How to clean the door hinge area, or, for those afflicted with lowmania / captruffitis

[Jlaa]

Hi gang,

So captruff c̶o̶n̶n̶e̶d̶ convinced me to bring my car to Monterey for the Legends of the Autobahn. In my years of being nuts about cars, I have never shown my cars, anywhere. I'm more of a "drive it and shine it up in the garage" kind of guy.

Also, a̶l̶l̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶e̶o̶p̶l̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶b̶s̶o̶l̶u̶t̶e̶l̶y̶ ̶%̶$̶#̶@̶%̶$̶#̶@̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶c̶r̶a̶z̶y̶ ̶O̶C̶D̶.̶ This will be my first time to any of the activities at car week in Monterey (yes such a shame, I have lived so close for 20 years and have never attended.)

Now I'm feeling anxious. I figure I need to probably at a minimum look like I made some effort to clean the car.


What's the best way to clean this area without washing away all the grease inside the hinge? I used about 50 q-tips but they aren't long/small enough --- and they seem to just push the schmaltz around --- I think I need to use a toothbrush --- but unsure about the cleaning solution?

Thanks.

 

[ace10]

I know absolutely nothing about keeping cars clean at anything approaching the level you are considering, but I have seen firm/pointy qtips in my wife's arsenal. They're for fingernails or some such thing.

I would think they could dig into crevasses better than a normal qtip and not fling crud around like a toothbrush.

Coupled with a mild cleaner, perhaps

 

[captruff]

I use a lot of q tips and a set microfiber towel in these areas! What is a lot of q tips? As many as necessary.

It looks pretty clean to me in the pictures.

Jeff

 

[Jlaa]

I use a lot of q tips and a set microfiber towel in these areas! What is a lot of q tips? As many as necessary.
Jeff

Hahahahaha. I have a box of 1000. I love Costco!

 

[JC220]

Detailing brushes are very good for getting right into areas like that. I would get a small hand spray bottle of hot water and TFR detergent (or similar) and use the brush + lots of spray to get it clean. Then towel dry it out after and apply some clear light oil to the hinge pins. I like to use high quality bicycle chain oil as it clings on very well.

Once you start using detailing brushes you'll be amazed how good they are!

Edit- Here is a great video on the subject. It shows how to use the detailing brushes. (I could watch this guys videos all day - how did my life get like this?? )

[video=youtube_share;1qRi4bT_t3Q]https://youtu.be/1qRi4bT_t3Q[/video]

 

[a777fan]

Joe beat me to it. Those round dense bristle detailing brushes are amazing for getting junk out of things. If you want those hinges all sparkly, don’t worry about removing grease out of the hinge area. Just be sure to apply a new coat once you’re all done!

Best of luck at the show. Looking forward to a full report afterward!


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[RicardoD]

You are going to lose so hard with dirt like that in your hinges!

 

[Jlaa]

You are going to lose so hard with dirt like that in your hinges!

I don't think it actually possible to "compete" with captruff or 600Eric. I'd be happy if they let me park nearby.

 

[lowman]

+1 to all of the above
Me personally...i prefer microfibre cloth towels..and same type of soap like when washing the car..i basically wash the area in the picture.But i do keep it regularly clean..so it never gets massivly dirty..so all it takes is water,,and microfibre cloth...afterwards i do polish it. Makes it easier to clean next time .
By the way...lovin the new door lock eyes.
EDIT:by the way ..your car looks fantastic

 

[captruff]

I don't think it actually possible to "compete" with captruff or 600Eric. I'd be happy if they let me park nearby.

Your 500E will be in Class 6. Eric has his cars in Class 7 and I have a car in Class 8 so you are not in direct competition with our cars, however, if each of us win Best of Class, then I suppose we are in competition for Best of Marque for Mercedes. That, however is a big "IF"

Jeff

 

[600Eric]

I use a lot of q tips and a set microfiber towel in these areas! What is a lot of q tips? As many as necessary.

It looks pretty clean to me in the pictures.

Jeff

I agree with captruff, looks pretty good already but if by chance you have access to it I really like using compressed air to get into tight spots like those. Works great for loose dust and debris.

Also for stubborn dirt and grime I will spray those areas with a quick detailer type product and then use one of my various cheap nylon or ABS plastic wedges wrapped with a microfiber and carefully scrub and dry them (think of them like extensions of your hands and fingers).

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[Jlaa]

Your 500E will be in Class 6. Eric has his cars in Class 7 and I have a car in Class 8 so you are not in direct competition with our cars, however, if each of us win Best of Class, then I suppose we are in competition for Best of Marque for Mercedes. That, however is a big "IF"

Jeff

Love it. Translation- “We don’t ‘compete’ with the plebes ...”

 

[gsxr]

I'd be half tempted to bring my beater W210 after not washing it for months (040 black, in farmland), just to see how many people would faint at the sight of it. Maybe stop by the local fast-food joint to pick up some burger wrappers & fry containers to strategically place around the interior. LOL.

Jlaa, I think your door jamb is cleaner than some of my entire cars. There may not be enough Q-tips in the world to rescue my fleet...

 

[Jlaa]

Also for stubborn dirt and grime I will spray those areas with a quick detailer type product and then use one of my various cheap nylon or ABS plastic wedges wrapped with a microfiber and carefully scrub and dry them (think of them like extensions of your hands and fingers).

Ohhhhhh good tip. That worked great!

By the way...lovin the new door lock eyes.

Hah, well OCD types like you will notice that I changed only the front door striker plates, 'cos those are the new style ---- and the rear doors retain the old (and slightly corroded) old style striker plates.

I'd be half tempted to bring my beater W210 after not washing it for months (040 black, in farmland), just to see how many people would faint at the sight of it. Maybe stop by the local fast-food joint to pick up some burger wrappers & fry containers to strategically place around the interior. LOL.

Jlaa, I think your door jamb is cleaner than some of my entire cars. There may not be enough Q-tips in the world to rescue my fleet...

Hah! You should. I am familiar with anti-OCD. However I live in NorCal which means gobs and gobs of idiotic Uber/Lyft drivers. Also, I live in a city, which means lots of parking by braille. So I have a beater car for that.

Well, finally, I am finished wasting away precious hours of my life on a Sunday afternoon cleaning door jambs. And listening to the Outside Lands Music Festival. My whole neighborhood hears the concert --- playing in Golden Gate Park right now.





Official Beater Car of NorCal Below:


This cleaning process gave me time to appreciate some finer details of MB design of the period. A Pontiac Bonneville SSE of similar vintage would not have had these rubber strips installed.


Curiously, my MB sticker has a bubble in it. I don't know if the 129 part number means it was a replacement or not...

 

[a777fan]

A Pontiac Bonneville SSE of similar vintage would not have had these rubber strips installed.

Ah. But lest we forget the SSEi !!!

[emoji23]

Lookin great! Clean details like inner door jams really make the car ‘pop’!

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[maw1124]

It’s amazing how much traffic this thread picked up in 9hours. I’m late to the party, PGA Championship, Tiger Woods and all that. My recipe, brake clean and power wash. After that, motor oil applied by toothbrush to the hinges. My cars tend to stay clean except for these hinges, so I like the coin washes — some quarters and some exercise, brake clean and spray wax. Anything heavier is left for semi-annual professionals.

GL to all at the show.

Cheers,

maw

 

[Jlaa]

Thanks! FWIW, I got scared off of brake cleaner (even the lite-California-stuff) last year when brake cleaner took the printed info right off of my EZL when I was cleaning it...

 

[Jlaa]

Ah. But lest we forget the SSEi !!!

[emoji23]

Hey, the SSE was a cool car! My folks had one in the late 80s and I got the opportunity to drive it once in a while as a teenager. It was fantastically 80s (mit colored coded wheels!) and there weren't enough buttons in all the world to fill the dashboard. I remember it had a lot of plastic doodad aero accoutrements (hence my association with the Sacco-panels) but truly, the w124 and the PBSSE shall never be confused. The last I ever saw of the SSE was when it ferried me to start my undergrad career (more precisely, my struggle to avoid getting weeded out of engineering school)

Anyways, this was the generation before the SSEi. The SSEi came later when Pontiac kept coming up with more trim levels and it started getting absurd with the "i".

 

[a777fan]

Hey, the SSE was a cool car! My folks had one in the late 80s and I got the opportunity to drive it once in a while as a teenager. It was fantastically 80s (mit colored coded wheels!) and there weren't enough buttons in all the world to fill the dashboard. I remember it had a lot of plastic doodad aero accoutrements (hence my association with the Sacco-panels) but truly, the w124 and the PBSSE shall never be confused. The last I ever saw of the SSE was when it ferried me to start my undergrad career (more precisely, my struggle to avoid getting weeded out of engineering school)

Anyways, this was the generation before the SSEi. The SSEi came later when Pontiac kept coming up with more trim levels and it started getting absurd with the "i".

Awe yeah! I had a friend in High School whose parents had one of these in a burgundy metallic. such a big car! If i remember correctly, the trunk mounted 'spoiler' was paired with an integral luggage rack, but I may be mistaken on that one. Those were the days!

 

[gerryvz]

Geez that’s a lot of Schmutz! Dunno if it’s worthy to be within 100 yards of captruff & 600Eric’s cars...?!?

 

[nocfn]

Im just ashamed that those dirty sills made it on this quality forum. Sheesh! There should have been a vomit warning or mature audience only disclaimer.

 

[600Eric]

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[nocfn]

It’s amazing how much traffic this thread picked up in 9hours. I’m late to the party, PGA Championship, Tiger Woods and all that. My recipe, brake clean and power wash. After that, motor oil applied by toothbrush to the hinges. My cars tend to stay clean except for these hinges, so I like the coin washes — some quarters and some exercise, brake clean and spray wax. Anything heavier is left for semi-annual professionals.

GL to all at the show.

Cheers,

maw

MAW were you in St Louis? I was....