Undercoating removal.

[Scampin]

So I started the ambitious project of removing the undercoating off the Scamp. It's pretty easy so far heating up the undercoating and scraping it off, just time consuming.  My question is what do you guys use to finish the job.  Meaning that little bits that are left need to come off, what type of cleaner do you use?    Brake clean seems to work okay, but you get light headed pretty quick laying on your back.  Is there any type of de-greaser that works best?  Some type of wipe on, wipe off stuff?

Thanks for any help
Brian

[sr71mopar]

You're in for some hard work, but its worth it. Try a steam cleaner and solvent.

[Ryan (Strange246)]

I heated and scraped, and then used mineral spirits for the residue, takes it off pretty easy but need some ventilation for the fumes....

[GLENNP]

Just did that this last weekend. Used heat gun and scraper. Cleaned the reside off with paint brush cleaner from walmart. Worked well and was cheap. Had the smell and oily feel of naptha.

[Scampin]

I was thinking of using paint thinner, I  have a can of actetone I use to clean parts off before I powdercoat them.  Maybe I will try that with a soft bristle brush and see how it goes.  I wish I didn't scratch the paint in some areas because it is perfect, not even a speck of surface rust.  Thanks for the suggestions, keep them coming!

[AdamR]

keep scraping.

[azz7772]

i chipped, scraped, swore a few hundred times then used a wire wheel then i am now finnishing it off with a sand blastter

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[Colt1911]

   I used a propane torch and a scraper, followed up with lacquer thinner . Opened up garage doors and put a fan behind my head to blow the fumes away.

[1967dart406]

TORCHED AND SCRAPED AND AS FAR A RESIDUE GOES USED SEVERAL DIFFERENT TYPES OF THINER BUT FOUND THAT A DETAILING BRISTLE BRUSH WORKED GOOD.  KIND OF FELT LIKE CLEANING FLOORS WITH A TOOTH BRUSH.  OH YEAH LOTS OF VENTILLATION OTHERWISE YOU THINK THE CAR STARTS TO FLOAT OFF

[Josh]

Tal -strip brand paint stripper is what i primarily used.

[Scampin]

A couple of pictures of my progress.  This is about 5hrs of work.

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[daves66valiant]

same here. torch and wire wheel to bare metal. lots of hours.

[jet-taz]

call people you know to come over and help.

[Crazy68Dart]

Torch and scraper here too.  Really not a fun job at all....

Andy

[sweatybetty]

wire wheel or one of these scotch brite pad that fits in a drill motor. they come in different grits also.

[fourspeed]

I used a propane torch and putty knife. Then followed with a wire wheel in a 4.5" grinder. That takes it bare metal, though. Then I did Eastwood rust encapsulator, epoxy primer and acrylic enamel.

[Scampin]

Damn.  I wish I knew how and had the equipment to paint.  That looks awsome.
I was thinking using the eastwoods rust encapsulator and their 60-70% gloss black.    I bought some paint stripper and a sos pad, but it brought it down to bare metal too easy.  I am tring to keep the factory paint on as much as possible.  Progress is going along pretty good.  The driverside is scraped and cleaned.  Half of the passengerside is done.  I wish I didn't do so many burnouts though, hitting all that rubber in the wheel wells doesn't smell to great the second time being burned.

[slow_motion]

call people you know to come over and help.

Dont call me, thats one job i wont do for any body but myself. I did the gas tank on the Mrs. duster, that was enough of that for a while.

Whats with the color quality---its orange not butterscotch?

--chad

[StripeHOG]

and I thought sandblasting sucked 

[Bakaruda]

 

[Scampin]

call people you know to come over and help.

Dont call me, thats one job i wont do for any body but myself. I did the gas tank on the Mrs. duster, that was enough of that for a while.

Whats with the color quality---its orange not butterscotch?

--chad

I conned Bob into helping for awhile.  It didn't last very long.

Not sure why it looks orange, I had to bring it down alot in size, maybe that had something to do with it.  I wonder if you can get Curious Yellow in spray can so I can paint the bottom to match the top color?

[slow_motion]

yep, call down to autobody supply, they will make it up for you just like i had gotten for your father a couple of times.

--chad

[Ryan (Strange246)]

Damn.  I wish I knew how and had the equipment to paint.

Check out www.autobody101.com lots of good info, I'm doing mine myself and I've never done it before, it's not that hard, Finex 300 HVLP guns are about $80 and work very well!

[Scampin]

Kinda quick stupid question (Pretty sure I already know the answer)...

Is the rear floor supposed to be split?  I know this is hard without pictures (I'll take some tommorow) but while scraping the undercoating I found where the two pieces of the rear floor meet there is about 1/2-1" gap.  The rear piece is about 1/2" or more lower than the front section.  The car isn't rusted at all, but I am pretty sure this isn't normal.  Can I just weld the floor back up?  Is it supposed to be like that?
Anybody know what I am talking about without pictures?

[fourspeed]

A gap? No, that doeesn't sound normal. There is a seam under the rear seat, where two pieces overlap and it's covered i seam sealer.

Get those pics posted.

[azz7772]

i think that piece was spot welded when i put my new floor pieces in i seam welded it

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[supadart]

Ok, this suggestion may sound a bit ridiculous, but I just finished the same project and I tried most of the other things you guys mentioned short of sandblasting.

The easiest and cheapest soultion I found was painting on some old transmission fluid and letting it sit for about 1 day. The junk would scrape off pretty easy with a stiff putty knife, although it was messy with a capital F. definately wear safety glasses and gloves. Some tricky spots took a bit of coaxing, but overall worked quite well.

The down side to this is that you'll have to go back over everything with some soap and water and then prep-all or grease/wax remover to ensure that your new undercoating or paint will adhere properly. just my $0.02

-supa

[83imp]

My car has an undercoating under the hood on the inner fenders that looks like bee's wax.  Is this stuff going to be a big pain to remove?  You can scrape it with your fingernail and is gummy.  Its not like the normal black undercoating you see under a car.

[daneddy]

You guys are gluttons for punishment doing that by hand.  And then once you scrap it all off you're still not dealing with clean paintable metal.  It's worth it to pay someone to either sand blast it off or media blast it.  Trust me you'll bring home totally clean underside.  This makes it much easier to look for damage and to weld on those needed frame connectors and make other repairs.  Not to menton make it a clean job to work under there.

Keep in mind as you scrap or worse yet use a torch to heat it up and scrap you're breathing what, some 30 plus years of accumulation of who knows what?  Not a healthy decision guys, just now wise.  Find a local blaster and do it right.

Dan

[Scampin]

Well I am nearing the end of this nightmarish project.  I decided to see how much undercoating I actually scraped off.  This is not including the actual scrubbing and finish cleaning that you have to do after scraping.  It tipped the scales at 39lbs.  Thats Alot of undercoating.  I figure with the scrubbing and finish cleaning it will be around 45lbs taken off.  Def. not worth the time if the only thing you are going for is lower weight if you ask me, but it will look pretty good.