couple ?'s
 

well im a newbie, and i just recently started tearing into my 68 shortbed. this well be my first restore/ build/ put back together, whichever you may call it

its got (what im sure to be) clay, and oil from the transmission, caked on the transmission itself, some on the firewall, and clay lodged in the inner frame rails....... whats some of the best methods to remove it??? i was thinking taking it to the local car wash ( i dont have a pressure washer) that 40 some odd year old clay is "Cemented" to the underside of the cab and bed also, i have been using a puddy knife to scrape it off, but some of it doesnt wanna budge.

I have the bed off the frame, and am getting ready to pull the cab (this truck was started to be restored by PO but stopped, so nothing is really hooked up), their is no motor in it. Is it alright to lay it on its backside? im sorta leery to do that cause i dont want anything to happen to the back panel, is it gonna hurt it to do that????????

any additional info will be Greatly Appreciated, thanks to anyone!!!!!

Re: couple ?'s
 

Well its probably grease oil and dirt built up over the years not clay. gat the cab off and start scraping with a puddy knife, then use some degreaser, its messy work.

don't lay the cab on its back. do a search on "cab dolly" and you'll probably find some ideas.

Re: couple ?'s
 

I'm with the scaping method also. Then I went to my local dollar store and bought oven cleaner. Sprayed that on the oily and greasy spots let it sit for a half hour 40 min then sprayed it off. Worked great for me. Word of warning it will take paint off and wear protective gloves, eyewear, and don't breath the stuff in.

Re: couple ?'s
 

putty knives are great also a butter knife will get into smaller spaces// i've run into petrifed crap that is so solid that a chipping hammer was a great first step

Re: couple ?'s
 

You may want to figure up how much $ and time you have in cleaners and degreaser. Then consider a pressure washer. Lowe's has the fairly cheap around 250-300 and you will find that you will get a ton of use out of it.


PT

Re: couple ?'s
 

As far as laying the cab on it`s backside, I would not do it. Not that the back of the cab isn`t strong enough but, when you are rolling it on it`s back, you will probably screw up your cab corners.. They are relatively flimsy and will not take the weight.

That being said, you should be OK to roll it on it`s nose. I wouldn`t roll it right over but it`s no problem whatsoever to flip it onto the angled portion on the bottom. It is a plenty strong and is actually shaped and re-enforced in the right places so it rolls forward quite easily.

Re: couple ?'s
 

And just to clarify,If you use the oven cleaner get the dollar store stuff.It's cheaper and does at least as good a job if not better.A wire brush and/or a grinder with one can be helpful also.Make sure it's dry after the other methods so you don't 'lectrufi yourself.

Re: couple ?'s
 

Has spring sprung yet there?

My experience with clay is you need to soak it and keep it wet to soften it. I have had some luck with putting a water sprinkler under a vehicle and letting it run slowly. On for 30 mins at a time. Eventually it starts to fall out or at least you have work it.

Best of luck.

Re: couple ?'s
 

thank you all so much, that is all valuable information..

i have been using Simple Green on some stuff, and it seems to work ok, i will defenitely have to try the Oven Cleaner, and as for it being messy, yes it already seems to be and i havent even got into it as much as i should.

And i have found out that the back part of the cab corners are flimsy :-( as i pushed my cab back against my tires, it folded one of them right in, Luckily i have new ones, as they need to be replaced anyway.

As for Spring being sprung here yet................... i thought it had about 4 days ago when it rained about an inch, melted most of the snow and thursday it was about 55 degrees, well that was just a teaser, ( which those seem to be a trend here ) i went to chicago yesterday, only to come back to about 2 inches of snow, now it has warmed back up, haha Darn this state!!!!!! i like the snow, but its been here to long!!!