Still more details…
My truck is oozing. Yes, I’ts pooping foam out the back. You may recall I used the canned foam in a few small areas in the ceiling where I couldn’t get access to put in the R-max. That may have been a bad idea. It’s over two weeks later and the foam is still liquid inside there and trying to find a way out. It pushed its way out of a few tiny seams in the outer metal shell on the back of the box, above the rear doors. Once the foam gets out it hardens and can be easily removed, but then it starts oozing again. I figure that eventually it will dry out in there but it may take weeks or even months. For now I am just going to live with a few growths on the back of my truck. Scraping them off sometimes takes the paint with it, so I might as well let it finish before messing with it again.
Oh, and here’s another odd end… About a year ago when I first got the truck, I got tagged in my driveway. A plain white truck just sitting there was too much temptation for the local idiots I guess. Fortunately the FRP (Fiberglass Reinforced Plywood) is pretty much immune to any normal solvents, so I was able to clean it off with lacquer thinner and some paper towels. The painted metal areas of the box (of which there aren’t much) were not so easy as the lacquer thinner attacks the truck paint. Mind you, I am not talking about the automotive paint that is used on the cab. It seems to be made of sterner stuff. The white paint on the metal parts of the box is more like rattle can paint, while the paint on the cab is catalyzed automotive paint with a clear cote, entirely different.
I decided to protect my truck and I read somewhere on this forum that floor wax works well. (I think it was in a post by Geofkey.) I went to the hardware store, K-mart, etc. looking for floor wax, but it seems like no one sells it any more. I assume you can still get it from an industrial supply or similar, but I didn’t want 5 gallons of it or anything.
I did find a floor “Sealer Wax” and reading the label It appears to be more of an acrylic than a wax. The stuff I used is called TREWAX Gold Label Sealer Wax and I got it at the local hardware store.
I will tell you right now that it doesn’t work as a spray paint barrier (I tested it). The spray paint sticks to it well enough, and it is just as hard to remove the spray paint with lacquer thinner from atop the sealant as it was from the FRP itself, harder actually because the lacquer thinner dissolves the sealant as well and loads up the paper towel. I would mention it no more, except that it seems to make the perfect no buff car wax.
Now I am not suggesting that you put this stuff on your prized show car, but hear me out. I put it on my beater car and my truck a year ago and it is still there and still shiny. It makes everything shiny, even the flat black bumper on the back of my truck, rubber hoses, plastic, etc. Dull oxidized aluminum looks nice and shiny with just the wipe of a sponge. Basically, if you don’t want it shiny, then don’t put this stuff on it.
It is super easy to apply. Just wash the car really well. It had better be clean because any dirt or smudges will be sealed in. Apply the stuff with a damp sponge. One wipe on and you are done. I used one of those sponges with a micro-fiber cover, also from the hardware store. It’s more like painting with a water based clear cote than waxing. It self levels nicely, goes on crystal clear and doesn’t yellow over time. That’s why I waited a year to tell you this. I wanted to make sure nothing ugly was going to happen.
I put it on my 92 Geo Storm that has some peeling clear cote on the fenders. (Don’t even get me started about the idiot mechanics who put it under a lift with another car leaking break fluid.) It sealed down the clear cote edges and made them almost disappear. Once the edges were sealed it stopped further peeling, which was only getting worse. It’s still a beater car, but now I can at least wash it and get it clean.
Use it or not at your own risk. I have no idea whether it provides any kind of a UV shield to protect the paint in that way. I also don’t know how to safely remove it. Lacquer thinner works, but I wouldn’t call that safe removal from a car finish. For my purposes it is the perfect car wax though. Easy to apply and looks great. For things with less than perfect paint to begin with, I think its ideal, and not even expensive.
To be continued…
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