Hey guys, Well the weather is nice and I'm gonna start working on the Mav. I'm gonna start by getting the engine bay ready for paint. It has been undercoated with black undercoating. The WHOLE engine bay as been sprayed with the stuff. Does anyone have any tips on how to get that off? I was going to try some Varsol. I was also considering sandblasting it....but haven't decided on that yet. What are your experiences? Thanks for the help
Hi Adam; I don't know what the newer types of undercoating are like to take off (the stuff under your hood surely isn't factory), but I scraped the original stuff off of the whole bottom of my '73, and it came off pretty easily just using a putty knife. I'd heard that Varsol worked quite well, but ontrying that, found it to be very slow and messy compared to the putty knife. By the way, where in Ontario are you? I'm in Port Dover. Good luck (and make sure you don't bring that undercoating into your house and carpeting, on your shoes...your wife will kill you! John B.
Hey John, I live near Brockville. Its about 1 hour east of Kingston. This undercoating is not factory. There is a sticker in the window saying the company that sprayed it. I think it was done when the car was new. It seems to have done the trick too, there isn't much rust on the car at all....it preserved it but made a mess!
I've used a heat gun and putty knife. I've also used a wires brush mounted in an electric drill. Good luck with any way you choose. Greg
what kind of drill do you have ,I have a skill 9.6 volt and it didn`t do a very good job with a wire brush on the under coating . the scraper was better .
I'm facing the same problem. The firewall of my 70 was undercoated, and the stuff is baked on. This weekend I plan to push it and get busy with a putty knife and heat gun. Craig said PB-Blaster helps soften the stuff. Have fun.
The electric drill I have used is not cordleess. If I'm going to do it this way I usually get a cheap drill motor just for this purpose. The undercoating will eventually tear it up if it gets inside the windings. It's not always the fastest way but sometimes that's the only way to get that difficult spot cleaned. I have also used a right angle hand grander with a 3-4 inch wire cup to remove undercoating from fenderwells. It works real well but slings crap everywhere. Be sure to protect your eyes because the little wires do come out when doing this. You may also have to wear a dust mask, I did. Good luck guys.
Tom (and others): Do NOT use a heat gun. The stuff will become gooeey and even harder to get off. Tom, when I did the rear wheel wells and front fender aprons on that car, I used a putty knife, a gasket scraper, and a good assortment of different size screwdrivers. Along with a hammer and a lot of time, I scraped most of it off. The little residue that was left over I sparayed with PB Blaster and let it soak....resprayed, let soak......resprayed and wiped off. Repeated the process if necessary. It takes a long time to get it off. Tom...if you think the firewall is thick...you should have seen the rear wheel wells....about an inch thick!!!
I agree with Craig in that you should not use heat to remove this stuff. I wouldnt even use solvents. Wire wheels just make a big old mess and usually heats the stuf up anyway. It makes it harder to work with. I scraped mine 98% of mine off, then used a $80 sand blaster that Harbor Freight sells. Worked great.
oh. that is sooooo nice! I hope to someday be in the position where I have the time tools and space to fabricate my own rotisserie setup. I am in absolute awe.
Dennis... ...that is your Sprint right? I thought that '69.5-'70 were the only years of the drop-in gas tank? That looks like a drop in version chasis. Am I wrong on my years? Seth
if you have a good air compressor they make a air scraper that works really good for that kind of stuff.
