time what I use on my cars, even by high end Euro owners (that use high end stuff) and it blows most away when I tell them. Infact my car had a photo shoot the other day for the local paper doing the high school formals which was held at the local detailers. A couple of the usual bugs (joys of living in a farming community) were on the car and the detailer asked if I mind him getting them off, he then asked me what I used, so I told him, which he then asked did I just polish it and I replied no, not since the beginning of June. Well he couldn't believe how well it looked just using a spray detailers/wax and said he might just look into their products. The product I like best when time is a factor is the "fully slick" product. Just awesome finish and gives it a just waxed look. The amount of people I've put on to their products, I should be on commission, lol.