Undercoating Removal - The Fastest Method Yet!

[JeremyD]

I think Oracle of Austin has a nice ring

[Fishcop]

Thanks for the post Jamie, I'm doing this right now on my 69 - using heat and chemical stripper. Laborious and messy! I'll be going shopping tomorrow...

[BoxsterGT]

Thanks for the tip, Jamie.

I have a gas tank I want to strip & recoat.

The body schutz on it is really tough to remove.

I will drive to Harbor Freight today. There is a coupon on it as well.

Great posting.

You Pelicanheads are incredible.

Len

[175K911]

Jamie's absolutely correct. I stopped by my local HF this morning and picked one up. Absolutely the best way to strip the floors! Made quick work of the passenger side floor. And I took a stab on one of the frame rails in the engine compartment (same stuff that's in the wheel wells) and it came off better than anything else I've tried so far.

And the bonus was that the tool was on sale at $34.99 with a coupon from last Sunday's paper.

Thanks Jamie.

[efhughes3]

Don't forget to p/u the free LED flashlight! I must have 10 or 12 now. My wife has them hidden in every room in the house, it seems.

[jpnovak]

Ed, you are right. I collect them and we give them away as birthday presents for my Son's friends. 4-5 YOs love flashlights and these don't eat batteries.

Glad to hear other's success with the technique.

[tabasco]

This thread needs its daily bump !
It's going to save lots of energy and time for many people.

Just bought the tool for $35 as well, and did the whole gas tank in ~ 1 hour.
I'll finish with a wire wheel, but it should be much quicker and cleaner than if I had done the whole tank with the wheel as I intended.



BTW I found more rust than I expected under the undercoating.
I worried the same thing would happen in the wheel wells, were the undercoating sometimes cracks and is a nice opportunity for rust to hide.

-Guillaume

[techweenie]

Great info! Thank you Jamie!

[tharbert]

I...MUST....HAVE...ONE! I have almost worked myself into a state of abject dispair after cleaning one fender well and the front bumper. I still have three more fenders and the underside to go. I had resigned myself to laying on my back scraping this scheißdreck from the underside of the car in TOTAL MISERY!

I dunno....maybe 18 hours of scraping, switching between a 2 inch spatula and a stiff wire brush?:

[SouthCoastPhil]

Cinder blocks?

[Lindy]

-Have been "gone" for a bit here, so this may have already been covered:

With my last '82 SC, I used dry ice and a rubber mallet. I laid pieces of dry ice (wear gloves) directly on top of the sound deadener/insulation, let it get as cold as possible, removed the dry ice and carefully hit the deadener with the mallet. The material cracked, and was easy to pull right of the floor without even scratching the zinc coating below. I am guessing that this would NOT work on other areas of a car, as that undercoating material is more flexible that what I encountered in the interior/floor area.

Caveat emptor however, I may have simply had a car with unusually brittle insulation.

Lindy

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by SouthCoastPhil

Cinder blocks?

yes, be CERTAIN to avoid getting under the car with those there

I suggest you remove the block entirely and use wooden timbers

[archtech]

Wow! what a find! I have the tool and used it many times on trim work and grout removal. I've had to buy the 3 pack blades to get the saw blade... only to come with 2 scraper blades that I didnt need, but now I have use for them! but now they also sell the saw blade individually... I guess it worked out!

[nineball]

the air-powered version of this is on sale right now for $30.

Variable Speed Multifunction Air Tool


coupon

Coupon Display

[dad911]

Well, after I read this I bought one of these for removing undercoating.

However, yesterday, working on the boxster I had to cut through a rubber engine mount to install semi-solid inserts. Guess what, put the narrow toothed tool on and it cut through the rubber like butter.

Then I was installing an under-drive pulley and had to cut an interfering stub off of the block. Again, the toothed tool cut through the aluminum easier and cleaner than a dremel or a cutoff wheel.

I'm sold, keeping this in the shop close at hand.......

[tharbert]

Harbor Freight price dropped on these. They are now $34.99 without a coupon. I had ordered one at $40 and just called to get a refund. I don't even have it yet.

And yes, cinder blocks... Note the dunage to spread the weight It was the easiest way to level the frame so I could remove the rocker panels. There are jack stands under the car that aren't in the picture. Nope, I'm still not planning on crawling under it.

[armandodiaz]

I was going to pay a shop to sandblast off my undercoating. You just saved me $800,

THANKS!

[orcadigital]

Great info! This was using scrapers and screw drivers for the thick stuff, then the metal bristle brushes on a drill. Entire car was done this way, with smaller areas done with roloc pads.


Floor Board Progress


It's nice to primer over clean metal

[Joeaksa]

Very nice!

[Busterblond]

well smack me in the head with a 2by4.... Jeee's I work with these things all the time in construction to do everything. ....................Dude you just saved me money
Buster