undercoating opinions please

ski4life65

I am sure I know what everyone is going to say, but I'll ask anyways. I media blasted the underside of the Hollywood, and fixed any issues I found, but should I just paint it, or should I put the undercoating back on? I wasn't planning on undercoating it, but maybe there are advantages such as sound deadening, original appearance, etc..... Let me know your thoughts.



Thanks

Don

Browniepetersen

My preference has always been to paint the under part of the car. I have a lift so that when the mood moves me I lift my cars up and clean the underside. I do not often drive in the winter or in the mud so I do not have a lot of need for the undercoat.

coverton

All i have learned is to coat bare metal with an epoxy. Then decide if simple chassy black or por is your preference. Do not allow raw metal to go unprotected. I hate to work behind undercoating what a mess

RL Chilton

coverton wrote:

All i have learned is to coat bare metal with an epoxy. Then decide if simple chassy black or por is your preference. Do not allow raw metal to go unprotected. I hate to work behind undercoating what a mess

Good point.



What are you going to do with the car? Is it a fair weather car, only? Are you going to drive it on salty roads? Do you want to do your best in preserving it for the future, or for someone you pass the car onto? Painting is fine, just don't drive it on salty roads, in bad weather as little as possible and realize that it might need to be re-painted someday, or at least touched up.



Undercoating is really for the "maintenance-free" mindset. It's like Vinyl siding or Hardibacker on your house: never have to replace it! Wash it down with a hose and you're done. Undercoating will last 50 years and you never have to do anymore to it. It's not real pretty, but hey, it's the underside of the car. It's also not a lot of fun to work around it or in it, if it's all over something you're trying to get to, like suspension components.



Protect it with something. Por and something similar and paint it is good, so is undercoating if it's right for what you want. Worse thing, do nothing and watch it deteriorate . . . it really doesn't take that long.



Check out my horror story in the thread: "'57 Convertible back on CL", or something like that. It has a story about rotten frames. Might make you think twice about it, anyway.

oldhudsons

for what it is worth = as from the factory the stepdowns had a minimal amount of undercoating (ergo, original "equipment", LOL). In h.s. worked at a dealership in northern Ind. & the owner sold almost all of the customers who bought a new one from him an additional undercoating to protect the new car further from salt. As I recall it added weight to the cars but also made them quieter (dad bought a new '53 H sd. from him).

RL Chilton

oldhudsons wrote:

for what it is worth = as from the factory the stepdowns had a minimal amount of undercoating (ergo, original "equipment", LOL). In h.s. worked at a dealership in northern Ind. & the owner sold almost all of the customers who bought a new one from him an additional undercoating to protect the new car further from salt. As I recall it added weight to the cars but also made them quieter (dad bought a new '53 H sd. from him).

All good info, Pete. In addition, I'll add that not only is it a good sound barrier, but if one were apt to stay with originality on the outside, "Lizard Skin" sprayed on top of the floor pans is an excellent sound deadener and insulator. The undercoating has it's merits, that's for sure. It has been interesting to me that on my current restoration, anywhere there was the original undercoating, like in the wheel wells, on the well wall, some of the bottoms of the replacement pans, anywhere this nasty tar, petroleum-based undercoating was still on the car, the metal underneath the coating is absolutely pristine. No doubt about it, it did it's job.

[Deleted User]

I have used "GATOR GUARD II" sprayable truck bedliner for chassis undercoating with great success. Sandblast metal, prime with epoxy primer, finish with black Gator Guard. It is epoxy-based, rather than urethane based, so a regular respirator is fine. Rocks bounce off instead of chipping off the coating. Will remove if necessary with a heat gun & scraper much easier that a urethane product. Made by Dominion Sure-Seal in Canada. Available in the US from many distributors. About 2 quarts of mixed material for $50.00. Sprays with a "shutz" (undercoating) gun. Can't say enough good about this product for an undercoating application.



Link:



http://www.joetoolcompany.com/dombgg2.html