Soda/Carpaint?

elfangor801

So cold....
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Hey, I was screwing around with some friends tonight, and long story short, there was an upperclassman there with his car, and I poured some Mr. Pibb on the hood. I'm told that somehow the soda is acidic or something and will ruin the paintjob....we wiped it off real quick like. I was acting like an idiot I dunno what came over me. But after he left, my friend told me that's BS and he just wanted to scare me. Nevertheless, I felt like crap the whole night. Is that true? Will it ruin the paintjob? Thanks.
 

taper

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I think it's actually pretty insensitive. Acids such as pop or bird poop will eventually eat through the paint, but it takes quite awhile. Even a few days covered in that stuff won't do too much.
 

Yom

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I'm certain that you did no lasting damage to your car. As others said, it takes a long time to eat away at the paint.
 

elfangor801

So cold....
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taper said:
I think it's actually pretty insensitive. Acids such as pop or bird poop will eventually eat through the paint, but it takes quite awhile. Even a few days covered in that stuff won't do too much.

Yom said:
I'm certain that you did no lasting damage to your car. As others said, it takes a long time to eat away at the paint.

Oh thank God....sorry I've been like shaking the whole night, I so didn't want to have to spend the 500 bucks or whatever to have the hood redone.
 

Turner

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Think soda is bad, try a salt-slush from frozen roads.

Most cars have a protective coating on the paint that helps slow the reaction down. You still need to take care with it, and make sure you don't leave the salt residue on the car. Soda shouldn't be as bad as that....
 

FriendlyFire

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I saw this on MYTHBUSTERs

Soda dose not act as a de-ruster since its acidice content is too low
But
Soda and foil do work very well on chrome parts
 

Sims2789

Fool me once...
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elfangor801 said:
Do you know that for sure? I think paint is kinda sensitive or whatever.

I did chemistry experiments (during a college chemistry course over the summer) involving the acidity of soda and I can assure you that it did not damage his paint job.
 

10Seven

Intolerant of Intolerance
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So the answer is, yes, it's acidic, and, no, you don't have to worry a bit - because you didn't leave it on for 2 weeks + :D
 

Truronian

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elfangor801 said:
Hey, I was screwing around with some friends tonight, and long story short, there was an upperclassman there with his car, and I poured some Mr. Pibb on the hood. I'm told that somehow the soda is acidic or something and will ruin the paintjob....we wiped it off real quick like. I was acting like an idiot I dunno what came over me. But after he left, my friend told me that's BS and he just wanted to scare me. Nevertheless, I felt like crap the whole night. Is that true? Will it ruin the paintjob? Thanks.

You think thats bad, a freind of mine put lumps of turf he dug up onto a teachers car, only to later find there were shards of glass in the turf (No-one could work out how they got there). PS, you might have even helped clean the guy's car, as soda (coke in particular) is good for getting of dirt. (The old dirty penny in coke -> clean, shiny penny trick)
 

ainwood

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Soda contains carbonic acid, which is a relatively weak acid (its just carbon dioxide dissolved in water).

It won't do any damage to his paint-job, because its relatively weak, and the paint is designed to offer some protection against the elements (acid rain, for example).
 
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