What is "Factory undercoat" ?

Danskeren · 01-01-2008, 04:45 AM

Hi,

Some of my orig. undercoat is loosening and I intend to try to repair this spotwise. Any thing I need to take care/consider doing this ?
What is the best way of cleaning the spots before repair.

What would be the stuff matching the the factory undercoat the most - in brands available in Europe like Dinitrol, Tectyl, Motogrip etc.

Thanks for your advises - and Happy New year.

Peter

Axiom · 01-01-2008, 09:53 AM

Wurth products is what I use on this side of the globe, but they are a Ueropean co.

Jeff Alton · 01-01-2008, 10:36 AM

Lets say someone wanted to strip the underside of the floor pans as some of this stuff is flaking off. Are the horror stories true about getting this stuff off?

Cheers

Axiom · 01-01-2008, 04:32 PM

SPELLCHECK SPELLCHECK SPELLCHECK.

I meant European company.

Well Jeff, this has been my experience with that task: it is not a horror story if you have the right tools ans a little time or if you are a little brave and take precautions:

Wurth and Snap On sell this tool, it uses wire brushes that are corse enough to take that stuff out, for some parts we use a small torch and a putty knife, extreme carefullness is highly recommended. for our ground up restorations we send the shells to an oven and gets put to a very slow heat and all of that stuff gets melted away, and then soda blasted, but that is a major project.

LM3929 · 01-01-2008, 04:34 PM

Lucky for me I only have to repair some sections of mine but what little I had to remove was a pain, scrape and wire wheel it.

I will probably have a can of the Wurth Underbody seal in Beige left after I touch mine up, if you need it.

LM

Jeff Alton · 01-01-2008, 05:03 PM

I was thinking about taking it all of the floor pan and coating with POR15 or similar.....

Anyone know how much this stuff weighs?? Next to nothing or a few pounds?

Cheers

HelmetHead · HelmetHead's Garage

Axiom...can you elaborate on the baking off of the undercoating, ie...what temps, how long..etc? I'm almost ready for sodablasting of my tub..which I will be doing in my driveway, and I like the idea of cooking off the undercoating versus grinding it off!

Thanks in advance,
Helmethead

Axiom · 01-02-2008, 07:41 AM

HH It's called heat strip, and there is a company that we use for this, they do powder coating so they have a big enough oven, it is done at a very low temperature to avoid any warping and long enough to melt the undercoating. but exact temp and time I really don't know, but this process will damage small springs like in the door latches, it will also reveal all rust, this works for me, since a lot of times I have to stitch weld the tubs.

There are a few companies like this around here. I don't know how popular they are around your area.

I hope this helps.

HelmetHead · HelmetHead's Garage

Axiom,
Thanks for the tip. I am going to get with my buddy that powdercoats and see what he would charge to cook my tub for a bit and melt it clean....would be worth a couple of hundred bucks to me to not have to grind/scrape/cook the stuff off.

Helmethead

Axiom · 01-04-2008, 06:07 AM

HelmetHead:
Try that if you have the opportunity, it really makes the job a lot easier, specially if any reinforcement or upgrade is gonna be done.

Over here it cost us a little more than a couple of hundred bucks, not to mention that since we are fairly close to the beach, when we get the tub back, we really have to hassle and protect the metal before any moisture gets to it.

kenrinc · 01-15-2008, 12:12 PM

Axiom: Heat Strip? Who does this for you? I'd be interested in knowing more. When I did my tub it was a horror story and it don't matter if you have the right tools. Trust me. It is the most gawd awful dirty greasy slimey job there is. Special wire brushes and the like just kick ***** everywhere covering you and everything within 500ft. And even then it's a slow process. In the end I found that It's actually faster and neater if you use a torch and a putty knife. Heat a square foot area, let it cool for about 15 sec and scoop it off. I did the entire underside of the car this way and it worked great. Much cleaner anyway. All brake and fuel lines removed of course.

Ken-

Axiom · 01-15-2008, 06:20 PM

Ken: I learned about this process only a few years ago when a client came in with a 75 euro turbo shell, it was rusted so bad that we had to replace the entire under carriage, it was sentimental value for him, so we came across this powder coat and media blasting shop that do that, they put it in an oven, for how long I don't know, but it has to be very low heat to avoid damage to the metal. it is a little pricey, but when it comes to a full restoration, it is worth it, we use a shop in So. El Monte, I have all the info at work, I will e mail it to you if you are interested, I don't know how they would feel about me posting here. or you may wanna check localy with some shops that have that size oven, apparently , it is a popular method.

kenrinc · 01-15-2008, 10:40 PM

Thanks Rudy. I will check it out. That sounds fantastic as going the hot dip route for me was just not an option. I've been burned so many times with rust come back. Until we can get E-dip from a local provider I'm not sure what the solution is other than to do it by hand.

Ken-

Axiom · 01-16-2008, 06:45 PM

This method is very good and similar to the dip but without the fumes from the acid hanging around for ever, but you do need to protect all areas that you can reach with some sort of corrosion resistant primer, dipped car used to rust from the inside out, if not protected it could happen to a vehicle, even with this method of stripping.

Try it if you have the chance, it makes a lot of difference when you are doing one of those ground up resto.

MrJTP · 02-10-2008, 05:39 PM

Axiom, I have read (on a motorcycle forum) that dip/strip causes paint adhesion problems later. Any truth to that?

Axiom · 02-10-2008, 07:13 PM

Tony: the fumes from a dip/strip could hang around for a long time, if the metal is not neutralized, and treat it properly, then yes, adhesion could be a problem. now adays there are many other means to strip a vehicle.

RichF · 02-14-2008, 05:04 AM

this is all vary interesting, your telling me you can put your car into a oven and the undercoating is melted away or is there still a clean up that has to be done to the tub?

Axiom · 02-14-2008, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichF

this is all vary interesting, your telling me you can put your car into a oven and the undercoating is melted away or is there still a clean up that has to be done to the tub?

Depending of the media used to blast the cooked tub, maybe a little vaccum effort.

RichF · 02-14-2008, 07:51 AM

OK so your saying bake it in the oven and then send it out to get media blasted and you got a nice and clean tub?

Axiom · 02-14-2008, 03:56 PM

Kind of that, the people that does this process for us also do our powder coating, so they are equipped with blasting facilities, I just don't let them use their industrial primer, because I often have to stitch weld and it is a lot easier with clean metal. they come back real clean.