Thread: What is the best undercoating??

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I've started work on the 93 Mustang I got from my Son Don and it is super clean, even underneath. I want to keep it that way for a long time and am looking for the best undercoating I can brush on the undersides of the entire car.

About 10 years ago I undercoated the Capri Don now has with a product I can't find any more. I bought it at West Marine when I worked there and it was one product but they packaged it in two different forms. One was called "Trailer Coat" and was used to paint boat trailers, and the other one was called something like "Underwater Metal Primer" as I recall. It was urethane, silver in color, and you didn't want to get it on your skin. I laid under the Capri slopping it on, getting it all over me, then I tried to clean up with everything in the shop..........nothing touched it, so for 3 weeks I had silver splotches all over me, from head to toe. I was the butt of a lot of jokes at work those 3 weeks. BTW, that coating still looks like the day I put it on the bottom of his Capri.

So, what is the current hot product that will go over the factory painted surfaces on the underside of a car? I see POR 15 products, but they say rusty metal, which I don't have.

Don

Been a big fan of the Eastwood Products.

Any one in particular?

Don

Check out this ref link with two pages of products.

Eastwood Company: Search Results for undercoat

Don - I did the underside of my '31 with truck bed liner. I had originally done the seams in a couple of places with rattle can undercoating. A year or so later, I decided to finish the undersides of the body as well as the fenders. I took my finger nail to test that undercoat - peeled up kinda easily. Bought a rattle can of bed liner and tried that. Let's just say - pretty dam' tough. A finger nail wont penetrate. My fender undersides - no sign of any wear nor any stone stars. Overspray - nasty to clean up. As far as Eastwood - way far from my favorite supplier (sorry Gary and others, just my opinion and experiences, so wont get into p###ing contest)

Don, does West Marine no longer carry the product? Or it's not made any more? I have a West Marine close by and could check it out to see if this store carries those products??

Don,
I used and really liked the Herculiner Bed Liner product - Herculiner Truck Bed Liners. The first coat looked a bit splotchy, but with a second coat it filled in and was very uniform on the bottom of the '33 body. It applies easy, and seems to be tough as nails. Lots of the Jeep/Off-road crowd use it for the inside of tubs that can be easily sprayed out for cleaning.

Don-here is a link to West Marine:

Maintenance - Paint and Solvents - Primers and Undercoats at West Marine

I use bedliner on most everything that is going on the street as a driver. Once it's on, it's very, very tough to get off... Also sticks great to epoxy primer if there is any bare metal that needs touched up...

Oh man, West Marine still DOES carry it, thanks Gary. It is Rustlok and I missed seeing it in the store. I think I might use that first then do the bed liner routine over it. We have a special gun we bought to spray bedliner when we did Dan's rpu undersides, and you guys are right, it makes a real mess on everything around it, but it is tough as nails when dry. We used a two part bedliner from Dupont.

Thanks for all the help guys.

Don

Here is the silver stuff I was looking for. This product is made for underwater gear on boats that are even used in salt water. This time I am going to wear a paper suit, goggles, gloves, and whatever I can do to keep it off of my body !

Don, Sounds like the POR 15 primer, any idea which is better???? Most of the marine grade products are usually really first rate! Local boat store used to sell another metal prep that had a Mil Spec number on it, can't remember the name of it though....

Hey Don,
I am going to be using this stuff on the bottom of my van.
KBS Coatings - Paint Over Rust - Stop Rust Paint - Gas Tank Sealer - Gas Tank Liner
I just heard about it on another site and, for the price, I am willing to give it a try. just another option is all.
Mark

Old engine oil, HE! HE! HE!
Had a old 69 buick with a rope seal that liked to leak.
Everyone else's stuff was rusted out from salt on the roads in Michigan.
Shoot everything on that old buick was solid, after I fixed that old rope
seal it tried to rust so I pressure washed it and sprayed it down with rustoleum.
I cleaned all that off when I got to Florida and it was still rust free.
Kurt

Dave, no idea which is better but I did the bottom of Don's Capri about 10 years ago and Don just bought the car back. It had been driven in Ohio for a few years and the underside still looks like the day I did it. We sold a lot of that product when I worked for West Marine, some people even did boat trailers with it that get submerged in salt water often.

Gary, you will have to let us know how that stuff works on your car.

Kurt, I knew a guy who had a 56 Ford and he worked at a gas station. Everytime he changed oil he put the old oil in a pressure pot and shot the whole underside of the car with it. The car smelled like old oil but it was as clean underneath as the day it was made, and that was on Pennsylvania roads with salt in the winter. I've had oil leakers like the one you describe and it sure does protect the metal.

Today I scored a 1994 Ford 351 roller cam engine for the Mustang. It is a Ford reman engine with about 50,000 miles on it. Don found it on Craigslist (he was hellbent on me not putting a Chevy in that car ) Today Dan and I drove about an hour and I bought it. I was pretty happy to see it was the roller cam version.

We tore it down to a short block and everything looks pretty good, but I am going to have it machined anyway. I am not sure what the overbore is now, so we will see what needs to be done to clean it up. My plan is to just put a little more compression in it, maybe an E303 cam (I'll be running a C4 so I don't think I want the same X303 that is in my 27), a single four barrel on an aluminum intake, a decent distributor, have the E7TE heads I have gone through, and then use some swap headers to get in in the Mustang.

I want this one to be a daily driver so it will be on the mild side, just dependable. I think I am going to repaint the car in the white it was originally, and clean up the interior with some new seats and carpeting. I am also going to hook up the ac, power steering, and power brakes to make it more usable on a daily basis.

Don

Don post some pics.