Opinions on undercoating

[dpstark2]

While it's not a B-body, I think the problem applies to all cars. The Dart I picked up a few weeks ago is an extremely solid, rust free California car. It was not undercoated from the factory, and this would probably be a death sentence if it hadn't been garaged and only seen 47k miles in its life. As I get ready to swap drive trains, I'm wondering what to do with the underside of the car.

The undercarriage is oily and messy, but the metal is in near perfect condition. There is likely some surface rust hanging about, but nothing serious. As this car is going to be a daily driver, I was planning to undercoat it- both for noise control and metal protection. I'm not concerned with factory correctness here. In the past, I've used Eastwood undercoating to fill in and repair problems. I have an undercoating gun and it was very easy to do. The stuff has worked well. However, I'm worried that when I go clean this car and prep it for undercoating, I'm going to lose what's left of the paint or primer that was still there.

Eastwood has a "rubberized rust encapsulator" that I've used before too, but I can't yet comment on how it holds up. I've also used products like Rust Bullet and Blackshell with really good results. I am, however, skeptical of all rust solutions short of cutting and replacing metal. Since this has at most some surface rust down there, I think any of these products would be a step up from leaving it more or less bare to road debris and moisture.

Should I:

1. Leave it alone!
2. Clean it up, undercoat and be done?
3. Clean it up, shoot some rust encapsulator-type undercoating, and go?
4. Clean it up, paint it with a product like Rust Bullet, then undercoat it?
5. Clean it, rust encapsulate it, then undercoat it?

Any thoughts and experiences welcome!

 

[dieseldazzle]

Im going to go with option 2

I also love the fact that you are going to daily drive it

 

[747mopar]

I've used a few different undercoatings and like a 2 part bedliner myself. It's tough, has strong adherence, deadens noise and seals tight.

 

[soundhd]

Take a look at Lizzardskin http://www.lizardskin.com/

 

[dpstark2]

Thanks for the opinions. Bed liner and lizard skin were two other options. I've previously decided not to do lizard skin based on the price, but reviews are good. Since it is a newer product, I wonder about how well it will stand up on the outside of a car. Having done peel-n-stick sound deadener inside 3 cars now, I can say it's a pain. And it's not cheap either. It can cause fitment issues with seats too.

I'll keep thinking. Any more first hand opinions on lizard skin/bed liner as an undercoating would be appreciated.

 

[318 Six Pack]

Variant on 5, I think. Clean it up, phosphoric acid rust remover, two-part epoxy primer, bed liner for undercoat. POR makes a water born (I think) bed liner, would use a bed liner with some kind of rust prevention property.

 

[747mopar]

If price is a concern check Ebay for Xtreme liner, I think I paid $175 for about 3 gallons of the stuff plus the gun was included. It was enough to do the whole bottom of the car and the whole floor as well (trunk included). If you go that route don't be affraid to thin it because it doesn't spray for crap unless you do.

 

[The not so tall man]

I do not like undercoating.

Many times I have seen a car with undercoating and it looks fine, then you see a pin hole in it and scratch at it and a just falls off with rust.

Problem is you get a chip in it then moisture gets under the paint, if it gets under the paint it spreads along under the paint and the undercoating does nothing to stop it, and hides it so you don't see it until late flakes of paint and rust are coming off.

I'd probably just mist some oil into the frame rails, and put clear on strategic areas underneath like seams, brake and fuel lines. I also rattle can my exhausts when new with high temp engine clear, smells for about a week, turns a golden brown around the cats but keeps the rest of the exhaust looking new for years, only rest spots are from stone chips in the clear.

I'll even knock off loose rust and clear over whats left . It may not look pretty but I have the mental peace of mind when I look under my car I know EXACTLY what I'm dealing with and don't worry about rust hiding under spray paint or undercoating I can't see.

 

[Kern Dog]

Resto Rick has all sorts of options. Check it out.
I'm in California. The cars I see out here are about 50/50 as far as having full undercoating. I never add it if the car didn't come with it. My Charger was a St Louis build, registered in Ca since new.

According to the restoration gurus, the under side was never fully painted. I say....So What? I like mine painted

 

[Cranky]

I'm with The not so tall man. After removing undercoating from a lot of cars over the years only to find trapped moisture and rust in the seams etc, I really hate the crap. It adds weight to the car and sucks at sound proofing. In fact, I'd rather spray the underside with 90 weight oil than undercoat it. Kern Dog, that's the way I like the bottom of my cars to look.

 

[747mopar]

I'm with The not so tall man. After removing undercoating from a lot of cars over the years only to find trapped moisture and rust in the seams etc, I really hate the crap. It adds weight to the car and sucks at sound proofing. In fact, I'd rather spray the underside with 90 weight oil than undercoat it. Kern Dog, that's the way I like the bottom of my cars to look.

All the more reason to use bedliner, you cannot chip it no matter what you do............ it's rubber and it's on there! Living where I do painting the bottom of a car is not even an option and I hate getting covered in oil every time I crawl under my car.

 

[Kern Dog]

I hear that!

 

[Randra]

I'm getting ready too spray mine with bed liner soon. I cleaned the underside with a gallon of purple power from Walmart. Put it in my weed sprayer sprayed it on and pressure washed with hot water. Worked awesome.

 

[318 Six Pack]

Somewhat off the beaten path here, but what about body plugs? I can't quite figure out why they are in the floor pan, other than for letting prime out of bodies that were dipped at the factory. Once the floor pad and carpet is in there, good luck getting the plug out to remove water from a dunking. At least that is my perception.

If I welded those shut before applying bedliner top and bottom, would it hurt anything at all?

 

[The not so tall man]

I already started doing that on my car, I see no benefit to them at all if you aren't going the technical rest route.

 

[mopar505]

i got factory undercoating on my69 bee. original cal car. that **** is like a brick and no moisture has gotten past. its been a pa car now for 26 yrs and still good. ill sign up for the undercoating

 

[747mopar]

Somewhat off the beaten path here, but what about body plugs? I can't quite figure out why they are in the floor pan, other than for letting prime out of bodies that were dipped at the factory. Once the floor pad and carpet is in there, good luck getting the plug out to remove water from a dunking. At least that is my perception.

If I welded those shut before applying bedliner top and bottom, would it hurt anything at all?

I see no problem welding them shut, not sure what they're for because like you said it isn't like you can pull the plug?

 

[Kern Dog]

The body plugs are in place to keep water out. The holes they plug were stamped and cut out to allow the various liquids out as the car went down the line at the factory. The cars had a dip in a corrosion inhibitor vat, then were lifted out and the chemical/liquid drained out. Then it dried and was dipped into the primer vat, lifted and and that drained out as the car was lifted up and out. Paint was done with spray guns.

 

[GetX'd]

I'm an undercoating believer. My GTX was factory under coated and sat in storage for nearly 35 years while I traveled the country and the world. It sat on mostly gravel storage ground - the floors are pristine. They would have rotted out for sure had the car not been professionally under coated from the beginning of its life.

 

[Donny]

Here's an opinion that works: Get it blasted, on a rotisserie, and then spray undercoating crap on it after you put down epoxy primer and do your metal work, all items you need to do to do it right, and completely and thourougly too. There is not cheap, and easy way to do this. However, it's really easy when I do this process because I never crawl under cars anymore, everyone goes on a rotisserie, everyone is media blasted, and almost everyone I do here gets at least epoxy on the underside.