Pressure washing - yay or nay?

[chrisd87]

This winter I've been using a pressure washer to clean Maggie. Initially because the hosepipe I normally use was frozen solid, but having seen the amount of muck it gets off the underside after only a fortnight, I thought it might be a good idea to use it regularly (on the underside only). Obviously it should help to get rid of winter salt and bits of mud, but I'm just a bit worried that it might also help to get water into places where it shouldn't be or can't drain out of.

Do other Minor owners use pressure washers on their cars? Is it a good idea at this time of the year or will it do more harm than good?

[bmcecosse]

I think you are extremely 'brave' taking your Minor out on salty roads........... Wash off all you can - but the salt WILL get it !

[moggyadventurer]

Hi

Pressure washing is a good idea, but I tend to do it twice a year, usually September and March. Before and after the salt on the roads. Be cautious you don't blow off any underseal if applied (waxoyl will be washed off guarantee). Once the car is dry, apply some form of rustproofing. Best option if winter running.

[morrisbetsy]

Forgive me as a new member if this is a little forth right...but some of us drive our cars day in day out..rain , snow, SALT, sun and all, my morris betsy as been the main family car for 7months, has done 3000 miles in the last 4 months and is doing fine, she isnt a shiney showroom morris, shes a much loved, much used , serviced regular, and not molly coddled morris. which i'm sure she was designed for. I sadly do not have the luxury of a "high days and holidays" car. i joined this forum thinking it was for morris user, not morris voyeurs. i have posted questions and received no answers, i have sent emails and received no replies, i send my membership request and i am charged £27. i clean her when she is dirty, by hand...like it was when she was made...40yrs ago when she was made! i m disappointed in the support offered and received.

[chrisryder]

morrisbetsy, i heartily agree with what you say about using these cars for what they're intended. i drive mine everyday, whatever the weather, and do 8000 or more miles a year. i'm sorry that your first impressions here were bad ones, we don't all rustproof our cars in cottonwool.

please stick with us, it'd be a shame to see you leave so soon!

[Dryad]

Forgive me as a new member if this is a little forth right...but some of us drive our cars day in day out..rain , snow, SALT, sun and all, my morris betsy as been the main family car for 7months, has done 3000 miles in the last 4 months and is doing fine, she isnt a shiney showroom morris, shes a much loved, much used , serviced regular, and not molly coddled morris. which i'm sure she was designed for. I sadly do not have the luxury of a "high days and holidays" car. i joined this forum thinking it was for morris user, not morris voyeurs. i have posted questions and received no answers, i have sent emails and received no replies, i send my membership request and i am charged £27. i clean her when she is dirty, by hand...like it was when she was made...40yrs ago when she was made! i m disappointed in the support offered and received.

The MMOC forum does appear to be very quiet just before and after xmas, and your question about servicing in your area was quite specific and most people approach to such a question here is "well I don't know but someone who does will be along soon". It's just the way the forum works. For the record, I also believe Minors should be used and not viewed; I use my Minor 365 days a year and usually cover around 1000 miles a month. It's filthy at the moment and it will stay that way until Spring!

[moggyadventurer]

I agree, they can be used as everyday transport, I do 18k per annum - motorways mainly.
But if you wish to keep them for a period of time rustproofing is a good idea before winter. Then blow the crap off in march which gives you the summer to re waxoyl or underseal (general touching up for the following winter).

About twenty years ago, me and my dad both you to do about 10k per year at the time in our mogs - I did not rustproof mine like a fool and he did. Despite us both having the side chassis rebuit with a year of one another, his lasted for fifteen years and mine seven. However, I have been rustproofing since the last floor rebuild (15yrs ish ago) and have not had to make a single floor repair. It speaks for itself.

Yes mogs should be everyday transport, but if you wish to keep them for a period of time - thirty pound a year on power washing and rustproofing is a sound option when they want between 1300- 2k for a floor replacement. New cars last about ten years before requiring some form of floor welding (everyday use) - though in the case of nissans, fords and vauxhall, they to have a for of rustproofing from new. Its all about whether you wish to keep them for generations and face the body repair costs or get rid of them after three or four years.

I have noticed in recent years more mogs being used in winter - and it is nice to see!

[chrisd87]

I have no option but to use Maggie this Winter as it's the only car I have on the road at the moment. I don't have a modern car, and to be honest it's probably cheaper to pay for a few more floor repairs than stump up the absurd amounts asked by insurance companies and the taxman year after year. There's someone around this way who uses a 1930s Morris 8 every day, so I think I'm positively sane by comparison!

After winter is over I will strip all the underseal off and start again with the rustproofing. Not looking forward to what I might find underneath though! Yesterday I had the carpets out to give them a good clean, and found an old floor patch that looks to have been brazed on...

[moggyadventurer]

Hopefully it will not be to bad!

The mog represents a good cheap run round at a time of expensive insurance and modern car repair/services costs.

They are the ultimate a-b car - bias I know but who cares.

[chickenjohn]

I haven't read the rest of this thread on pressure washing, but I'd like to give my experience.

Pressure washing is OK as long as you keep the lance well away from the bodywork, even on my 944, I've seen paint and stonechip primer removed by my pressure washer held too close to the wheelarches. So the more primitive paint and underseal found on a Minor does not stand up well to pressure washing as even the more modern stone chip coating can be washed off.

So- be careful!

After pressure washing- re-apply any waxoyl as this will be washed off by the pressure washer.

[cmea]

Hi - agree with what you say about using the car - this forum tends to be full of car polishers . As mentioned - pressure washing is good for removing salt / rust / loose paint . I pressure washed my (new to me) pick up last week and removed half of the poor respray in the engine bay . Made sure I sprayed a light coat of oil over all engine bay once it was dry.
A hose is probably less risky - but both risk flooding the car through missing grommets. I try and pressure wash my engine bay and wheel arches once a month (and use my car daily - http://mog.myfreeforum.org/about2461.html). I also remove the carpets and dry them in the house after pressure washing my car as some water tends to get in. The important thing is that the inside of the car - especially the floor is well protected with a layer of paint and that after washing you do NOT put your car in a garage (unless it is heated ) as left outside the wind will assist in the drying process especially in the wheel-arches.