I am trying to get the undercoating off of the metal under the front fenders (they're off) and it is like tar mixed with gravel or something. Year One sells a spray on material that they claim will allow me to scrape this stuff off. Has anyone tried it and how does it work?
I did conduct my first surgery this week. I found an area rusted out along the firewall under the glove box. I was able to cut out the bad metal and the rest looks good. I was kind of surprised by how thin the metal is in that area. Now if only I knew how to weld.
The car has no windshield and I am working on the surface rust along the cowl. The orignial gasket? heavy piece of rubber is stil in the windshield frame. Am I going to have to remove this? Any trick to getting it out?
When I was doing sandblasting a few years ago,I had a guy bring me in some old Willys fenders and core support that had hard undercoating.I used paint thinner and a scraper to get it off.I also seen that using a heat gun works good too but never tried it.
I got all mine off using a small propane torch, a old screwdriver, a putty knive with flexible blade, and a two steel wire brushes. One brush was a traditional big one. The other was a little detail brush I got at Harbor Freight. It was real useful in tight places. You will quickly determine how to apply just the righ amount of heat to soften the undercoating and allow it to be scraped and brushed off. Don't use too much heat or you will warp the sheet metal. I tried chemicals but didn't have much luck. This method worked perfectly. I did the whole underside of the car this way. It will definitely wear you out. Got to do a little at a time. You should be able to do a fender with it taken off the car in about an hour.
Thanks folks. These are great ideas. I work on it each weekend and can't believe how much I have learned from you all. I kind of wondered how a chemical was going to do the job (and me still be able to breath). Now if only I knew how to weld.