# 1993 Corrado - Yellow wax in engine bay. Nothing shifts it.



## EnthusiastOwned (Aug 17, 2011)

I'm trying to give my Corrado engine bay a good clean and polish whilst removing 20 years of dirt and grime.

I'm really struggling removing the original yellow protective wax which came on the car from the factory - Cosmoline or some derivative I believe.


























I've done 90% of the bay so far and my technique was: Boiling water / heat gun to remove the large deposits of wax, then I used engine degreaser / white spirit, then IPA solution, all with a lot of old rags and a lot of elbow grease.










BUT! For the life if me, I can't remove this stuff on the near side turret.










It's rock hard, harder than the paint underneath it and all the other wax I've encountered. The other turret was similar, but no way near as hard or as thick; white spirit and a scrub removed that side no problem.

I've tried loads of things already:

Brake cleaner, injector/carb cleaner, hyper clean engine degreaser, WD40, GT85, AG machine cleaner, AG engine degreaser. Gunk, AG tar remover, various grades of polish and car shampoo, citrus cleaner, G101 APC cleaner, wheel cleaners (including pure bilberry), white spirits, methylated spirits, heat gun, boiling water, plastic and metal scrapers, stanley blade, detergent, petrol, diesel, glass cleaner, glass polish, IPA solution, pure IPA, brake fluid, adhesive remover, pure acetone and paint stripper.

Out of all those the only things to have any effect what so ever were:

Heat gun - Literally having to heat the panel until it's physically smoking and the wax under the arch is dripping. Plus it only softens it ever so slightly. I'll set my car on fire before this works. (The rest of the wax on the car melted with about 5 seconds and didn;t really get that hot)

Metal scraper / flat-head screwdriver / Stanley blade - This works but it's ruining the paintwork underneath.

Acetone - It's melting the wax; slowly. I'll have to use a lot of the stuff and soak it for some time before I get results. Is it safe to use on paint? I can't see any adverse effects other than clouding (which polishes out). But it's scaring the crap out of me using it and I have only been using it sparingly so far and it's taking some time and causing scratches on the paint as it's not fully melting.

Paint Thinners - As above, it's like acetone and slowly melting the wax, I only left it on about 30 seconds as I dare not use this because it will melt the paint.

I'm actually wondering whether this stuff is the protective wax I've encountered elsewhere or whether it's a reminiscence of an old adhesive? Maybe something like what held the bonnet insulation on and its melted, dripped down and re-set super strong - because I had the exact same stuff on my inlet manifold too.

Any advice is welcome.


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## MK1Campaign (Mar 27, 2007)

I'd have thought Tardis would deal with that?


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## EnthusiastOwned (Aug 17, 2011)

MK1Campaign said:


> I'd have thought Tardis would deal with that?


I have thought about that, but I'm unsure it'll work. Isn't Tardis basically white spirit with some other things thrown in?

At £20+ for a 5ltr bottle, it's an expensive try. I know you can buy it from eBay in smaller units but i don't trust eBay for things like this.


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## corradophil (Oct 31, 2011)

I'm watching this... I plan to do the same on my Green Corrado


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## EnthusiastOwned (Aug 17, 2011)

corradophil said:


> I'm watching this... I plan to do the same on my Green Corrado


Well, I managed to get it off, well, to a stage I'm happy with.

I used cellulose thinner. :doublesho

I tested a small area first to make sure it was safe enough then just liberally applied it. It softens the wax just enough so it can be scrubbed away; it doesn't melt it, literally softens the bond with the paint. You have to use loads of the stuff because it evaporates quickly and work in small area's at a time, plus you have to really scrub it to remove it. It caused a few scuffs due to the constant rubbing and build up of the wax; it's dulled the lacquer but nothing a really good polish can't fix - plus, even before a polish it looks miles better so I'm happy.

You have to be careful though as some parts of the bay is obviously un-lacquered, such as where the sealant lines are (where the turret joins the chassis for example) and also in the nooks and crannies (behind the turrets etc). The thinner just removes the paint there very quickly, luckily I've only gone through in area's where a touch up will be more or less invisible, to be honest; it's more or less inevitable and I thought the outcome would be much worse.

Here is where I am so far:









Weather permitting I will be touching up, polishing, glazing and waxing the bay so I'll show some finished results then.


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## corradophil (Oct 31, 2011)

Hmmm, cellulose thinners - clearly a last resort. Looks like this going to be a long job.


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## Mikeloon (May 5, 2013)

*Bay*

I feel your pain, my polo engine bay was covered in the stuff but I managed to get it off with AG tar remover and some scrubbing.


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