Hi guys,
Anyone have any suggestions on cleaning the underside of my 70 4dr dime. Currently has minor surface rust but I am trying to preserve
the car for long term. Any experiences or comments would be
appreciated.
Caesardx
Undercarriage treatment
You and I are going to be doing the same thing very soon.
Personally, I would start out by taking some tire-ramps with you to the local car-wash, take the pressure washer and about 10 bucks in quarters with you, go under there with degreaser, let it soak (while you go into the engine bay and spray down any excess grease in the bay, etc..) and then go back over the undercarriage with the HOT wash, and that'll blow away 90% of the grease.
If you wanted to go really in-depth, get under there and pressure-wash it with degreaser again, then hot-wash (NOT WAX) and rinse everything down. Get the nozzle nice and close, to blow away the grease.
The undercarriage should, if not completely greasy, accept a good coat of undercoating, with very minor prep-work.
I plan to do all this, and take an angle-grinder with a wire-cup and go over everything, rust-prevent it (POR-15), and then give it a good 1/4" to 3/8" of RUBBERIZED UNDERCOATING.
This stuff is readily availiable at Wal*Mart for $2.47 a can (US Dollars) and goes quite a ways. The rubberized undercoating has a really, really good sound-deadening quality, and is VERY cheap! It bonds very well to uneven surfaces, fills up -- and prevents water from entering -- small cracks, like body-seams!
I did a test-job on my front fenders with this tuff, and to say the least - I am quite impressed with the outcome. Road noise was cut literally in half - if not more. I can't hear the front wheels a spinnin' on the freeway anymore, and pavement howling is minimal. Engine noise, even, was deadened quite a bit. I'm impressed. That's just on a FENDER job.
The coating goes on very eaven, and is black. In fact, just so you know what I'm talking about, its the same stuff (generally) as what the Department of Transportation does on highway cracks - fills them with black goo. This is the same stuff. Asphalt, Mineral Spirits, and a couple other things.
The stuff has a cure-time of about 12 hours in warm temperatures, 24 hours would be good for a cool, damp climate (like B.C.)
Clean up the underside really well (does NOT have to be bare-metal!) with a wire brush (hand-brush, wire - like a grill-cleaner) and get the loose stuff off, wipe it down with Denatured Alcohol if you wanted to get technical, and spray everything down in an overlapping fashion. Works the same as spray paint. I laid mine down about 1/4" thick, 2 coats for maximum bonding.
Now, just so you know - I wouldn't reccomend getting this stuff too near anything to do with your exhaust system. INCLUDING THE PIPE!
For situations like this, I recommend using DupliColor "Truck Bed Lining" in spray-can form. This stuff accepts heat really well and doesn't change color. The Rubberized stuff gets soft, sticky, and falls off - MELTS. But it takes awhile for it to do it - prolonged exposure to the exhaust area counts. Do the tranny tunnel with the Duplicolor stuff, and it'll keep rust from forming under it as well. This stuff is tough as cement, and doesn't chip or peel if you clean the surface well. It is thin, not thick, and doesn't offer much for sound deadening, but it is good for places near heat. I plan to do the entire engine bay of my dime with this stuff - or equivilent thereof. I am impressed by Duplicolor, but the price is high- $5.98 a can (US Dollars) and doesn't last very long. Two cans to do the trunk lid of my dime.
It all depends on how well you want your job to come out. If you care about looks, lay it out even all the way. If you want sound deadening, coat it thick and variably even in the cracked areas, thicker in others!
That should do it very well.
DUPLICOLOR COATING: HEAT EXPOSED AREAS, CROSSMEMBER, DIFFERENTIAL HOUSING, INTERIOR COATING, INSIDE DOOR'S, REAR QUARTERS, AND THE FIRE-WALL/FLOORBOARDS.
RUBBERIZED UNDERCOATING: EXTERIOR FLOORBOARDS, FENDER WELLS, UNDERNEATH THE TRUNK, UP IN THE HARD-TO-REACH SPOTS, SUPER THICK IN THE FENDER WELLS TO PREVENT ROAD NOISE.
Good luck with your project! We'd love to hear how everything goes.
Personally, I would start out by taking some tire-ramps with you to the local car-wash, take the pressure washer and about 10 bucks in quarters with you, go under there with degreaser, let it soak (while you go into the engine bay and spray down any excess grease in the bay, etc..) and then go back over the undercarriage with the HOT wash, and that'll blow away 90% of the grease.
If you wanted to go really in-depth, get under there and pressure-wash it with degreaser again, then hot-wash (NOT WAX) and rinse everything down. Get the nozzle nice and close, to blow away the grease.
The undercarriage should, if not completely greasy, accept a good coat of undercoating, with very minor prep-work.
I plan to do all this, and take an angle-grinder with a wire-cup and go over everything, rust-prevent it (POR-15), and then give it a good 1/4" to 3/8" of RUBBERIZED UNDERCOATING.
This stuff is readily availiable at Wal*Mart for $2.47 a can (US Dollars) and goes quite a ways. The rubberized undercoating has a really, really good sound-deadening quality, and is VERY cheap! It bonds very well to uneven surfaces, fills up -- and prevents water from entering -- small cracks, like body-seams!
I did a test-job on my front fenders with this tuff, and to say the least - I am quite impressed with the outcome. Road noise was cut literally in half - if not more. I can't hear the front wheels a spinnin' on the freeway anymore, and pavement howling is minimal. Engine noise, even, was deadened quite a bit. I'm impressed. That's just on a FENDER job.
The coating goes on very eaven, and is black. In fact, just so you know what I'm talking about, its the same stuff (generally) as what the Department of Transportation does on highway cracks - fills them with black goo. This is the same stuff. Asphalt, Mineral Spirits, and a couple other things.
The stuff has a cure-time of about 12 hours in warm temperatures, 24 hours would be good for a cool, damp climate (like B.C.)
Clean up the underside really well (does NOT have to be bare-metal!) with a wire brush (hand-brush, wire - like a grill-cleaner) and get the loose stuff off, wipe it down with Denatured Alcohol if you wanted to get technical, and spray everything down in an overlapping fashion. Works the same as spray paint. I laid mine down about 1/4" thick, 2 coats for maximum bonding.
Now, just so you know - I wouldn't reccomend getting this stuff too near anything to do with your exhaust system. INCLUDING THE PIPE!
For situations like this, I recommend using DupliColor "Truck Bed Lining" in spray-can form. This stuff accepts heat really well and doesn't change color. The Rubberized stuff gets soft, sticky, and falls off - MELTS. But it takes awhile for it to do it - prolonged exposure to the exhaust area counts. Do the tranny tunnel with the Duplicolor stuff, and it'll keep rust from forming under it as well. This stuff is tough as cement, and doesn't chip or peel if you clean the surface well. It is thin, not thick, and doesn't offer much for sound deadening, but it is good for places near heat. I plan to do the entire engine bay of my dime with this stuff - or equivilent thereof. I am impressed by Duplicolor, but the price is high- $5.98 a can (US Dollars) and doesn't last very long. Two cans to do the trunk lid of my dime.
It all depends on how well you want your job to come out. If you care about looks, lay it out even all the way. If you want sound deadening, coat it thick and variably even in the cracked areas, thicker in others!
That should do it very well.
DUPLICOLOR COATING: HEAT EXPOSED AREAS, CROSSMEMBER, DIFFERENTIAL HOUSING, INTERIOR COATING, INSIDE DOOR'S, REAR QUARTERS, AND THE FIRE-WALL/FLOORBOARDS.
RUBBERIZED UNDERCOATING: EXTERIOR FLOORBOARDS, FENDER WELLS, UNDERNEATH THE TRUNK, UP IN THE HARD-TO-REACH SPOTS, SUPER THICK IN THE FENDER WELLS TO PREVENT ROAD NOISE.
Good luck with your project! We'd love to hear how everything goes.
Steve Boatman
Grants Pass, OR
1971 510 2DR | KA24DE
Grants Pass, OR
1971 510 2DR | KA24DE
Undercarriage prep
Wow, thanks for the detailed reply. I was going to bring the car into
one of the blasting places and clean it all up and they said they would
prime and paint the underside for me. They even said that they don;t
recommend undercoating. (I seldom would drive in the rain)
Any thoughts on this approach? Nevertheless, the blasting guy said that
the car would have to be washed underneath no matter what.
one of the blasting places and clean it all up and they said they would
prime and paint the underside for me. They even said that they don;t
recommend undercoating. (I seldom would drive in the rain)
Any thoughts on this approach? Nevertheless, the blasting guy said that
the car would have to be washed underneath no matter what.
Over time, undercoating starts to work against you. At fisrt it provides a protective layer, but after a few years, it starts to peel away, then trapping moisture against the body work - than your in trouble, and you are not even aware untill the holes start showing up - too late!
Love people and use things,
because the opposite never works.
because the opposite never works.
I check my under carriage every year with a wire brush, and a wire wheel. Anytime i find old undercoat that is falling off, i wire wheel it off. Then when metal is exposed i use POR 15 on it . Thats how i leave it.Byron510 wrote:Over time, undercoating starts to work against you. At fisrt it provides a protective layer, but after a few years, it starts to peel away, then trapping moisture against the body work - than your in trouble, and you are not even aware untill the holes start showing up - too late!
I would prepare the surface the best you can (or best you want to spend). This could be lots of wire brushing or as you mentioned you could take it somewhere to be blasted (much more expensive!). I think you have two options after that...but I'm sure there are more. If you want to spend a bit extra you could use POR-15, but if you are on a bit of a budget you could use Zero-Rust. I've been using zerorust lately, it coats well and from all accounts does its job very well.
You could then put a coating over top of that, but then it makes repairs/touchups (from scrapes etc) harder/not as effective to do.
Good luck!
You could then put a coating over top of that, but then it makes repairs/touchups (from scrapes etc) harder/not as effective to do.
Good luck!
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///FiveOneOh
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