Need to remove old Zeibart coating

[montauk]

My car, 1980 SC Targa, was rust proofed when new by the original owner. There's a bunch of black plugs where they drilled holes and squirted that stuff into hidden areas. Other areas have gobs of it too. I'd like to remove it where it's visible particularly in the engine compartment. Mineral spirits doesn't do anything to it. Acetone works okay but I've read that acetone can damage paint. Here's a bit I tried cleaning yesterday with acetone and then wiped down with water. Any other suggestions?

[GH85Carrera]

You might talk to a dry ice blaster company. Not usually something one does on their own, as the dry ice is tiny pellets not sold in normal outlets. It does not harm paint, so it might do very little, but is sure cleans up the underneath of a car. I know of a place here that does it, and he had an open house and showed his process. Very cool. (no pun intended)

[porschedude996]

I remember the stuff, but never saw in person. Is it tar like? Maybe paint over it if cosmetics is your desire. I the areas shown, you can paint with a brush.

[montauk]

Thanks but with the engine in the car, I can't go with dry ice. Painting over it might be an option but again, that's an engine out solution for me.

[HarryD]

A quick google search turns up numerous ways. All have issues. Choose your poison.

[Quickstep192]

An oscillating tool with a blade in it will let you peel off most of it.

I don’t know if I recommend this, but a rag placed over the goo, then soaked with acetone will keep it wet longer to let the acetone do its thing. I hope I don’t have to tell you how dangerous that is.

[stownsen914]

I was going to suggest acetone too. Careful with that stuff though!

[Hi_Fi_Guy]

Paint polishing compound works well. The stuff turns dark over the years so it’s easy to see when you’ve removed the Ziebart without damaging the paint.

[EC900]

I’d call Ziebart HQ for technical advice.
I was looking it up and Ziebart says the tar substance can be up to 10-12mil thick. It looks as if some of the overrun drips have de-laminated, so if the 45 yr old goop probably lost its flexibility and the substance being that thick, maybe use either CRC freeze-off ($$$) and chip it off or use a heat gun to soften to scrape it down to the metal then clean with a solvent and ScotchBrite pads.

Chip a bit off and see what dissolves it best before going through various chemicals. Again, Ziebart should have some idea how to deal with it.

[Tom F2]

Mineral spirits, an old paint brush, and a ton of rags worked for me. Put a drop cloth down or your garage floor will become a difficult to clean mess. Be careful around rubber parts. The engine perimeter seal on my 73 reacted to the mineral spirits. It wasn't terrible, but I regretted not being more careful there.

[Dpmulvan]

Leave it and take care of it next time you have the engine out. Strip the engine bay, epoxy primer then new chip guard. Too much hassle for too little reward trying to strip ziebart off the original chip guard.

[PeteKz]

My 1973 T has Ziebart that was applied when new, which is why the body is still almost rust-free. 50 years later and it’s still gooey. I just wanted to clean up overspray and where i could see it and paint thinner worked for me.

[montauk]

Originally Posted by PeteKz

My 1973 T has Ziebart that was applied when new, which is why the body is still almost rust-free. 50 years later and it’s still gooey. I just wanted to clean up overspray and where i could see it and paint thinner worked for me.

Thanks Pete and everyone else for the ideas. I'm not going to remove the engine to tackle it and I want to keep the underlying original finish. Paint thinner is up next.