cfair

Somewhere back along the way I started occasionally chasing water out from under the window trims on my ‘66 big Olds remembering that rust in the rear lower corners had to be repaired on my Starfire coupe 25 years ago.

Just washed the car and chased out a bunch of water which would have evaporated in a day or 2, but I was happy to chase it out and wipe it off.

Do any of the rest of you use your compressor to clean up the inside / outside of your cars? I’m just wondering if I’ve gone too far down the rabbit hole…

Not unhappy, just wondering out loud…

Cheers
cf

oldcutlass

It's actually a good idea, but you don't need a lot of pressure. A leaf blower works well.

Vintage Chief

You might be siding towards anally retentive, but I don't see anything wrong in what you're doing & IMO I think what you're doing makes complete sense. Not many would go to that extreme, but anyone should know when water sits on metal it accelerates corrosion.

cfair

Not trying to be freaky.

It’s more just that the compressor is sitting there in the garage for various tires (bike & car) and the swap meet blow gun is sitting there for cleaning so it’s sorta “why not?”

Kind of a detail-focused “when you have a hammer, everything is a nail”

Cf

Vintage Chief

As I said, I think it's a great idea. Metal does not like water. In particular, I'll mention this, the greatest point of corrosion is going to occur where two dissimilar metals are joined (think of ANY fastener which penetrates a piece of metal - two dissimilar adjoining metals in particular); and, of course, wherever the exists a weld point.

66SportCoupe

Been doing it to my 66 and 66 cars for 30 years. Makes s big difference in maintaining them.

rocketraider

I use both compressed air and an ancient electric leaf blower. Usually the blower because I can sometimes finish the job before the 60 gallon compressor tank pumps up.

Doesn't hurt to aim the blower down the cowl vents either. They're designed to air flush the rocker panels when the car's moving but the more water and detritus you can flush out the less your car will rust.

Carlarena1

I'm a mobile car detailer. I always use my compressor to dry out trims for multiple reasons. First of course is rust prevention, but also After a wash and wax, that pesky water droplet could run out from under the trim (especially if the car is moved) and leave a nice streak on your nice, shiny, fresh car! also some dirt and debris wont dislodge with water alone. You would be shocked at what can hide behind a piece of trim!

Olds64

That's a good idea.

gs72

I use one of these. Used to use it to dry my dirt bikes after a wash.

https://drycycle.com/