Jump to content




Photo

Cleaning the racing surface


  • Please log in to reply
19 replies to this topic

#1 Zippity

Zippity

    Grand Champion Poster

  • Banned
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 5,278 posts
  • Joined: 05-March 06
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Wellington, New Zealand

Posted 11 July 2015 - 04:54 PM

What is the best product for cleaning/removing the built up rubber and goo off the track surface prior to applying a thin coating of goo?

 

We normally use a product called Fuelite (lighter fluid), but someone has suggested that we use Jet Fuel (Kerosene?) as is is so much cheaper.

 

What are your experiences or recommendations?

 

 


Ron Thornton




#2 Bill from NH

Bill from NH

    Age scrubs away speed!

  • Full Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 14,274 posts
  • Joined: 02-August 07
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:New Boston, NH

Posted 11 July 2015 - 05:17 PM

Goo Gone would smell better.


Bill Fernald
 
I intend to live forever!  So far, so good.  :laugh2:  :laugh2: 

#3 CoastalAngler1

CoastalAngler1

    Outlaw Racer

  • Full Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 1,299 posts
  • Joined: 03-May 14
  • Gender:Not Telling
  • Location:Quit Wishin Go Fishin

Posted 11 July 2015 - 05:27 PM

I used coleman fuel at a drag track in Orlando - no residue, and it dries faster than lighter fluid (naptha).  A friend of mine uses gasoline, but I would not. 


Charlie McCullough

Charlie's Speed Shop

Kelly Racing Wanna Be

 


#4 JHMerriman

JHMerriman

    On The Lead Lap

  • Full Member
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 294 posts
  • Joined: 28-July 07
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Sugar Hill, GA

Posted 11 July 2015 - 06:13 PM

Don't use jet fuel if you value your health.
  • Joe Mig likes this
James "Merry Muffin" Merriman
Team RTR

#5 Outback

Outback

    Rookie Keyboard Racer

  • Full Member
  • Pip
  • 35 posts
  • Joined: 11-May 10
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Winchester, VA

Posted 11 July 2015 - 06:39 PM

Coleman fuel works fine. That is how I clean OMS all the time. WD-40 will get rid of heavy build ups



#6 CoastalAngler1

CoastalAngler1

    Outlaw Racer

  • Full Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 1,299 posts
  • Joined: 03-May 14
  • Gender:Not Telling
  • Location:Quit Wishin Go Fishin

Posted 11 July 2015 - 06:58 PM

Solvent will go into you, right through your skin.  IT WILL NEVER LEAVE!  (no orafice will excrete the bad stuff, EVER, ends up in kidneys, very damaging to sinus)  I worked in Bodyshops...do yourself a favor, use gloves and a respirator - fresh air is the best. (charcoal respirators are only good for 40 hours after you open the bag they come in)


  • Big Durl and Dave Reed like this

Charlie McCullough

Charlie's Speed Shop

Kelly Racing Wanna Be

 


#7 Pappy

Pappy

    Grand Champion Poster

  • Full Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 14,067 posts
  • Joined: 16-February 06
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Oxford, OH

Posted 11 July 2015 - 07:39 PM

I use naptha, I use to use Coleman fuel but it feels a little oily to me next to naptha.


  • garyvmachines likes this

Jim "Butch" Dunaway 
 
I don't always go the extra mile, but when I do it's because I missed my exit. 
All my life I've strived to keep from becoming a millionaire, so far I've succeeded. 
There are three kinds of people in the world, those that are good at math and those that aren't. 
No matter how big of a hammer you use, you can't pound common sense into stupid people, believe me, I've tried.

2000 Jackasses


#8 John Streisguth

John Streisguth

    Johnny VW

  • Full Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 5,638 posts
  • Joined: 20-November 08
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Bangor, PA

Posted 11 July 2015 - 10:24 PM

There are various grades of naptha, the best is V&PM.  No oil residue, dries very quickly.  I agree with Butch, to me Coleman fuel leaves a bit of oily resude behind and takes longer to dry. (my opinion, from experience using both)


"Whatever..."

#9 Samiam

Samiam

    Posting Leader

  • Subscriber
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 4,746 posts
  • Joined: 18-January 12
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Long Island, NY

Posted 12 July 2015 - 07:27 AM

I have been told that Naptha will loosen the braid glue. And that Coleman fuel or white gas has an oily residue. But no matter what solvent you use listen to Charlie's advice. Wear gloves and use plenty of ventilation. Or just do what Buzzy does. NEVER clean your tracks. :laugh2:   


Sam Levitch
 
"If you have integrity, nothing else matters, and if you do not have integrity, nothing else matters."
    Robert Mueller, special counsel (2013)
 
"... because people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook."
    Richard M .Nixon, Nov 17, 1973
 
"Fool me once, same on... shame on you. Fool me... you can't get fooled again."
    George W. Bush

#10 Rick

Rick

    Grand Champion Poster

  • Full Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 8,844 posts
  • Joined: 17-February 06
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:PA

Posted 12 July 2015 - 10:45 AM

You may find this interesting and surprising and rebuke some popular myths...Link 


Rick Bennardo
"Professional Tinkerer"
scrgeo@comcast.net
R-Geo Products
LIKE my Facebook page for updates, new releases, and sales: Rgeo Slots...
 
Lead! The easy equalizer...


#11 Michael Jr.

Michael Jr.

    Checkered Flag in Hand

  • Subscriber
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 1,154 posts
  • Joined: 24-April 14
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Spartanburg, SC

Posted 12 July 2015 - 10:46 AM

I use Naptha when I feel like spending extra but normally I use Coleman. Coleman is a petroleum product and does leave a little behind. Naptha doesn't. Otherwise there isn't much difference.
Since most of us spray a little glue on the track, Coleman hasn't ever hurt the racing.

Michael Cannon

Upstate Speedway

100 McMillian St.

Spartanburg, SC 29303


#12 Mayberryman

Mayberryman

    Mid-Pack Racer

  • Full Member
  • PipPipPip
  • 182 posts
  • Joined: 16-June 13
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Richmond, VA

Posted 12 July 2015 - 03:16 PM

At FasTrax we always used Coleman with great results.  A word of warning, however, never allow a Fire Marshal to come inside your building when cleaning a track with Coleman Fuel.  Do not ask me how I know but I will say that it took my backsides about a month to heal from the Chewing.


  • macman likes this
Spencer Wilkinson

#13 Tom Thumb Hobbies

Tom Thumb Hobbies

    Posting Leader

  • IRRA National Director
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 3,608 posts
  • Joined: 16-October 07
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Planet Earth

Posted 12 July 2015 - 03:45 PM

Coleman leaves a definite oily residue. We have noticed that the track slimes quicker when cleaned with it. The best I have used is the "DaddyO" citrus cleaner that is no longer available. Naphtha definitely second best.

Mike McMasters
TTlogo300.jpg

 

Former home of the ORIGINAL American blue King


#14 PCH Parts Express

PCH Parts Express

    Posting Leader

  • Advertiser
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 2,454 posts
  • Joined: 27-December 09
  • Gender:Male

Posted 12 July 2015 - 05:18 PM

We have used Daddy O's cleaner when is was available. But most years we have used Naptha V&PM.


Scott Salzberg
PCH Parts Express


#15 Guy Spaulding

Guy Spaulding

    Unintentional Instigator

  • Full Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 1,922 posts
  • Joined: 06-November 09
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:High Point, NC

Posted 12 July 2015 - 10:19 PM

The SubShop next door complains about the odor when we use Naptha.  But Coleman Fuel doesnt seem to bother them as much.  It cleans just as well, it's a little cheaper, and the oily residue is minor.



#16 stemmy

stemmy

    Checkered Flag in Hand

  • Partial Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 1,095 posts
  • Joined: 26-September 12
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Easton, PA

Posted 12 July 2015 - 10:23 PM

Zep citrus degreaser
  • CoastalAngler1 likes this
Blair Stem

#17 Joe Mig

Joe Mig

    Posting Leader

  • Full Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 3,077 posts
  • Joined: 25-February 07
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Queens, NY, USA

Posted 13 July 2015 - 06:54 AM

Solvent will go into you, right through your skin.  IT WILL NEVER LEAVE!  (no orafice will excrete the bad stuff, EVER, ends up in kidneys, very damaging to sinus)  I worked in Bodyshops...do yourself a favor, use gloves and a respirator - fresh air is the best. (charcoal respirators are only good for 40 hours after you open the bag they come in)

A great piece of advice that we need to listen to or find a more user-friendly product.

Over the years I have seen and heard of people that have cancer and some who lost the battle and I feel this could be a part of it.
I have made it to practice to avoid a Raceway when they are cleaning the track and spray gluing and I get until the place airs out.
Joseph Migliaccio. Karma it's a wonderful thing.

"Drive it like you're in it!!!"

"If everything feels under control... you are not going fast enough!"

Some people are like Slinkies... they're really good for nothing... but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs.

#18 CoastalAngler1

CoastalAngler1

    Outlaw Racer

  • Full Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 1,299 posts
  • Joined: 03-May 14
  • Gender:Not Telling
  • Location:Quit Wishin Go Fishin

Posted 13 July 2015 - 07:09 AM

I quit the auto paint industry because a friend of mine had his sinus removed due to cancer. He was a painter, I was a manu paint rep for 10 years.  My best friend at the paint company Sikkens has had 2 brain surgeries since and now is a 52 year old one eyed, no drivers license, walks with a walker, and wears glasses to prevent seeing double vision.  All the cans I sold had a skull and crossbones on it because it is poison.  I would show that to all my customers and tell them to wear gloves and respirators when cleaning spray guns and mixing paint at the bench and while spraying primer and while dry sanding...chromate has been removed from primer for about 10 years now. Bondo is made of styrene (bad).  etching primers use phosphoric acid.  ALL hardeners contain cyanide...that is what makes the molecular linking occur and what makes 2 part acrylic urethane topcoats dry so hard...oh ya, a typical spot repair paint job (2-3 panel repair) sends fluorocarbons to bust our ozone layer - about as much as 2 cases of aerosol cans of hairspray...you don't want to know what kind of emissions they shove out the stack at the auto factory - and the air quality rules in europe are much less than here.  One more thing - a respirator does not STOP the bad stuff, it only filters out most of it, actually does not catch isocyanates.  A fresh air device is the only way to eliminate exposure.

 

Use Naptha, use gloves, use a respirator, and a big exhaust fan!


  • Joe Mig likes this

Charlie McCullough

Charlie's Speed Shop

Kelly Racing Wanna Be

 


#19 Samiam

Samiam

    Posting Leader

  • Subscriber
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 4,746 posts
  • Joined: 18-January 12
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Long Island, NY

Posted 13 July 2015 - 08:15 AM

Ahhh CRAP!

 

I thought slot car racing was safe.

 

I'm going back to 1:1 racing and take up smoking.


  • Pappy likes this
Sam Levitch
 
"If you have integrity, nothing else matters, and if you do not have integrity, nothing else matters."
    Robert Mueller, special counsel (2013)
 
"... because people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook."
    Richard M .Nixon, Nov 17, 1973
 
"Fool me once, same on... shame on you. Fool me... you can't get fooled again."
    George W. Bush

#20 CoastalAngler1

CoastalAngler1

    Outlaw Racer

  • Full Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 1,299 posts
  • Joined: 03-May 14
  • Gender:Not Telling
  • Location:Quit Wishin Go Fishin

Posted 13 July 2015 - 09:33 AM

Hey, at least when you can smell that slot motor, you're adding a bit of ozone back into the atmosphere.  :laugh2:


Charlie McCullough

Charlie's Speed Shop

Kelly Racing Wanna Be

 






Electric Dreams Online Shop