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brake dust on paint work... help

danlittler

danlittler

Messages
19
Hey,

I recently changed my front pads and disks on my ep3.... it has been horrific weather up in Aberdeen with loads of salt on the roads. All down the passenger wing of the car looked orange, which i thought was just salt... however its rusted brake dust/metal from where the pad wore into the disk.
I have tried to soak it in water and then petrol, but this didn't work. Does anyone know what i can use to take off the brake dust/metal from the wing of my car without scratching it?

Thanks
Dan
 
thanks for the advice lads but don't think a clay bar is going to cut it. This is literally like iron fillings stuck onto the wing of my car. My worry is that if i brush them off its going to score my paint work....
Might just have to man up and do it, then use the clay bar...
 
i have seen the dust on Dan's car. it's not like the odd spec here and there....it is a thick rusty orange coat of red hot filings that have cooled onto the paintwork and stuck themselves on. you can even see the cosmic grey along the side of the car. if you tried to brush your finger in it, you wouldnt be able to remove any of the filings. they are stuck on that hard, i couldnt even pick them off with my nail.... !!

Simply rubbing with a clay bar wont get this off. And even if he tried it, he would need about 30 clay bars to cover it all. it's half the front wing, the whole bottom half of the door (side skirt is the thickest part) and onto the front half of the back wing.

Dan, i reckon you should seek advice from a professional car cleaner/detailer. i wouldnt want to be using any rubbing motion to get that stuff off because the gritty texture will wreck your paint. hopefully there is some sort of reagent that a detailer could advise you to use and you can put it on and soak it in to try and break down the grit. otherwise.... you're up the creek.
 
Best thing to use mate is car pro 'iron x'. It was initially designed for removing break dust from wheels, but is safe on your paintwork. It's a clear liquid that you spray on and when it comes into contact with metal contaminants, it turns purple and 'bleeds', to show you visually where the deposits are. I'll have a look on my photobucket for some pics in a minute....

Claying will remove them also, but you risk scratching your paint with the metal particles.

My process after washing for my details are iron x (how ever many hits the vehicle requires until it doesn't 'bleed any more) thorough rinse down with a pressure washer (until you don't see any bleeding) and then clay to remove anything else that is on the paint like tree sap and none metal fallout.... Hope that helps.

Removing brake dust on wheels...

DSC01489.jpg


On paintwork (and this was a clean car)

DSC01447.jpg
 
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