HOW TO: Clean up
Discover the ins and outs of degreasing and lubrication when it comes to classic maintenance and cleaning inside your garage.
Discover the ins and outs of degreasing and lubrication when it comes to general maintenance and cleaning inside your garage.
Grease and oil can be your friend, saviour or enemy when it comes to classic Fords. They are needed to keep parts moving freely, but when mixed with dirt, can destroy components and when applied to the wrong parts, such as brake discs, can have catastrophic consequences. It may seem like a constant battle to keep certain parts clean and other parts lubricated. It’s perhaps fair to say that the main aim of grease or any maintenance lubricant is to keep a component moving freely, but there’s more to this subject. Use the wrong lubricant and it can cause disaster. Take the slider pins used in many single-piston brake callipers from the 1980s onwards. If these pins are fitted through rubber inserts, then lubricating them with a copper grease may cause them to become clogged up. Using a low-melting-point grease may see the grease run out onto the brake disc.
More of this later, but perhaps the first point to discuss is the common types of grease and lubricants and how and where they should be used. Perhaps the most popular product is an all-rounder such as WD40, Qualube MultiEase Lubricant and GT85. These are a thin liquid, often supplied in an aerosol can and seem to be able to do a multitude of tasks, such as dispersing moisture from damp HT leads and electrical connections, loosening rusty or
seized fastenings, dissolving dirt and grime and lubricating moving parts.
One of the most useful aspects of those aforementioned all-rounders is their ability to undo stubborn or corroded fastenings, but there are also a range of products dedicated to this job alone, such as penetrating oils, but how do they work and are they any better? Take Qualube Graphite Penetrating Oil, which is available in an aerosol can. It contains micronised graphite particles, which can work their way into a fastening and should help prevent subsequent seizing of mechanical parts, even when they are exposed to high temperatures.
Prevention is always better than cure, so while it’s useful to know what to use when a fastening seizes or electrical contacts are damp, it’s also worth knowing how to avoid such problems. In many cases, applying a lubricant or some form of protection is the answer.
Where nuts, bolts and similar fastenings may need to be undone in the near or distant future, protecting them in a coating of some form of grease or something similar will usually help. Providing it cannot be physically removed and isn’t at risk of being washed off, then a coating of copper grease or even multi-purpose grease can often help.
Prolan Anti-Seize Grease is a suitable protective product that is biodegradable and has been proven to last up to 30 years. It’s ideal for protecting fastenings but can also be applied to battery terminals.
There are several general-purpose maintenance lubricants that can raise questions concerning longevity and potential problems. Silicone-based lubricants for instance, are useful for avoiding the risk of clogging up a moving component. The liquid lubricant is thin, so there’s less risk of attracting dirt and thus finding a moving part becomes choked with it. It can be useful for applying inside a door lock, a bonnet release mechanism or a hinge. However, some car owners don’t like this silicone-based product because it’s difficult to clean off exterior paintwork and trim. Should these areas need to be resprayed, then silicone grease and also silicone-based cleaners can react with fresh paint.
A light spray grease, such as a general white grease is often a more popular choice for those door locks, hinges and release mechanisms. This is similar to the traditional thin 3-in-1 oil, but is a little thicker, and because it’s white and frothy, you can see whether it has been applied.
Dedicated grease
There are a number of specific greases that can be applied to particular components and materials. Rubber grease (red in colour) is useful for keeping rubber seals and similar components supple and protected. Applying a tiny smear of rubber grease to a rubber seal on the fuel filler cap for instance, will help prevent it drying out and turning brittle. It may also help where stainless steel calliper slider pins are fitted through rubber guides.
Brake grease has replaced traditional copper grease on many modern cars and emerging classics when applying it to the backs and edges of brake pads. The thinking behind using a