Mineral Deposits from Hell

Angus

Angus

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So a good friend of mine bought an 08 Jeep Wrangler from one of those auto auction sites for a song... I'm not entirely sure how it looked in the pictures he saw before buying it, but this is what I saw last night:

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My guess is it sat for months under a leaking pipe in a parking garage. I did a search through AGO but couldn't find anything that came close to what I'm going to be dealing with. Has anyone dealt with mineral depots this bad before? And if so how did you approach it?

Carpro Spotless is the first thing that came to mind, but considering the sheer amount of buildup is that the most economical option? I've read about people using distilled white vinegar at 1:1 to dissolve the calcium/lime buildup. However the lack of lubrication gives me pause. Would adding an once of ONR to the vinegar solution help or hinder?

I should also mention there are deposit all over the tonneau cover as well.

Any recommendations are appreciated!
 
A power washer immediately comes to mind..........:eek:

The Jeep looks like it was left in a cave for years and discovered during an archeological did! You can't really do much more damage so I would power wash it then soak the paint in Lime Away..

I'd love to see this thread continued as the restoration process continues...:props:
 
:xyxthumbs:Thanks, Bobby G! I'll add Lime Away to my test spots.
 
What type water spots are they?

If it was me, I'd get a 2 gallon jug of vinegar and soak a bunch of MF towels in it. Then, I'd lay them on the deposits drippy wet in a cool area and let them soak for a while - but not dry.

If your getting results - repeat. But I would also pressure wash it first. I wouldn't worry too much about "being gentle" - as that vehicle will likely require heavy machine polishing after if the finish is salvageable.

Reminds me of stalagmites.
 
Angus said:
...
Carpro Spotless is the first thing that came to mind...
Click to expand...

That would also be my first bet: I have bought and used it and it is quite remarkable. But the total area and thickness of the deposits is of concern, for sure.

BobbyG said:
A power washer immediately comes to mind..........:eek:
...
Click to expand...

Yep!

BobbyG said:
...
then soak the paint in Lime Away..
...
Click to expand...

That product has Sulfamic Acid: I would be careful since it can severely damage paint and metal. But, then again, it probably won't do much more harm... :dblthumb2:
 
This is gonna take a while to correct. The amount of money that you will be putting in getting the vehicle corrected could be better served on a complete strip of paint and prime with a repaint.

i personally would power wash, clr(lime away) and then see what happens.

Ed
 
You might actually want to give Larry a call. He actually has a product he is developing for exactly this problem. Check out his video here.
 
Had good luck in removing mineral deposits that dripped from a parking garage onto my DIL's black Toyota with CLR, (calcium, lime, rust).
Looks like CLR is similar to Lime Away.

That poor jeep is gonna need a few techniques and products. More than just a weekend project, lol.
 
I wonder, if the Jeep's mechanically sound:
Will the amount of money the owner saved, by getting it for a song, be enough towards affording a decent re-spray.

I'm afraid that once you would get rid of all of these highly-alkaline, hellacious mineral deposits...the underlying paint will be burnt toast.

Bob
 
FUNX725 said:
I'm afraid that once you would get rid of all of these highly-alkaline, hellacious mineral deposits...the underlying paint will be burnt toast.

Bob
Click to expand...

Hope Angus keeps us updated as to the progress on this Jeep.
 
I have got to be enlightened as to exactly how much did your friend shell-out for this song? It will be interesting/fascinating as to what the surface appearance will be in the event you are successful. I suspect it destroyed the finish but will look forward to being wrong in this case.

Could one wet-sand it down prior to trying all the acids to expedite and perhaps more safety attempt to fix this mess? Citric Acid is cheap and might work as well.
 
Optntdr13 said:
Citric Acid is cheap and might work as well.
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That's one of the ingredients in Meguiar's M47.

I've used M47 to remove calcium and other mineral deposits...But to date:
Never on anything even comparable to these
"mineral deposits from Hell"!!

Bob
 
First off, thanks everyone for all of your suggestions and interest in this project. I was tied up yesterday with yard work and never made it over to my buddy's place. However, he did try using vinegar to remove the mineral deposits and sent me this photo of the results:



I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it. Now keep in mind I haven't seen the jeep in person yet so I can't report on the overall condition of the paint nor have I spoken to him at length on how exactly he used the vinegar to remove the build up. But wow, how drastically different is that photo?

Here's the before to compare it against:



The heaviest areas of mineral build up are still present on the hood and Drivers side fender, so the real test will be to remove those. But like most of you have said, and I completely agree, inflicting more harm to the paint isn't something to be worried about!

I'll post an update w/ clear photos as soon as I have the full story/ inspect the jeep in person.
 
Looks like he did pretty good with it, not as good on the vertical surfaces, perhaps you need to teach him the trick of soaking a towel on those surfaces. Anyway, looks like a fantastic result so far, looking forward to the rest of the story about how it cleans up after polishing.

Bet the auction guys are sorry they didn't try a bottle of vinegar first.
 
Flatlander said:
You might actually want to give Larry a call. He actually has a product he is developing for exactly this problem. Check out his video here.
Click to expand...

Larry's video was the first thing that popped to mind when I saw the Jeep. If the jeep was still in the same condition I would have given Larry a holler to see where his new product was in the testing phase.
 
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