Hi everyone. A couple weeks ago I introduced myself and the idea that I was looking at a 1949 Olds 88 convertible. Today I hoped on a plane, flew across the country and saw the car. My heart sank when I saw the underside. It's LOADED with what appears to be very old undercoating. Like Ziebart or something. Its everywhere. I pulled the carpets and the floors have it on the top side too. At first I convinced myself it was there to hide horrible rust and patches, but the longer I spent with it the more I began to wonder... could it just be a very old and very bad idea someone did in the past? I'll attach a pic. Anyone ever seen this of cars from this era? I know Ziebart started in 1959. Please offer your thoughts!

 

The last time I saw something like that was on a 66 442 I bought on eBay. When I got it home, all of that undercoating was hiding MAJOR RUST and sloppy sheet metal repairs. Required a complete floor pan replacement, along with many, many other issues. Suggest you scrape some off in a low spot and check it closely.

 

Undercoating inside ? From what I can see, they really globbed it on. My guess is they are hiding something........make that several somethings. Personally, I would RUN.

 

Thanks for the feed back. Every instinct says RUN when I see undercoat like this, but I cant help but wonder if this was an attempt from someone back in the day to keep the car from rusting. Its got 29,000 original miles (I know, sounds impossible, but it's true). I spent 5 hours with the car yesterday. It's as "original" as they come in just about every other way. The paint was done at least 3 years ago. I first saw the car then. I cant imagine anyone doing such an amazing paint on the top side and doing that to the bottom. The car isn't full of bondo. Original interior. It's a mystery.
I'd LOVE to know how Ziebart was applied back in the early days. This stuff wasn't sprayed on and it's very old. It looks like it was put on with a putty knife. It's not fiberglass. It's something else...
here's a pic of the topside of the car.

 

The rust in the door jamb is pretty bad.

Then again, the year and model make it one of the most expensive Oldsmobiles available. The current owner should be willing to allow you to drive it to a mechanic of your choice to evaluate the car. If not, run.

 

That door jamb shot tells you all you want to know about this car.
Lowball the heck out of this guy . The car should be regarded as a restorable running project .
It's " driver " quality at best .

 

Very rare car, wish it was mine. I have gotten involved in two cars with what appears to be the same type of undercoating. We tried a bunch of things but a heat gun and paint scrapers worked best. Check if this coating is asphalt based, ours was. This is a nasty dirty job and very slow but doable. Both the cars I helped on were on blocks and we didn't have a lift so a lot of the work was done on our backs, required lots of beer.

If the owner is agreeable maybe you could try a sample like on the floorboard and see if it gets soft with a little heat.... Just a thought....Tedd

 

Funny my friend just used roofing tar to hide his patch work on the underside, looks the same.

 

thanks for all the help. I took a sample of the material and will examine it when I get back home. The owner was very supportive and let me poke and proud. We pulled carpets and scraped parts that looked the "worst". Every bit of it was solid original steel. crazy. I was convinced it was a horrible attempt to hide bad work but I've come to believe it was just a bad idea by someone many years ago. No matter what, it helped me get a price I could afford. If I have to do floors after inspection, I'll tackle that. Wont be the first time. Look for updates late this fall and winter!
Nathan

 

That is a piece of rolling artwork. Good luck with your decision.

 

Back in the "good old days" it was used to discourage rust and road noise. Much of it was sprayed on. If it was put on with a putty knife it may have been a home done job with plastic roof cement. The worst would be if it was to conceal existing rust.