white stuff on hood/hard top clips

suburban_ennui · Post by **suburban_ennui** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:37 am

hi there. Sorry ... another freshie question. My own MX5, and quite a few of the cars I looked at before I bought mine, had spots of this white stuff on it. I kinda looks like some sort of calcium buildup, but I'm really not sure, and don't want to attack it with any chemicals before I know what it is. Any ideas/suggestions on what it is, and how to get it off?

Shermio · Post by **Shermio** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 8:53 pm

It's kind of hard without a photo of some sort, could it be oxidation? The best thing to do in anycase is to go from mild to hard, i.e soap and water, then work up from there...

spotz · Post by **spotz** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:06 pm

Whereabouts on the car was it?

Dez · Post by **Dez** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:55 pm

I believe it is corrosion of the alloy coming thru whatever paint/anodising or coating (chrome?) that is there.A fact of life in the atmospheres we humans have created for ourselves, plus a lack of routine maintenance by the previous owners of our vehicles. Not sure of the appropriate treatment to fix it, short of a complete strip, polish & recoating. A bit extreme if it's just a mild case.

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poison · Post by **poison** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 10:41 pm

"white stuff on my hard top...." I shudder to think!

Anyway, if it's the soft top try Mothers Convertable Top Cleaner to get the top clean - you may need to give it a couple of goes if realy dirty. Then use Mothers
Preserves Protectant, F#@&ing ([email]F#@&ing[/email]) incredible. Makes a faded old roof look new, and lasts too.

A little pricey but can be found at Supercheap.

Gazza

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Post by **zorruno** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 12:08 pm

poison said on 09/12/2006 10:45 PM:

"white stuff on my hard top...." I shudder to think!

Anyway, if it's the soft top...

As per the subject, it is the clips... not the top that suburban_ennui
is referring to. Definately corrosion coming through the (presumably
black anodised) metal. I have the same on my hard top clips & have seen
it on many others. The chrome ones do it too, but it tends to just
manifest with the chrome falling off.

Maybe ask a metal specialist? There is likely a chemical that will
remove it, like the paint-on rust removers, then you can touch it up
with black paint.

Other option may be to just polish them completely...

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