Dry Ice Cleaning 2004 NSX

[mooney56]

I had my 2004 with 40K miles cleaned up yesterday and here are some photos. We stripped off the undercoating because it was delaminating in some areas. It is an amazing but expensive process as it removes everything you want off but leaves the stickers unharmed. Here are some photos.

 

[Reifen]

I want to do this so badly, my only concern is the removal of the undercoating. Will it have any long term effects? Mind you, I never drive my cars in rain.

 

[mooney56]

You don't have to remove the undercoating. I removed mine because it was delaminating.

 

[Superhatch]

What was the cost? I've been thinking about doing this but haven't looked at cost yet.

Looks amazing!

 

[Honcho]

Looks amazing. Even with all the cleaning I did on my restoration, I'd still like to do this service at some point. It looks like a new car.

 

[mooney56]

What was the cost? I've been thinking about doing this but haven't looked at cost yet.

Looks amazing!

Dont tell my wife but it was $2300 and the guy is a friend.

 

[RyanRA]

Dont tell my wife but it was $2300 and the guy is a friend.

If she finds out, I’ll remind her that this cleaning was necessary so the bottom of the $3k car cover remains pristine.

Just kidding; I couldn't resist the ribbing. That looks so good!

 

[ofdlt10]

holy !@#$%^&*
i called united rent all and they wanted $500/day and you supply the ice. they let me know the machine is over $10k to purchase

 

[DRIFTER]

I looked into buying one didn’t know You can rent them. I might look into that. I wonder how many cars I can do it one day.

 

[RyanRA]

Let’s do a NE Region Dry Ice gathering ; )

 

[ofdlt10]

united didn't say how long it took but it takes several boxes of dry ice pellets and he said the machine is really loud requiring ear protection. i saw a video of it and it looks like it goes pretty quickly.
funny it doesn't damage hoses, paint or stickers but removes all grease, dirt and undercoating. they line the ground with plastic and the ice goes from solid to gas and dirt falls on the ground.
too bad i live in the se or i'd be in on it
they also use it to remove black mold in attics and basements requiring no chemicals

 

[mooney56]

I have watched the process on a couple of my cars and it is pretty time consuming. The dry ice is also a proprietary configuration in that the ice looks like rice kernels. It has to be in that shape because it comes out of the hopper and is pulled in a tube where it is shot out by highly compressed air through the gun. In order to really make this work you have to have a massive compressor tank because the key to success is not only the correct ice shape but also the right pressure. I know the tank at this shop has to be 8 to 10 feet tall and probably three feet in diameter.

It takes a huge amount of ice to do a car. They load a hopper that is nearly the size of full size washing machine and use most, if not all, of that hopper in cleaning a car. I know they ran out and had to get more delivered for my NSX so they had the car for three days to pull it off.

Cleaning the NSX was probably 10 hours of work by a guy with a lot of experience. By knowing what certain pressures will do the technician can be harsh or gentile with the car. As he explained to me with enough air pressure you can even strip paint if you wanted. There is also a lot of technique in the use of the equipment because it only cleans in a direct line of sight so you have to clean each side of each part. The only way to really get the job done is on a lift that has enough space to get all the way around the car. And, it makes a big mess on the ground because all of that dirt and undercoating falls on the floor.

I think there are a lot of Youtube videos of this process being performed. I have now had three cars done. The most amazing one was my Z8 because BMW's Z8 aluminum was manufactured in such a way that it really had a bright finish. As a result when the bottom of the Z8 was cleaned it really looked like it was polished. I also had my Porsche 930 Turbo cleaned and as some of you may know the air cooled cars always had dirty engines as the engines seemed to mist oil when running and dirt sticks everywhere. That engine looked like we rebuilt it when done.

 

[Scott_Ales]

As the founder of DryceNation and supporter of 70 dry ice cleaners around the globe, it is a very artistic and physically demanding process. The shop that cleaned this car is one of our members and is highly qualified.

Anyone in the SE part of the country are welcome to visit the DryceLab here in Central Florida.

We provide all things dry ice car related and will be cleaning my newly acquired 1991 NSX with 710 miles. Updates on the process can be followed under builds as we are an official NSXPrime vendor.

Anyone is welcome to ask questions about any aspect of the process, equipment, techniques, and costs.

I've personally cleaned over 120 cars over the past 4 years. Mostly my own. The typical hourly rate is $250/ hr. $50/hour represents the product. So, $200/hr is labor.

If you come to the DryceLab you can watch us make dry ice from.liquid Co2.

It's a complicated and tricky process. I don't recommend renting equipment as it never is set up correctly for results like you see here. It's not a pressure washer.

 

[ofdlt10]

that answers a LOT of questions!

 

[mooney56]

Here are some pictures of the process on my Z8 which had 25,000 road miles and had been driven in the rain. Some pics show a little before and after. The vendor also does a process called passivation which makes the exhaust seem like new. Note how the O2 sensor even cleaned up. The process was not necessary on the NSX because the exhaust was stainless.

 

[Scott_Ales]

The stainless steel treatment is another process we created. We use a electronic device to remove the carbon from the surface. Referred to as passivation. Does not require removal from the car to execute.

Passivation of stainless

 

[docjohn]

200$/hr labor...sign me up....

 

[Scott_Ales]

200$/hr labor...sign me up....

OK, start by standing or sitting somewhere with 15 lbs. over your head for 6-8 hours. Oh yeah, hold your head at an angle while you're at it! And lastly, put a full Tyvek suit on with a full face respirator.

Most shops also do not have AC.

Let's just say, it's more physically demanding than anyone thinks.

Then there is the $100k+ worth of equipment to set up.

 

[Scott_Ales]

Here is an example of a novice dry ice cleaning effort. Sadly, this cannot be fixed.

Here is a similar model which I recently had the privilege to clean at the DryceLab. A 99k mile Summer Yellow 1988 Porsche 911.

 

[Eferrari34]

Here are some pictures of the process on my Z8 which had 25,000 road miles and had been driven in the rain. Some pics show a little before and after. The vendor also does a process called passivation which makes the exhaust seem like new. Note how the O2 sensor even cleaned up. The process was not necessary on the NSX because the exhaust was stainless.View attachment 179820View attachment 179821View attachment 179822View attachment 179823View attachment 179825View attachment 179826View attachment 179828View attachment 179830

The car look beautiful. Seth does very good work & the results speak for themselves.

 

[RYU]

Big fan of Dry Ice Blasting. Looks great!

 

[rickmnsx]

I looked into buying one didn’t know You can rent them. I might look into that. I wonder how many cars I can do it one day.

About one - properly! Mine was $2000.

 

[Scott_Ales]

About one - properly! Mine was $2000.

A typical car takes us 10-15 hours. I would caution anyone considering to try this without training. It is extremely artistic and requires experience. Think, painting a car or paint less dent removal.

There is nothing casual about the process. The compressed air solution is extraordinarily critical as well.

Anyone is welcome to visit the DryceLab here in Central Florida at no cost to fully understand the process. No cost to visit.

Here is a video showing our latest project.

Dryce cleaning the Mclaren P1 hurricane car