Super Project '71 Part Seven: Undercoating Removal
Part Seven: Experiment with Undercoating Removal
By Ryan Lee Price
It's 32 years old and pretty damn impervious to most things you can throw at it. Of course, that's why it's there, to protect the undercarriage of the car from the elements, weather, road debris and anything the world can throw at it. In addition, undercoating acts as a noise deadener, supressing sound waves before they can travel through the metal of the fender, vibrate through the quarter panels and into the cockpit. So, it's pretty important stuff to have, and if it's missing, you'll notice it the first time you head down the road.
If you're redoing a Volkswagen and you'd like to make it as clean and nice as you can on top as well as underneath, then you're going to have to deal with it at some point.
You'll notice that, underneath our Super Beetle is covered with old, dirty and spotty undercoating. Since the rear clip was replaced sometime it the Super's life, part of the undercoating in the rear was missing, and in its place was light surface rust that needs to be removed as well. The end result for today's work is supposed to be shiney bare metal and we want to achieve this goal the quickest way possible.
But how? There are chemicals, abrasives, sand papers, wire wheels and a host of methods that will require a lot of elbow grease on your part and take the better part of a weekend. What works best and what doesn't work at all? Who knows? Well, us, now, after we spent the better part of the weekend trying different methods. That's why we're doing this article, to show you a host of ways to remove (or not) undercoating from your Volkswagen with the less work on your part, less impact on the environment and less damage to your tools, your hands and the metal underneath, not to mention your mental well being.
We scoured the hardware store and various automotive stores to see what they recommend and what was readily available. We bought a host of wire wheels, abrasive flap wheels, wire cup brushes, nylon wheels and paint and rust strippers. For good measure, we also picked up a paint and epoxy remover, a fast-acting auto stripper and a Bernz-O-Matic propane hand torch. To power some of these wheels, we bought a 4.5-inch angle grinder and a power drill. And because we'll be working with bare metals, we can either sit there and watch it rust or protect it with a primer. We chose the primer route.
Okay, let's get started. Since we know a couple of these methods will be messy, and to keep the driveway realitively clean and unstained, we covered it with a tarp and put some drop cloths around the wheels, tires and suspension. We rolled the car onto the tarp and got busy with our first method.
Let's take a look at what we found. But first, a word on safety. Drills, angle grinders and caustic chemicals are bad when taken internally. Wear gloves (not the lightweight latex ones, but heavy-duty rubber), eye protection and if your sensitive to sounds, ear plugs. Keep a fire extinguisher handy too. It's better to have it and not need it, right? Here's what happened:
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Here's what we have to start with, four fender wells covered with the rubberized tar and years of dirt. Sprayed on about an eighth of an inch, undercoating can withstand most of what you can throw at it.
On the right, the undercoating has been removed because of some prior bodywork on the rear apron. What is left is a lightly rusted surface that will need to be tended to.
Over the course of the last 30-odd years, dirty and grime has built up in the nooks and crannies of the suspension mount points and the body-to-pan connections.
Here's what weapons we have at our disposal, an array of chemicals and drill attachments. Not shown is the angle grinder and its wire wheel.
Up first is Auto Strip from Klean Strip, a paint remover touted as being able to "remove all finishes," so we thought it wouldn't hurt to try. On the back of the label, there's all kinds of warnings, including the one that says not to put it on your skin--yes, it burns.
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