Ever wondered what 59 years of road grime look likes? Well today I got to find out. After my parents let me borrow their pressure washer I hooked it up to the hot water in my garage and went to town blasting everything I could reach. I had soaked the engine compartment with Simple Green before pressure washing and am happy with the results. The grease and grime came off much easier than I expected, albeit I think most of it landed on my face. It is nice to see some of that original Buick green paint on the engine.
The picture at right shows some suspension parts that could not even be seen prior to washing. 
You can see the silver/gray finish (or lack thereof) of the parts. Of particular interest to me was the orange paint daub at the bottom of one of the suspension pieces (you can see it if you squint). This is one of the many factory inspection marks that workers made as the parts/car went through the assembly line. It’s a nice piece of history and I plan to document and recreate them as I restore the parts. I actually found two others marks that I hadn’t noticed.
Also, you can see below another mark (stencil) made at the factory that was uncovered by the washing. This is the frame number located on the right frame rail. Yes, it is upside down and that is correct. It appears to provide the model number “76R” and the date “?-22-53”. Below this appears to be “PPS” and then what I assume is the serial number but I cannot make it out. I’ll have to study it some more and see if I can figure it out.
'53 Buick Roadmaster 