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Road salt: how long for it to dissipate?


Sahara

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44 minutes ago, Sahara said:

Can you please tell me how to access this area for cleaning?

 

Well, it's not a walk in the park.  If it's the first time you're doing it, I'd recommend spending a couple of hours to familiarize yourself with the layout and to do the job.  Remove the side grills at least, so you can access from the front. You can also access from inside the engine bay.   Looking down into the bottom of the nose clip you can see the drain holes in the sides.  Also look from underneath the car to see the same holes.  The center drain is more difficult.  You can see it from underneath the car, but not from above.  

 

You can vacuum any debris from above that you can see.  I twisted the end of a clothes hanger with a piece of cloth to drag through the center area that you can't see.

 

Amazing what you can find that has been lost in there for years.

 

Once you are sure that there is little or no debris left you can hose it out and see the drains doing their job. 

 

In future you only need to hose out the area and double check that the drains are working.  Hosing can be done from inside the engine bay without removing the grills.  

 

I went the distance and POR-15'd the area, as the paint was disappearing and surface rust had set in.  But that's a whole other job.

Drain1.jpg.3e20ed82b78f48f1d48e4388d83bafd4.jpg

 

 

Edited by PaulTWinterton

73 Inka Tii #2762958

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1 hour ago, PaulTWinterton said:

Side note:  Before you put your car away for the winter, clean under the radiator, inside the nose clip.

Has anyone else wondered why the square tubular section running from fender to fender under the radiator is open at the ends in the fender wells?  Has anyone closed these open ends off to keep wheel spray from going in the tube?

A radiator shop is a good place to take a leak.

 

I have no idea what I'm doing but I know I'm really good at it.

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3 hours ago, PaulTWinterton said:

I'll be thinking about that the next time I'm under there.

No need to crawl under to see the open end.  Just use a light and look ahead of the wheel on the inner fender just above the subframe mount.

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A radiator shop is a good place to take a leak.

 

I have no idea what I'm doing but I know I'm really good at it.

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7 hours ago, PaulTWinterton said:

Side note:  Before you put your car away for the winter, clean under the radiator, inside the nose clip.  If you drive AT ALL, dirt could collect there from other drivers' rear wheels kicking up debris into your grill.

 

If the dirt etc. doesn't drain out it sits there forever.  When you wash your car it adds more moisture to keep the dirt wet.  We've seen the result of this in the rusted-out nose clips.  Right?

 

I've had some small rocks, a couple of bolts and washers blocking the drain holes.

I enlarged the drain holes on the back side of the seam where the nose sheet metal joins the radiator support.  As Paul pointed out, those holes are easily blocked by a single piece of gravel that is small enough to pass through the grille, but too large to pass through the existing drain holes.  A few minutes work with a Dremel cutting wheel--and then some anti-rust paint on the newly cut edges--will allow large chunks to fall out.  I've seen '02s with dirt two inches deep in that trough behind the grilles.

 

mike

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'69 Nevada sunroof-Wolfgang-bought new
'73 Sahara sunroof-Ludwig-since '78
'91 Brillantrot 318is sunroof-Georg Friederich 
Fiat Topolini (Benito & Luigi), Renault 4CVs (Anatole, Lucky Pierre, Brigette) & Kermit, the Bugeye Sprite

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  • 2 weeks later...

If I can taste the salt in my nostrils, even on a dry winter day… there's salt on the roads and the F Bomb stays parked in my non-salted gravel driveway. 

 

Hopefully I'll score a small, affordable garage rental in the next couple weeks. 

 

Remember… if you're cold….THEY'RE cold.

 

Keep 'em off the roads til you KNOW the salt is gone.

IMG_7354.JPG

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Paul Wegweiser

Wegweiser Classic BMW Services

Nationwide vehicle transport available

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In upstate New York, I  wait until the end of April-beginning of May, and sometimes by then there is still some residual salt on the roads.  Wait until you are sure!  The salt is out there even if you don't see it (or smell it!).

1970 Granada 1600 "The 16",  2000 528i Siena Red "The 5",  1968 Mustang 289 Muscle Car Blue, 

1999 318ti M Package Green,  1982 633CSi 5 speed Blue,  2011 550i M Package Black (6 speed manual)

 

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9 hours ago, PaulTWinterton said:

You're killin' me!  I'm going to hazard a guess...Kaneohe Bay, near Mokolii Island, Oahu.  Probably wrong but that's where my daydream goes.

 

Nope lunch and a few "big boys" at Mama Fish house in Paia on Maui's north shore......but my trip draws to a close soon. Good news I pick up my car from the upholsters when I get back, hopefully I can avoid a trailer.

 

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