Sam280Z Posted October 31, 2002 Share Posted October 31, 2002 No prob Jeff. Glad to see I'm not the only one crazy enough to do this. Another thing, cut the stripping pads into small pieces off the bat. Easier to rinse the gunk out and the pad will last a lot longer. It also makes you pay more attention as to exactly where you are scrubbing. I've noticed that a lot of nasty thinner and stripper has run down inside some of the channels. I plan on cutting 7/8in holes in them with a hole saw and cleaning out in there. I already cut two hole in the very front of the car at the radiator support looking straight down into the frame rails. With a flashlight I can see that the metal is solid inside, but begining to show some surface rust. I want to wash out inside all the rails and use metal prep and then spray epoxy primer in there as well. I plan on using a garden pressure sprayer with a 360 deg spray head to do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 3, 2002 Share Posted November 3, 2002 Hello fellas......I was about to make the anouncement of my arrival and I saw this posting, and I can actually give some advice right off the bat. As for undercoating advice; I started this very project awhile ago on a '71 Camaro with tons of coating on it. I started doing it by using the kerosene, carb cleaner, mineral spirits, but it was slow going. I asked around and got the absolute slickest advice......A guy at a restoration shop told to specifically use a few cans of "Mr. Muscle" oven cleaner and a pressure washer to rinse it off. He said to resist the urge to use less expensive brands of oven cleaner to save money. So naturally when I went to the Wal Mart and seen the difference in price; I bought a few cans of the cheapest cleaner I could......Well, they didn't work any better than the solvents I was using. I went back and bought two cans of the Mr. Muscle and it was awesome!!! Spray it on let it set up for few minutes and blast it off like mud!! The difference between the brands and their results are due to the fact that Mr. Muscle is the only oven claener that does not require oven heat to work...the others require that you heat the oven for best results. You will have to go over a few spot here and there and use the scrapers to loosen it up before blasting later. It actually exposed the factory primer but did not remove it!!! It looked great when I was done. Things you will need; 6-8 cans of the cleaner(keep the reciept to return uneeded cans) If you don't already have a pressure washer; rent one from a Sherwin Williams/or rental store. A few plastic paint scrapers in various widths Saftey Goggles...not just glasses, they need to seal to your face. Gloves, work shirts that cover every inch of you skin!! Danger...Danger!!! This stuff will literally EAT YOUR SKIN OFF!!! Since I did this in the middle of Summer in a driveway on jack stands it was hot so I took my shirt off??? After I coated my car and was lying under it, a glob of this stuff dripped on my ribs. It didn't even sting....at first!! I got up a few minutes later and looked down at it and a long drip of blodd was flowing down my ribcage.... Be very careful and enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam280Z Posted November 6, 2002 Share Posted November 6, 2002 If you want to see pics of my rotisserie, check out www.songne.net. Follow the link to Sam's 78 280z. These pictures were taken a few weeks ago, I'm quite a bit further along now... Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted November 6, 2002 Author Share Posted November 6, 2002 RICHZ I will try the "Mr Muscle" oven cleaner this weekend. I still have three wheel wells and the spare tire area to do. Thanks for the tip. Sam The rotisserie looks good. I almost went the two engine stand method and wished I would have when I got into fabricating one from scratch. I'm glad you're making progress. I had lost interest in mine and let it sit for several months until a friend kicked me in the ass and got me going again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam280Z Posted November 6, 2002 Share Posted November 6, 2002 A few months, HA! I've been working on that damned thing since 98. That's when I pulled it off the road. Most of the work has been done in the past 8 months though. I finaly decided that I would do it right and spend whatever it took to that end. It also helps to order something for it every couple of weeks. A new or improved part coming in can get you fired up all over again. Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted November 6, 2002 Author Share Posted November 6, 2002 I started on my 240 in February of 2000 and gave up on the rust repairs when I got the 260 in December of 2001. So I haven't had the 260 a year yet, just seems longer because this is the part of the restoration I despise. I know what you mean about collecting parts that does help. I'm working on suspension components and have the coil overs, sway bars, Tokico Illuminata's and a CV joint R200. Let's see there's urethane bushings, CV adapters, 280 stub axles, adjustable control arms, brakes, ball joints and tie rods to go. It's easier to think about it one piece at a time or it gets depressing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zerrari GTO Posted September 18, 2004 Share Posted September 18, 2004 I read this post and many others looking for the easiest way to remove undercoating before I started my undercoat removal project. I figured I would update everybody now that I'm almost done with this little slice of heaven project. What worked for me was a combination of solvent, heat gun, rigid scrapers, flexible scrapers, 3M abrasive disks, wire brush, dynamite and weapons of mass destruction. In other words, there is no magic solution! It seems like each area required its own particular method to get the stuff off. I also think Datsun management must have been paying bonuses to whoever could put the most undercoating on a car the day mine was built. Anyway, my point is to just get in there and do it. Once you finally get started it becomes a kind of twisted quest to get all the gunk off your car. At the time of this reply I am welding in the sub-frame connectors and feeling a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_daniel Posted September 18, 2004 Share Posted September 18, 2004 looks like it never was any undercoating there! I'm going to remove all my undercoating this winter and i can say that I'm NOT looking forward to it... bit with these tip it will perhaps be easier... thanx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted September 18, 2004 Author Share Posted September 18, 2004 Wow it's kind of depressing to see this post resurrected and realize that nearly two years has gone by. The car is still not painted and I've barely worked on it this summer. Between work and now getting hammered by two hurricanes the Z has suffered. I should be back on it soon though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted September 20, 2004 Author Share Posted September 20, 2004 Thanks for the kind words RacerX. All of the Central Floridians came through Charley & Frances OK and I just read a post where the Gulf Coast guys are starting to check in. Lets hope that's it for this year. The car is ready to go to the media blaster so it shouldn't be long before I can post some progress pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J__ Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 time to bring an old post back im about to begine the process of removing old undercoating and redoing it. i plan on useing a heat gun then scrap off the stuff. then clean the rest with a solvent/thinner. ive read that Zal Strip works wonders, its very HEAVY DUTY stuff they use on airplanes etc etc. ... also very corosive... anyone have experience with this product? will it eat the seam fillers? i dont want that to happen.... thnx! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusPuppis Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Great post, alot of good info in here. I had planned on removing the undercoating down the road some on my '72 240 Fairlady restoration/v8 conversion project thingy and this helps ALOT. I had no real idea how to go about it. 'Till I read this, anyway. I'm kinda leaning towards jackstands/heatgun/solvents/scraper method, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J__ Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 yea thats what im goin to do. i did the hand drill with circular steel brush method just now..... inside the garage.... LOTS of STICKY undercoating particles and was a biotch to get off.... dont do it haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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