I have a '65 falcon wagon that I want to remove the factory undercoating from and wanted to see is the best method.....want to paint it the factory black and rustproof it in the fender and shock tower aprons
I used two of three methods: 1) Sandblasting (didn't have one) 2) Soak it with mineral spirits (did that where I could, without falling in my eyes) 3) Scrape and chip it off, then wash off the rest with WET rags in Mineral Spirits. Did #2 & 3. A cheap sandblaster would work better - fine sand.
The problem with sandblasting is that it gets in everywhere and is not easy to completely remove. I was thinking maybe a wire cup or wheel brush on a grinder type of device. Flexible plastic scraper.
Hi, What I do on GM cars is use a small propane torch and heat the undercoating a little then it comes right off with a putty knife. BUT BE CAREFUL it burns you instantly if its hits your skin!!!!!!!! Steve
Well I got cheap and just went with the heating gun/putty knife idea....ended up getting about 75% of that crap off of the passenger side.....took about 2 1/2 hrs but it looks pretty good....hardest part of it all is sweeping up the pile of that stuff!
Sounds like you found the best method. I wouldn't want to use the torch. Undercoating can be flamable. I remember a buddy used to be a service manager at a Chrysler Plymouth dealer in northern Virginia back in the early 80's when the first K cars came out. An elderly gentleman had purchased a new Reliant wagon, and got the dealer installed undercoating. The guy putting on the undercoating was new, and apparently coated much of the exhaust system along with the rest of the underside of the car. If I remember correctly, he did this with the car idling up on the lift. The car caught fire. With it up on the lift, the flames burned a hole in the ceiling of the service department. The tar on the roof caught fire, and then burned holes in various places in the roof of the service department before the fire department was able to put the fire out. Of course, melted roofing tar drained through all the holes in the roof onto nearly every car in the service department. Title and tags had already been issued, so it all had to go through the insurance companies even though the buyer never even had the chance to drive his new car. The car was totaled, and he ended up with another new Reliant. Luckilly it was outside when the undercoating started to smoke, and they were able to catch the problem before the second car got toasted. It seems the same new guy had already undercoated the other car just as he had done the first one. Stay away from dealer installed undercoating.
I use a wire-cup brush on a grinder for stripping. If you decide to try something like that on the stubborn areas remember to wear protective clothing and eyewear!
Yep! I second that. Nasty stuff on the eyeballs. Mind you, the wife will wonder if you got you're hair dyed.
I agree the propane tourch can be tricky and have used the heat gun method also. The trick is to get it soft without melting it and it will come of in a nice strip. It is time consuming and also put something on the floor to catch the stuff so it don't make a mess. Steve
