Undercoat opinions....

[jaak]

I just got through reading some undercoat removal suggestions in Paint/Body section, and I wanted some opinions on whether or not to leave my Undercoat, If I keep it, I had planned on using a pressure washer, degreaser, and maybe some scotch-brite pads and just scrub and clean the old undercoat, then I would have to undercoat the replacement trunk floor and left rear floor pan I replaced, then when everything is clean and dry, blowing it off with air and maybe spray-bombing the under coat semigloss or flat black, just to give it some neatness and uniformity, of course if I remove it I want it body-colored, and slick on bottom. Here's my reasons why/why not...

Why (keep)..... It was undercoated from the factory, This is why I think my undercarriage is so well preserved (my car is ROCK solid underneath),My car is going to be a local show/driver and I think it being driven undercoat will be more protective and act as a sound deadener, plus not to mention it would be easy to 'touch-up' as needed

Why not (keep).....A painted underbody just looks great, shows detail and pride

what's your thought??

Jason

[Blakcharger440]

I would keep the undercoat or re-apply new undercoat as you said it yourself that your floor pans are rock solid....and if ya want to keep them that way I think that undercoat would be the best way to go
Especially since you intend to actually drive the car.
All my mopars came with factory undercoat and are also rock solid....I think that says volumes for undercoat.

[Troy]

Two reasons to keep it there: rock chips and sound deadening. That's why the cars were undercoated to begin with - not to prevent rust. Look up inside your front fenders and you'll see that the only metal above your tire is the outer skin of the car. Now, whack it with a hammer (simulating a rock) without undercoating and see what happens. Ok, don't do that! If you decide to leave the undercoating off at least put it back in the wheelwells because having body color show through behind your tires looks goofy. As for the rest of the bottom of the car, it certainly will look nice without the undercoating and it's easier to clean because it's smooth. You lose any chip protection (which may allow rust) and there's no sound deadening so your car will sound like a big drum. You can solve the sound problem by installing something like DynaMat or spraying sound deadener inside the car where it will be hidden.

Troy

[jaak]

Yeah you guys just confirmed what I was thinking

[Troy]

I should clarify a bit: I don't believe all cars were fully undercoated (but i haven't really researched it either). However, I think that they all had undercoating inside the wheelwells and in the trunk on the inside of the quarters. The rest of the underside (floor pans, frame rails, etc.) may have been uncoated on some cars. I don't know if/when this was changed based on the year of production. The cars were not fully painted so technically there would be primer and overspray in places like the trans tunnel. Most people paint the car fully if they are leaving the undercoating off unless it's a concourse restoration and they want others to drool over the runs in the paint and grease markings.

Troy

[BigBlockSam]

i used that rubberized undercoating. looks good.

[8WHEELER]

I have seen lots of these chargers that did ''not'' have undercoating on the frame rails
and a few other area's. You don't see to many of these cars with rusted out frames that
had been undercoated. I was asked by the guy that was helping me restore my blue
car while it was still on the rotisserie if I wanted to paint the bottom side or undercoat
it again. I told him I am going to drive this car lets undercoat it..........

Dan

[Drop Top]

All these cars came with a certain bit of undercoating. Witch ment basicly the wheels and a little under the floor pans. You could order extra undercoating. Thats where everthing on the underside was preaty much undercoated.

Most of the Mopars I restore end up with full undercoating. Enless your doing a race car and trying to save on wheight or have a very rare car that didn't come this way. I would undercoat the entire underside of car. Not only for the protection but it makes a big differance on the noise leavel.

If your looking to just refresh what you already have. Just take off the old oil soaked and the old stuff that is falling off anyway. If its still good and solid theres no reason to remove all of it. Then redo those areas and then mist onto the old undercoating.

If your looking to recreate the old undercoating. Its not available anymore. The stuff you get in the spray bomb dosent look anything like the origanal at all eather. But there is a way to make it look really close to the orignal. But the stuff from 3M that comes in qt. plastic bottles. It takes an aplicator gun. Then drill out the tip of the gun a few sizes bigger. Be careful not to drill past the threads where the tip goes into the gun, or the tip will get too thin and break off. Now your ready to spray away. Make shure you tape off anything you don't want undercoating on. It goes everywhere. This includs the entire car. It dosent cleen off very well.

I posted this on here before and I beleave I stated the size of the drill to use, but I cant remember right now. In fact I think there was quite a bit of information on that thread. It may have been on the old sight though. If you need more information I can check the size and post here latter.

[jaak]

Thanks for all the replies. 

Jason