What to use to clean years of mold off the paint

[BigRandy]

So my 74 has been neglected for what looks like decades. The paint is shot and it looks like the clear coat is coming off.

I'm not too worried about being delicate with a good wash. There's black mold or tree spots on the cab. What can I use to scrub it down to the paint. Dish soap? Tied powder if they still sell it? I've even considered Comet in a can and rubbing it off.

It used to be white but now it's mostly a yellow off-white.

What do you guys and gals use when you bring home a rusty, faded old truck?

Thanks

[TKCR]

This is what I do, when I detail a car or truck. Wash the vehicle with Dawn and while it is good and soapy, use a good clay bar on the surface. The clay bar works best when its wet & soapy. The clay bar will take most, if not all the contaminants off the paint.
Next would be polish, polish, polish. There are a lot of good 3 step polishes out there. There have been a few members that have posted their success, try doing a search. You can also search some YouTube videos on this subject also.

[67swb72klb]

The Comet and a car wash brush works good for me to get most of it off...

[mongocanfly]

if your not at all worried about the paint... wash it with abrasive soap ^^^(comet)^^^...then wet sand the whole truck and then buff it..if your not worried about the paint then you've got nothing to loose...

[BigRandy]

I have clay but the paint on this old truck would likely rip a clay bar to pieces. I can't think of anything that won't require a ton of elbow grease. Comet may be the answer. I'll try laundry detergent and maybe some Simple Green and go from there. Was just curious to see if anyone knew of a simple solution to get the mold and crud off the paint.

The paint code says it's white. I had a frost white 77 once and maybe somewhere under the crud it's here too, but right now it's not even close.

Thanks a bunch!

[Leonard60]

Try some oven cleaner (sodium hydroxide) also known as lye. I've used this product a lot works very well. Be carful it burn like a ***** if you get it on your bare skin.

[mongocanfly]

never tried this but I wonder if clorox and hot water would work on it...
buddy of mine uses it on his vinyl siding and it looks new when he gets done...

[SKT]

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Let's see some pics of this truck.

I'd use CLR.

See this link:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=447159

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[cadillac_al]

Pressure washer.

[Dead Parrot]

Try just soap and warm water first with a scrub pad. Not all tree sap is as permanent as elm tree sap. The black could be mold or rubber/carbon from a nearby highway. A lot of times, that old original paint will buff up nice. Not sure how much clear coat was used in 74.

If you start with industrial strength cleaners and/or abrasives and it turns out the black is just decades of dirt and grim, you might wind up damaging what was a salvageable paint job.

[75C10]

Pressure washer. Just did this with old paint covered in sap, bird poop etc. Came out amazing

[Desert_Eagle02]

I'd try just plain car wash soap and warm water. My truck was covered in years of grime, tree sap and probably mold when I got it. I just used some soap and water and it turned out great. Nice bright shiny paint underneath.

[Honest Bob]

I got the green fuzz off of mine with a pressure washer and straight water.

[RotaryRocketeer]

Car wash mitt or microfiber sponge with soap has never failed to shine up any field car I've purchased. Takes some scrubbin' and sweatin' though.

[Desert_Eagle02]

Originally Posted by RotaryRocketeer

Car wash mitt or microfiber sponge with soap has never failed to shine up any field car I've purchased. Takes some scrubbin' and sweatin' though.

It for sure does take some scrubbing and sweating lol. I had grime and probably mold on the underside of the hood too. That was a pain. If I were to do it again, I'd just take the hood off lol.

[RedBed]

I had the same problem with an old white truck. Went to the car wash, but before I entered the bay, I sprayed it with Krud Kutter and let it soak for 10 or so minutes. Came right off with the sprayer.

[mgreene]

I had some kind of rotted vegetable matter fused to the paint of my 87 - little black curly-cues - all over the hood and top. I tried soaking and washing and bug remover, etc.

I ended up using a magic eraser - it worked great with no damage to the (AFAIK) single stage paint.

Some body guys say the magic eraser is like 3000 grit sandpaper; some say it is more like 1500 - but in any case, I didnt use great care - it just worked. If you paint is already pretty ratty, you dont have much to loose.

[DBLSPRT68]

I just cleaned a under tree find myself. I used Purple Power cleaner with a little water and a wash brush. It came out really well. Paint is shot so wasn't worried about that, just wanted it clean.

[4x4k30]

I use regular bleach put in on dry not wet panels and wash of with hose don't do it in your new clothes and shoes

[Flying Hamster]

vinegar

[LT7A]

Lots of ideas here. I'll make a couple of assumptions:

You'd like to clean it up to a usable condition, no immediate plans for paint or to part it out.

You will be doing work on other parts of it since it has been sitting so long.

With those in mind, I would use any standard car wash soap, mix it strong, and use a gentle car wash brush. The soap is mild but won't pull oils from the paint that you want to keep (whatever remains). The mold and other surface materials may actually have helped preserve the paint so you want to remove them gently. The brush is a stronger way to agitate the soap into the deposits than a sponge, mitt, or microfiber so it shouldn't be used on good paint where swirl marks matter but will be an ally here. The brush also speeds up the process since it increases your reach. Use a bucket for soap/water and a separate one to rinse in.

Since it will go fast with the brush, just do it multiple times. I assumed that you are doing other things to the truck so each day you wrap up the work, soap it down and rinse it off. I got it down to a 10 minute process when I had to wash my truck weekly. The paint will look a little better each time and no real elbow grease involved. After a few washings, you can use straight car wash soap on a sponge for stubborn places.

Once it is fairly clean, a coat of cleaner wax will protect it and give you a good idea of what you're working with. Then you can decide if you want to get all detail-master on it with clay bar, compounds, etc. Might yield great results or might have diminishing returns. Once the paint is clean you can figure out what's worthwhile.

If you don't expect the first round to get it all clean, but wash it a few times, you'll preserve whatever is left of the paint. There are quicker methods but they all can impact the paint (he says from experience).

Good luck. Show us some before, during, after pics. Thanks!

[SKT]

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Seriously...

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[LT7A]

Originally Posted by SKT

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Seriously...

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Worthless? Not really. Many of us have seen moss on a truck. Pics would help tho.

[RADustin]

pressure washer works great. and doesn't strip paint like you'd think.

I even use one of those whirly nozzles that clean the crap out of concrete. cleans up old paint great.

[SKT]