38 year old undercoating
 

My car has some serious undercoating that i want to remove. Most places its about 1/4" thick. Cant even see gas tank straps, bolts, etc. Tried aircraft coating remover, and what a mess! But the metal underneath is very clean. Portable sand blaster maybe?Any advice appreciated.

RE: 38 year old undercoating
 

what kind of undercoating?

RE: 38 year old undercoating
 

Not sure. My car came from Kansas City, and whatever the dealer used worked really well. From what it seems, thereis atleast 2-3 coats applied. Thick, black and after some attemts with thinners/strippersit smeals like petroleum or tar. I was told also that asbestos might be part of the mixture that was used back then. Not sureI need to do more research.

RE: 38 year old undercoating
 

Sorry, any type of sandblasting/ media blasting will get you nowhere on any material that is rubbery, bouncy, greasy, or material that has any other sort of absorbing properties.

Chemicals and a scraper are your best bet on undercoating.

RE: 38 year old undercoating
 

Frost you have a pm

RE: 38 year old undercoating
 

I completed the removal of the undercoating on my '71 Camaro a few years ago. The car had tons of coating on it from not only GM, but Ziebart as well.

I initially started removing it by using kerosene, carb cleaner, mineral spirits, etc. but it was slow going. I asked around and got the absolute slickest advice... http://www.camaros.net/forums/images/smilies/wink.gif ...A guy at a restoration shop told to specifically use a few cans of "Mr. Muscle" oven cleaner and a pressure washer to rinse it off. He told me to resist the urge to use less expensive brands of oven cleaner just to save money......So naturally when I went to the Wal Mart and seen the difference in price; I bought a few cans of the cheapest cleaner I could......

Well, they didn't work any better than the solvents I was using. I went back and bought two cans of the Mr. Muscle and it was awesome!!!

Spray it on let it set up for few minutes and blast it off like mud!! The difference between the brands and their results are due to the fact that Mr. Muscle is the only oven cleaner that does not require oven heat to work...the other cleaners require that you heat the oven for best results.

You will have to go over a few spots here and there and use the plastic scrapers to loosen it up before blasting it again later. Once it was blasted with the pressure washer it actually exposed the factory primer but did not remove it!!! It looked great when I was done.

**Things you will need**

6-8 cans of the cleaner(keep the reciept to return uneeded cans)

If you don't already have a pressure washer; rent one from a Sherwin Williams/or rental store.

A few plastic paint scrapers in various widths

Saftey Goggles...not just glasses, they need to seal to your face.

Gloves, work shirts that cover every inch of you skin!!

Danger...Danger!!!

This stuff will literally EAT YOUR SKIN OFF!!! http://www.camaros.net/forums/images/smilies/eek.gif Since I did this in the middle of Summer in a driveway on jack stands it was hot so I took my shirt off??? [img]graemlins/clonk.gif[/img] After I coated my car and was lying under it, a glob of this stuff dripped on my rib cage. It didn't even sting....well at first!! I got up a few minutes later and looked down at it and a long drip of blood was flowing down my ribcage.... http://www.camaros.net/forums/images/smilies/eek.gif

Be very careful and enjoy! I COPY PASTED THIS[/align]

RE: 38 year old undercoating
 

I willget some tomorrow. Never would havefigured. Thanks

RE: 38 year old undercoating
 

let us know how it worked for you

RE: 38 year old undercoating
 

Interesting technique.
So, I suppose there's a warning label on the can telling you "Not to drink" the stuff either.
It's amazing how stupid some of those warning labels are.

Watch out for those chemical strippers too!

RE: 38 year old undercoating
 

I used gasoline when I did mine one time. it worked, it wasn't that safe, and man was I high when I was done