Is it just me, or do cars have the dirtiest dirt?

In my many years of turning wrenches I've worked on motorcycles, Ag equipment, construction equipment, stationary industrial machinery, forklifts and of course cars & trucks. All machines seem to have thier own special kinds of filth that they attract, but what is it about the dirt on cars that makes it so extreamly hard to wash off?

I've spent most of the weekend replacing a worn out clutch in my wifes SAAB 9000, and I am so grimey that I look and feel like I just climbed out of a tar pit. I work on forklifts for a living, and wouldn't get that dirty even if I didn't shower for a week! I usualy wear cover-alls to work on cars, but that wouldn't have been a good idea with todays heat and humididty (got to love that Philly air quality, I'm not sure its even actually all air). So today I was in long pants and a T-shirt, but by the time I made it to the shower I looked like I had been working topless. It took every washing trick in the book to get that grime off, Go-Jo, lava soap, simple green, regular soap and a lava stone & a stiff brisltle brush, next time I might just try wet sanding my-self with a orbital sander instead.

Its been my experience that even cars that look pretty clean can be harboring large amounts of the dirt that tries to bond to human flesh at the first chance it gets. No real point to this, I'm just ranting, I'm done now

Have you ever replaced a blown out muffler on a diesel Bobcat loader? My god, the soot. I've still crud lamentated in my finger prints.

My theory is that there are tons of sticky, gooey, things in an automobile: trans fluid, oil, coolant, brake fluid, not to mention dirt and road grunge that finds it's way into any and every nook and cranny and is then baked to perfection. It's a special kind of science project, really.

The only think I can think of is that most of the other machines you mention are maintained a lot better than the average automobile. Even something that works as hard as a forklift or an agricultural machine costs somebody money if it's not working, right? And people just keep riding their cars until they stop?

The only thing as dirty under the hood as my cars (yeah, I'm guilty too..) is the lawn mower. And the oil in that thing's so dirty I should prostrate myself before a statue of Nick Otto, begging forgiveness.

All that grunge preserved the frame on my 94 F-150. It was originally driven in Vermont. Up there they have "mud season" as the name implies, it can get a little mucky, but the caked on mud dried out and prevented the frame from rotting. I had to replace the gas tanks this spring, so I pulled the bed off. To my suprise, after powerwashing the frame, I found it to be in beautiful shape. After cleaning, I put a few coats of undercoating on. Should be good for another 15 years

^^+1 in the "thank you sticky crap under my vehicle" category. My 95 corolla had some rust developing under the door sills and a few bubbles of midwest car cancer developing in the rear fenders near the doors. Cincinnati loves their road salt in the winter, so I expected that if my doors and fenders were disintegrating, the floorboards were surely goners. Underneath the beast, there was sticky spray on soundproofing covered in the most heinous road filth imaginable. I am pretty sure that was the saving grace for the underbody of that car. The floor outlived the fuel lines and tank...they rotted away to rustworm before the floor ever did. Thanks road sludge from hell

I bought a $400 71' Chevelle that owed its life to an oil leak too. It had lived its entire life in philly and should have rusted away years ago but an abundance of oil leaks covered the underside of the car and kept it from rusting quite well.

My '82 Chevy van has had a chronic power steering leak that has coated the front suspension and frame with a thin film of fluid.There is a thick coat of red clay/mud on there as well. I got under there and started scraping and spraying it off, and it turns out the original paint is still pristine!

When I changed the tranny fluid on my miata, I was stuck under the car minimizing the spills and the lady friend was up top pouring slowly. I used the opportunity to undercoat the bottom of the car with the grimy ass old tranny fluid. Being a bit more viscous than regular motor oil the stuff is still there 10K miles later. Hopefully it works as well as Vermont mud.

I did have to deal with one type of machinery that had worse dirt than cars - industrial metal cutting lasers. They give off a finely powdered rust while cutting steel. The "laser dust" is like solid smoke. While it's easy to wash off your hands, it gets in your clothing and your hair and keeps falling off on everything.

The worst I've ever experienced (I'm a mechanic, worked on fork trucks, big diesel engines and robots) and the worst I've ever experience is working on go-carts at the local put-put. The carbon black in the tires get's on everything and the only way to get it off is to bath in acid or 80-grit sandpaper. I had black fingers for months after I quit.

Yeah the clutch is done! And I managed not to get all that dirty today, probably because there wasn't that much crud left today, as I got it all yesterday. The hydrualic clutch bled out in only a few tries, which is a rarity for SAAB 9ks. Sadly the reverse gear still grinds a bit when engaging

I forgot to mention in the OP that this SOB also cut my finger on the very first bolt that I removed to start the job! I wrench for a living so my flesh is pretty tough. Not only did it get me deep enough to bleed, but it was an acid encrusted battery tray bolt, and it burnt me too.

HappyAndy wrote: Yeah the clutch is done! And I managed not to get all that dirty today, probably because there wasn't that much crud left today, as I got it all yesterday. The hydrualic clutch bled out in only a few tries, which is a rarity for SAAB 9ks. Sadly the reverse gear still grinds a bit when engaging

Redline MT-90. Tranny rebuild in a bottle.

HappyAndy wrote: I forgot to mention in the OP that this SOB also cut my finger on the very first bolt that I removed to start the job! I wrench for a living so my flesh is pretty tough. Not only did it get me deep enough to bleed, but it was an acid encrusted battery tray bolt, and it burnt me too.

"Chicks dig scars..."?

Seriously, my girl is only into this whole gearhead thing about half-way. Since she's not working on things herself yet, any sign of blood when I've been working on her %^&$%^#$% Bravada earns me `brownie points'.

I know your pain. I spent the weekend stripping my '85 900SPG. Good riddance to that leaky pile of rust.