Leave factory under coating alone or replace it ?

Redo the undercoating or leave it ?

  • Leave Factory

  • Redo Undercoating


Results are only viewable after voting.
-

273

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
6,526
Reaction score
3,953
Location
Ontario
My 68 Valiant is originally a California car with factory undercoating even in the engine bay, I want to strip it from the engine bay and paint it. But not sure about the underneath, If I was to strip it I would reundercoat it with Lizard skin or something so would be it be be best to strip it and see what's underneath the factory undercoating ? or should it be fine since the upper side is mint ? or redo it and leave it cause the factory is doing its job ?
 
If it has undercoating in the engine bay then it s not factory. So what does that mean for the rest of the car. Could have been all added.
Do you have any pictures of it?
 
My first A body was a 65 dart that I used as a daily driver in western Massachusetts. I repaired salt related rust damage every spring and kept the car in black primer. The only parts that I NEVER had to touch....still had that factory undercoat intact (late 80s)
My current car has sections where someone attempted to remove it and gave up. It looks like a bear of a job and I suspect the modern, more environmentally sensitive replacement, is less effective. I'd leave it alone.
good luck
 
My 70 had factory undercoating I believe it saved it from rusting out. I had to do a quarter skin but it was sideswipe damage, the rust was minimal. I am in the rust belt and the car sat in a field for 5 years before I picked it up. If you are not doing rotisserie resto, leave it lay under it and clean it and paint it...
 
Can’t do underneath right now.


1CC488C0-AD11-47E0-B5B6-EA8D3BC84B40.jpeg
C1C49637-BFA4-423B-920D-0C461997B833.jpeg
76BA6BD8-88EC-433D-A6F9-35F974360604.jpeg
56159B9F-23C6-4588-9EC4-85DF2BB00DC6.jpeg
B26C73DF-8BDE-439F-9C79-743C8048A996.jpeg
32B1D2E4-3611-4DE2-A1C8-541C2470D633.jpeg
6C7DCAAB-3C50-4847-BE3D-243A9A2C3792.jpeg
B914B295-F5B7-4BDB-B6C7-2B9841FFDA7A.jpeg
386B7EC0-9383-4496-8134-A3507101CB4F.jpeg
D95B93D6-2A5F-44DE-9DBD-A61ABAB05216.jpeg
 
To get it all off may take some doing the engine bay, you'd have to pull everything out and use aircraft paint stripper or something...
 
I hate to give anyone bad ideas but gas would thin that stuff then hit it with a pressure washer...when I was a roofer id wash the tar off my hands with gas then take a shower:)
 
I wouldn't use aircraft stripper on undercoating unless you want to remove the paint as well? If you are CAREFUL a propane torch and wire brush will remove it without hurting the paint. All you're looking for is to soften the undercoating and then brush it away. It's a messy , stinky , dirty job best done outside or with a lot of ventilation. I just did the underside of my 68 Barracuda last week end here's the results.

IMG_0731.JPG


IMG_0756.JPG
 
No stripper needed. Once you get everything out of the way the factory undercoat was a tar based stuff of some type, a heat gun and a scraper will get 95% off, then you can use a variety of wire wheels and cups on a drill (or a DA sander on the flat stuff) to take the rest off easy.. I've stripped the factory undercoat off two restorations and many race cars that way
 
Good work man...I would think the Op will have to pull the engine and rad etc. To get it thoroughly I would nix the gas that's a way to catch yourself on fire :)
 
I may do mine. my gas tank is undercoated and I like the look of a steel tank. I think I would just replace the tank though. OP if you take th eunderhood aport, take lots of pictures, as in the wiring etc where things go. It saves time.
 
It's a messy job no matter how you do it.

Oh so true - sure glad that I got that used lift on a deal... If you use heat don't let the softened stuff drop on you, it's hot enough to burn and tends to stick to you...don't ask how I know this :eek:
 
It's not my first time doing it either. Although I learned not to remove it from the wheel wells. It protects the metal and doesn't sound like a can of marbles every time you hit a stone!!!
 
I’m definitely gonna do under the hood, I like a nice body painted engine bay.

The underneath I don’t know about since I would just reundercoat it anyways after stripping.

Guess main reason I’d strip it to make sure everything is fine plus figure new undercoating would protect better than 50 year old undercoating but think that might be wrong think :)
 
It's not my first time doing it either. Although I learned not to remove it from the wheel wells. It protects the metal and doesn't sound like a can of marbles every time you hit a stone!!!

Even non-undercoat cars from the factory had undercoating in wheel wells and inside trunk quarters for sound deadening
 
I've never seen the factory undercoat the engine bay. It looks like someone did that. I had a 63 Dodge that I removed all the factory undercoating from under the car, (very time consuming & messy job) & all of the metal where the factory stuff was, was in excellent condition. I would leave the factory stuff alone, just pressure wash it real good & MAYBE go over it with a very good kind of undercoating. The original undercoating is pretty good, & I was told it has asbestos in it too.
 
I was asking myself the same undercoating question about my 65 Dart GT convertible this weekend. It’s a good driver that needs some TLC on the body. The factory undercoat is in pretty good shape, however. I’m leaning towards just painting chassis black over it and the areas that have some abrasion or light rust that can be cleaned. I know what’s involved because I took all the undercoating off my coupe when I was doing the floor pans, trunk, rear panel, quarter panels sub-frame, rear trunk and window surrounds (I bought a roof.) That car will go on the rotisserie. This car really doesn’t need that, because it’s not going to be a show car. I used pneumatic scrapers to remove it on the coupe, and that worked really well. I have a lift and that made a huge difference. I can’t imagine doing it laying on your back on the floor, but I know a lot of people do it that way.
 
just a thought - I have seen some pretty crappy stuff, especially on floor pans, that were covered up with undercoating - pop rivet some aluminum to the floor slather on some bondo to make it look smooth and lay on a thick coat of undercoating. On top, put some cheap new carpet with jute pad and sell the car hoping the new owner doesn't look...
 
As stated the oem undercoat isk tar base. The engine compartment should not have undercoat.

I would pick a spot that is easy to reach under the car, like under the front seat. Take a flat scraper and a heat gun and scrape off a small bit.

Then take torch and set small bit you scraped off on fire. If it smells like tar roofing it is or.

It might have some non oem ontop of it.

In the engine compartment you are going to have a tough time cleaning it off.
 
just a thought - I have seen some pretty crappy stuff, especially on floor pans, that were covered up with undercoating - pop rivet some aluminum to the floor slather on some bondo to make it look smooth and lay on a thick coat of undercoating. On top, put some cheap new carpet with jute pad and sell the car hoping the new owner doesn't look...


There’s no rug in it tops sides are mint.
Gonna get my cousin to put it up on the hoist this or next week give it a good look over.
 
-
Back
Top