The car was a St. Paul car delivered to Chicago. It has undercoat on the full underbody. I have heard mechanics and such say 'it still has the original factory undercoat' but I didn't think Ford factory undercoated.
Did they? For the northern cars? Original or not, is it worth stripping off? If I do, what will be left and what should I do? The car is up to 12,600 miles. It does not appear to have seen much rain if any in it's 46 years and is basically a rust free car fully restored everywhere but the under-carriage.
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66 - W White coupe - 11k mi and fully restored
73 Copper Mach 1 - 351C Holley bbl - under construction
Unfortunately, undercoating can have minute cracks as it dries and gets older. I don't think that the factory ever undercoated cars. In any case, the cracks admitted winter road salt water to get to the underlying sheet metal. I would strip every bit of it to see what is underneath.
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SWMBO's '66 Coupe 289, 2-V, C-4(Pony Interior, Rally Pac, A/C & Tiffany Stripe) & An absolutely rust free '65 289-2V C-4 coupe project now UPGRADED to about 93.891% complete. Only a few more years.
The Concours guys have proven that our cars came with only epoxy primer underneath, in various colors, but most common, red oxide. It is fairly slick and shiny for primer. It was baked as proven by popped air bubbles in the dripped drops.
Some areas had overspray of sound deadener. Not very many areas got it. It was never undercoating.
If you ask the question on concoursmustangforum SPECIFICALLY about YOUR car, using your scheduled build date and assembly plant. They will probably be able to come up with a few pictures of an unrestored car built in that same plant and near your car's date, showing what's accurate for your car.
In my experience, a completely undercoated underneath is only done for 1 reason, to cover up or conceal rust, repairs, or something else the seller doesn't want you to see.
__________________ 1966 Mustang GT RestoMod Project: 307c.i.d.,Holly 600 4brrl, TrickFlow Heads, Power Disc Brakes, Integral Power & Tilt Steering, AOD, 9" 3.50 posi rear end & a bunch of other stuff.
Project start date 1999. Completion date... fagidaboudit!
Dealers could install curb-feelers and fender flares and stripes.
That's not "original factory undercoat."
Few cars got dealer undercoat. If I were looking at a Mustang to buy, if it has an undercoated bottom, I say "I'm sorry. This is not what I am looking for." It can conceal too much.
I'm just finishing this up on mine. What a messy job! Heat gun with a scraper and then I follow it up with my sandblaster. For the most part underneath my undercoat was pretty good steel although my sandblaster discovered some thin steel on the passenger side floor pan which it promptly put holes in. Also discovered that the drivers side floor pan had been previously replaced...with overlap welds...obviously a previous owner was using the undercoat to hide and/or protect this.
Scraped the whole bottom of my car, about 3/16 thick "goo". Steel was mostly good as well so the undercoating did it's job. It was old though and coming off in places- looks great now all painted satin black. Replaced all brake and fuel lines in the process (all ss now). Gonna replace the exhaust soon with 304 ss ($$). John
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"If you need a new machine and you don't buy it, you pay for it without getting it." -Henry Ford
The primer wasn't epoxy and the "undercoat" is really sound deadener. You can soften up existing undercoating with a heat gun or propane torch (don't catch it on fire) to the point where it will scrape easily, and clean up any residue with mineral spirits. There are also some purpose-made undercoat removal sprays.
The car has no miles on it and I know the history. Has not likely ever seen rain. must be dealer undercoat. nothing is being hidden.
I'm hearing to remove with a heat gun? I have all winter and it is cold here.
It will be spotless and rust free. Then what? Rattle cans of body color, red oxide or white?
Once you get all the undercoat off then you want to remove/repair any rust, especially the stuff that dwells in panel seams and joints. I'd be apt to remove all the old paint and seam sealer, treat with a product like Picklex20 and epoxy prime in red oxide, seam seal, 2nd coat of EP, then apply your sound deadener.
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Thoughts on stripping the undercoat?
