Guest Daddyrick Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 For the last month I have been methodically removing the old undercoating from my 78 280Z. I have scraped, wire brushed, sanded, just about everything I could think of to remove all the undercoating. Since I will be applying a type of bedliner surface to the fenderwells and the undercarriage, I needed a clean surface. Also the engine compartment had to be cleaned completely for new paint. Finally I found a way to remove the stuck on tar coating. After scraping most of the coating off, fill a SPRAY BOTTLE with turpentine. Spray the tar that is left, let this set a few minuutes, then use a battery brush with soft wire bristles to remove the rest of the tar. You may have to do this a couple of times, then wipe clean with a rag and more turpentine. Now the surface is ready for sanding and final prep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 I found something that works too. Sandblasting! I spent about 12-16 hours sandblasting my car last week, from the firewall forwards. I'm glad the car was undercoated in the wheel wells, because there was little to no rust, but man what a pain to remove!! ------------------ Richard Lewis 1972 240z - L28TURBO transplant ongoing! Drax's 72 240Z Turbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 Eastwood makes "UnderGone" (no, not for underwear) which is a chemical undercoat removal product. It's not cheap like turpentine, but should work well. Part# 31130Z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 I think someone on HybridZ used Dry Ice to take the undercoating off, it came off in chunks as I recall? Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 I bought the undergone kit from Eastwood and it's not worth the money. I believe it would work well on fresh undercoating, but 29 year old undercoating just doesn't come off very easy. I have been using a scotch brite style pad on my 4 1/2" grinder and this works fairly well. It's a long process no matter how you attack it. ------------------ 1972 240Z - Major Rust Repairs Underway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 I saw a method in Chevy High Performance not too long ago: media blasting. No, not sandblasting or any other type of grit material. The "media" that they discussed was actually pieces of plastic shavings. They are not really abrasive and do not stretch the metal and, they claim, do not take root in every little nook, cranny and crevice. Meaning that it should be usable on an assembled car and you won't have sand(or media)coming out of seams for months to come. There are supposed to be companies that do this. A local body man told me they would evey come to you. Might be worth looking into. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 I used dry ice to remove the tar insulation inside the car, not the undercoating. I doubt freezing would remove undercoating. The tar insulation does come off in huge chunks when cold enough though. ------------------ Morgan http://z31.com/~morgan/s30 http://carfiche.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 Ah, my bad, thought it was undercoating.. Oh well, back to the media/chemical procedures I guess. I don't envy that task. Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 One method that workds: Heat gun and Scraper. A torch cna be used as well, but not as safe and easy. Heat the stuff up in a 6" by 6" area, and scrape the now-soft stuff right off. The tiny bit of remaining stuff can be wiped off with any petro based solvent. Mineral spirits are cheap and works good. I've heard of using chemicals, but that's messy and you need to keep them out of hidden areas. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 Owen brings up a good point: do any trans tunnel work and undercoating work BEFORE doing the interior! I'll probably do it all at once anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest needwaymorespeed Posted February 15, 2001 Share Posted February 15, 2001 This is one of the worst jobs to do on one of these cars!! I have the front half of the car done. dont want to do the back end. taking volenteers??? whats worked real well for me is aviation paint stripper, put it on let it set, scrape it off , put a second coat on wire brush it lightly well coat is wet then hose it off,pretty clean metal every time biggest trick is not litting it dry Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted February 15, 2001 Share Posted February 15, 2001 I used a small butane torch and lightly heated both sides where possible. In some places the junk got so dry that I could pick it off with my fingers or give it a whack with a rubber hammer and it would fall off. I used the hammer for my inner insulation as well. I was hammering inside the tunnel making room for the T-56 and when i looked inside the car, all that rubber stuff had just flown off the tunnel! Owen ------------------ http://www.homestead.com/s30z/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sector Posted March 15, 2001 Share Posted March 15, 2001 hey guys, I just got my car back from the sandblaster where i had him sandblast the entire car. He told me that sandblasting would take the undercoating off, but it ran the risk of heating and warping the metal to do so. He told me that he knew of a way to get it off, but the e.p.a. was not real fond of it. He said "if someone was to spill gas or turpintine on your undercoating and it sat for awhile, when they sandblasted it would come off easily." Anyway, when i got the car back there was no sign of undercoating anywhere on the car. Just a thought for all of you guys who are not worried about the mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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