Start of a Dart
As noted prevoiusly, my buddy came by and helped get the rear axle and springs out, so I have a completely clean work area from the trans crossmember to the back bumper.
Having worked my way through the question of do-or-do-not remove the undercoating, I decided to go down that road. I picked brains in a different thread for should-I-or-shouldn't-I and learned many ways to take this stuff off. I tried a couple of them but they were messy to say the least. I decided to get a needle scaler and try that. To say it was a resounding success would be the understatement of the year. Behold, my newest favorite tool. I ordered it locally from Grainger for $100 and picked it up the next day. It paid for itself in the first five minutes. Note the up-periscope high tech flashlight improvement, it really helps to see what's going on. I tried wetting down the undercoating to keep the dust down, but the water made for slower going, and it was uber-messy. I opted for lots of PPE and went the dry-and-dusty route. Full face shield, face mask, ear plug, ear muffs, and gloves. The only downside to this thing is it's pretty heavy so I have to take a break every so often so I don't seize up.
Here is a before picture of the left rear fender well, followed by an after picture of the right rear fender well. It only took 40 minutes or so to get it in spotless condition.
The heap-o-crap that came off the right fender. It's almost a half inch deep.
One more pic and I'll stop gushing about the needle scaler. This frame rail was completely crusty and scaly, 15 seconds later you can see the difference. This thing will do corners, seams, uneven surfaces, you name it. Today will see me going at it again to clean up more areas.
As noted prevoiusly, my buddy came by and helped get the rear axle and springs out, so I have a completely clean work area from the trans crossmember to the back bumper.
Having worked my way through the question of do-or-do-not remove the undercoating, I decided to go down that road. I picked brains in a different thread for should-I-or-shouldn't-I and learned many ways to take this stuff off. I tried a couple of them but they were messy to say the least. I decided to get a needle scaler and try that. To say it was a resounding success would be the understatement of the year. Behold, my newest favorite tool. I ordered it locally from Grainger for $100 and picked it up the next day. It paid for itself in the first five minutes. Note the up-periscope high tech flashlight improvement, it really helps to see what's going on. I tried wetting down the undercoating to keep the dust down, but the water made for slower going, and it was uber-messy. I opted for lots of PPE and went the dry-and-dusty route. Full face shield, face mask, ear plug, ear muffs, and gloves. The only downside to this thing is it's pretty heavy so I have to take a break every so often so I don't seize up.
Here is a before picture of the left rear fender well, followed by an after picture of the right rear fender well. It only took 40 minutes or so to get it in spotless condition.
The heap-o-crap that came off the right fender. It's almost a half inch deep.
One more pic and I'll stop gushing about the needle scaler. This frame rail was completely crusty and scaly, 15 seconds later you can see the difference. This thing will do corners, seams, uneven surfaces, you name it. Today will see me going at it again to clean up more areas.
