Author Topic: Salt removal.  (Read 11610 times)

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Offline tauruck

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Salt removal.
« on: January 16, 2014, 10:24:37 PM »
Having never been to Bonneville I wanted to ask how you guys get the salt off your cars or bikes between runs or at the end of the day?.

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Salt removal.
« Reply #1 on: January 16, 2014, 11:59:03 PM »
A hose bath with gently running cold water at the end of the week.  The bike is washed from the top down with a big effort to not splash salty water into the electrics.  Often a rain storm on the way home finishes the job.

Offline mitchell968

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Re: Salt removal.
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2014, 03:40:49 AM »
 8-)

Offline mitchell968

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Re: Salt removal.
« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2014, 03:51:12 AM »
 i see lots of pump style spray bottles . garden stuff. 8-)

Offline tauruck

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Re: Salt removal.
« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2014, 04:31:29 AM »
Thanks because one thing I don't see in the photos of Speed Week is water so I figured no hoses at the venue etc.

What do you do at the track between rounds?.
How do you get the salt off?.

Offline Stainless1

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Re: Salt removal.
« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2014, 09:20:59 AM »
Mikey, we use a 15 gallon battery powered weed sprayer from the farm store.  Usually keep it in the back of the truck, when it runs low, we fill it in town.  Option 2 is trusty pump sprayers, but they need filled every day and we usually carry extra water to refill on the salt.
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Offline Ron Gibson

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Re: Salt removal.
« Reply #6 on: January 17, 2014, 10:19:06 AM »
If the salt is really good, there is almost NO SALT to wash off :-D :-D.
If you rinse it off right after the run while it is damp, it will practically fall off. Doesn't take much pressure or water to get the job done. Some crews do that at the far end before towing back.
 If more pressure is needed or wanted, you can use a 2 1/2 gallon water type fire extinguisher. They can easily be refilled with water and charged with compressed air or nitrogen.

Ron
Life is an abrasive. Whether you get ground away or polished to a shine depends on what you are made of.

Offline edinlr

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Re: Salt removal.
« Reply #7 on: January 17, 2014, 12:43:00 PM »
Even after spending about $10 at the quarter car wash in Salt Lake City and going through rain on the way home, my truck and trailer still were covered underneath.  JimL suggested I use a lawn sprinkler so I used both the whirly bird type and the back and forth type for a few hours while I was doing yard work.  I think my last clump of salt fell off a month later.  I did buy some spray at a boat supply also, but had trouble with the applicator. 

Also, there was a vendor there this year with some kind of pre-spray to treat vehicles.  Anything would be worth a try.
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Offline Seldom Seen Slim

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Re: Salt removal.
« Reply #8 on: January 17, 2014, 12:58:12 PM »
SaltX and Salt-Away are two products you can try to protect the vehicle before you get to the salt.  They spray on with a garden sprayer - mix according to instructions with water.  The bad part of them is that they'll wash off as you drive to Bonneville if you hit rainy roads or drive through the creeks.  To combat that issue you can spray once you get to Wendover.  I always plan to do just that, but by the time we arrive I'm so excited about the upcoming event that I don't bother with the spray. :-D

After using the sprinkler (lots of methods have been tried -- use any you wish to use) I'd suggest a good long ride down bumpy roads to shake off whatever is left on the vehicle.  We've had the fun of explaining to the shop that's dynoing the bike in the spring - to tell them what that white stuff is that just fell out of the bike.
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Offline tauruck

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Re: Salt removal.
« Reply #9 on: January 17, 2014, 04:09:53 PM »
Thanks all.
This is interesting stuff.
Like I said I've never seen the real cleaning going on but some pics do show how clogged the suspensions and wheels get.

How do powder coated parts stand up?.


Offline Stan Back

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Re: Salt removal.
« Reply #10 on: January 17, 2014, 06:35:09 PM »
The car in Reply #2 has been driven where and at speed he shouldn't.  Kinda a show-off at the casino in town.  We're of the opinion to break off the hard stuff and don't add the actuator (water) until you're ready to do a thorough job. YRMV.
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Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Salt removal.
« Reply #11 on: January 18, 2014, 02:45:14 AM »
My experience says a variety of paint systems will work if they are high quality materials and properly applied, including powder coat.  Also, experience shows that no system works if there is bonehead level prep and application.

Basically, I ask myself "What coating system can I apply well with my skill level, budget, and tools and materials?   

Offline makr

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Re: Salt removal.
« Reply #12 on: January 18, 2014, 08:38:08 AM »
I think my last clump of salt fell off a month later. 

Ha! You wish it was the last. Wait a few years, do random repair, wonder how the salt got into a sealed bearing housing.
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Offline wheelrdealer

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Re: Salt removal.
« Reply #13 on: January 18, 2014, 09:42:33 AM »
Unless you pull the car down to the frame at the end of the year there is going to be some salt in there somewhere.

Some things I learned after my first trip that I will do for my next.

My big mistake was I did not understand that there were things I needed to do to stabilize the corrosion until I could get the car back to the shop. Washing it several times helped but the salt pulls moister from the air and by the time we got bact to Florida and 90% humidity the car was dripping with moisture from the absorbed salt. Where did all the moisture go? It wicked into all the places we did not want it to go. Live and learn. I have been around salt water and boats my whole life and never saw anything like what happened in the time it took to get home.

Use at a minimum WeatherPack terminals but if the budget allows Mil-Spec connectors and bulkhead connectors. Lots of adhesive shrink tubing on all terminal ends. I was amazed that the salt wicked up about 3 inches on my starter cables by the time I got back home. Use generous amounts of di-electric grease on terminals.

Use a high grade coating like Por-15 as a base coat. I used a two part epoxy type clear on all cast aluminum and pieces that are not anodized. Underside of the trailer too.

Pop out the disc brake pads before you load and coat the rotors with WD40 or something. Mine were locked up solid by the time we got home.

I will use Salt-Away or something like that on the trailer and tow vehicle.

On my car I have some frame access holes that I could not seal weld so I will use duct tape to keep the salt from accumulating in the frame.

Remove spark plugs and lube cylinder walls before the ride home. We pulled our motor down 7 days after we got home at it was very rusty and corroded from sucking salt through the carbs. Also some WD 40 to coat the carbs until we get.

The one thing we did do that helped save the trailer is we spread two tarps on the floor and rolled the car onto them then bunggied them up to make contain the salt droppings. By the time we towed 2,500 miles there was probably a gallon of salt water rolling around in the tarp that would have wicked into the seams on the trailer floor.

BR
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Offline tauruck

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Re: Salt removal.
« Reply #14 on: January 20, 2014, 10:31:22 AM »
Thanks for the advice.

I won't be going to Bonneville this year but in the future?.

Riaan and I would love to get over there and we'll make a plan.

Our track is like Elmo so obviously dust will be the problem.
I hate dust and rust so I'm going to seal the car up tight as a drum.

Bill, I understand what you mean about living near salt water. I had 400 lengths of hammered wrought iron bar under a tarp on a job I did. Someone took the tarp during the night and by morning the bars were orange.