I am currently doing my first classic car restoration and I'm knee deep in it as we speak. So my question has to do with underbody, I will be separating body from frame and want to clean up underneath. Everything looks solid only what looks like old undercoating and some surface rust. So I've been told not to sandblast that area, what would be the best way to clean that, and what painting steps should I take. Any feed back would be great.

 

I used cinder blocks and 4x4 lumber to support the body. If you have a rotisserie, it will be 100x easier. Laying on my back with a heat gun, putty knife, and paint respirator, I scraped off all the undercoating. It took about 10 hours. Use lacquer thinner to wipe off the remaining tar and undercoating. Then a DA sander with soft pad and 80 grit to give the new paint a mechanical adhesion and sand off any surface rust. Thoroughly wipe down with a quality wax and grease remover. I sprayed 2 coats of epoxy and 2 coats of single stage satin black.

 

 

great pics and it looks great. I'm about to start this myself (frame on) restore. I have the engine, suspention and interior trim completed. this looks like a dirty job...any other lessons learned apprecaited here also.

Ed

 

You're a Wild Man.

Mad props! (That means: "Kudos to you!")

- Eric

 

MX442, that is extremely nice. I don't think I would ever, ever, ever, did I say ever, drive my car again it were that clean. My 63 Fury was that clean and to maintain it was a nightmare.

 

I did do this on mine when the body was still seperated from the frame it is an absolute thankless job, may seem obvious, bt get the best eye protection you can the goggles will work better than glasses, make sure they are vented they will fog up but not as bad. Mask, get a good one, not the cheapo 3m paper one get an osha mask with changeable filters.

lighting use florescent or led where possible, I used incandescent and halogen and those suckers got hot, then scrapings would land on it and it would smoke etc

I made great use of a dewalt grinder and wire rope wire wheels in a variety of sizes and styles ( cup, wheel etc)

a small mouse palm sander with a pointed shoe works well with heavy grit paper for tight spots.

get a yoga pad that the ladies use for working on with, you may not always have room for a creeper and these do insulate your back

I used Por-15 on mine some like it some don't , I do so I went that route, used a foam brush, then used the intercoat primer, sanded that then sprayed chasis black, looks fine for me, but I don' work at the level some of these crazies do LOL...

be prepared for new fuel and brake lines if you think your going to remove the old ones and paint under them. probably not a bad idea, I went with stainless ones for both.

a rotisseree ( sp) is probably worth every stinking penny... I wish I bit the bullet.

 

here are some pics more in my resto thread


https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...storation.html