Sandcar cleaning

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SCUMAN

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What’s everyone’s routine on cleaning your sandcar? Water or no water? Clean after every trip? Pressure wash? Do you avoid any chemicals or soaps? 

 
No water. Vacuum the seats and wipe down the frame and panels real good with pledge furniture cleaner in the summer. I store out at Glamis, so the car looks great for the first trip, the rest of the season it's dusty. 

 
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AlpineFunco said:
No water. Vacuum the seats and wipe down the frame and panels real good with pledge furniture cleaner in the summer. I store out at Glamis, so the car looks great for the first trip, the rest of the season it's dusty. 
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I do the same and also use Pledge. 

 
Does the Pledge help to keep the dust/sand off, or just a cleaner?

I blow mine down with the leaf blower prior to putting it into the trailer.  @ the end of the season I blow it off in the driveway & then vacuum out what I could not get out.  once I have all of the panels clean (California Car duster & Micro Fiber rags) I wax it.  & if Im feeling froggy I use the "one step spray & shine" on top of the wax. 

Bob

 
I take mine home so my routine may differ.

After every trip blow everything off with a blower and use the california duster  Then I vacuum the entire car including the radiator, I use a wet microfiber, dry microfiber method.   I use Adam's interior cleaner with water on the wet cloth, wipe them dry, turning frequently and rinsing out the cloth frequently, I do all panels. Then same on wheels and frame- always checking for cracks using another set of cloths.  I do same method in the engine and trans except I use simple green industrial on the cloth  I spend some time on the CV boots too, and I spray PTFE dry spray on them so they don't "wear".  I do the seats, interior panels, roof and belts with Adams interior cleaner but different cloths

When I am done, I do the panels and frame (especially the front and rear arms with a coat of carnuba wax, sometimes I do that twice.

I hit the mirror with sprayaway glass cleaner and dust the GPS with a clean dry microfiber, same with Dash panel and switch panle

Lastly I do the tires with adams tire cleaner using the same two cloth method

I put the car cover on and basically I am done in about an hour start to finish after some practice

It used to take 2 hours when I had polished Wheels and pieces, glad I dumped all that  ...

I change my oil every trip and service CV's and change trans fluid every 4th trip, so that gets done after cleaning and then I touch it up - prevents sand getting in the parts I clean

For as much money as I have in the car  it gets less love than my truck which cost 1/2 the cost of the sand car

 
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AlpineFunco said:
No water. Vacuum the seats and wipe down the frame and panels real good with pledge furniture cleaner in the summer. I store out at Glamis, so the car looks great for the first trip, the rest of the season it's dusty. 
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Do you wipe down the engine? or do you let the oil keep everthing "Moist"

 
Since Pismo was our primary playground, I always washed with a power washer after each trip.

 
Bobalos said:
Does the Pledge help to keep the dust/sand off, or just a cleaner?

I blow mine down with the leaf blower prior to putting it into the trailer.  @ the end of the season I blow it off in the driveway & then vacuum out what I could not get out.  once I have all of the panels clean (California Car duster & Micro Fiber rags) I wax it.  & if Im feeling froggy I use the "one step spray & shine" on top of the wax. 

Bob
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Pledge is also a wax polish, so I’m sure it helps keep the dust off.  But I don’t think my sand car would ever win a beauty contest. 
 

 
I used to wash all of my sand cars after every trip. Pressure washed the trans and motor to remove cv grease or dirt. Since when did washing your sand cars become taboo?

 
Snap-On Chris said:
Do you wipe down the engine? or do you let the oil keep everthing "Moist"
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I use an air hose on my motor and trans. Seems to work great for the moist areas. I never use water. Dry rags, air, duster, vacuum, but not water. Air hose while wiping with a rag is my go to. I do this on everything not just motor.

 
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Clean after every trip.

Never use water.  Water and bare metal = rust.

Use a chamois.

Change engine oil every other trip.

Add grease to CVs every other trip.

Wash/oil air filters every trip.

 
Bobalos said:
Does the Pledge help to keep the dust/sand off, or just a cleaner?

I blow mine down with the leaf blower prior to putting it into the trailer.  @ the end of the season I blow it off in the driveway & then vacuum out what I could not get out.  once I have all of the panels clean (California Car duster & Micro Fiber rags) I wax it.  & if Im feeling froggy I use the "one step spray & shine" on top of the wax. 

Bob
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Since it's an annual thing it's hard to tell, but it does look good when I'm done. 

 
I used to wash mine (covering the engine, seats and computer), since I hit some mud holes once in a while.  But after my last rebuild, I found rust on a lot of suspension bolts.  Now I use air, wipe down, or even a local water spritz if I have mud.  I have even taken the side panels off to wash them.   

 
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I appreciate all the input, from the sound of it I’ve been doing it wrong for awhile now 😬

 
Mostly compressed air, shop vac and a damp cloth with diluted simple green. I’ll use mothers on the aluminum or SS.  Some of the aluminum I use steel wool for the burnished look. 

My last 2 engine (VWs) leaked so much that oil changes weren’t really a concern… I’d change the filter occasionally.  I don’t think this engine I’m building is going to leak much if any si I might have to start doing oil changes.    

 
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Bobalos said:
Does the Pledge help to keep the dust/sand off, or just a cleaner?

I blow mine down with the leaf blower prior to putting it into the trailer.  @ the end of the season I blow it off in the driveway & then vacuum out what I could not get out.  once I have all of the panels clean (California Car duster & Micro Fiber rags) I wax it.  & if Im feeling froggy I use the "one step spray & shine" on top of the wax. 

Bob
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We have an electric leaf blower and hit it pretty good at the end of each trio.  Still amazing all the piles of sand under it by the time we get home.  

 
pile-of-sand-picture-id174935188


 
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