Stripping 58 underbody

[Thomas H.]

The previous owner of the 58 I'm working on had the underbody painted black when the car was painted. The car has not been on the road since the paint was done. I'd like to strip the black off the underbody and was looking for suggestions on how to accomplish this easily...... I did a test spot with some paint stripper. The stripper easily took off the top coat of black as well as some of the primer. I was able to remove the balance of the primer using some lacquer thinner and a rag.

Since I will be doing this while laying on the garage floor, I'm looking for suggestions to make the process easy and quick. I have all of the protection stuff, face shield, respirator, gloves, etc...

Or should I just leave it be and take the points hit?

Tom

[Robert D.]

Re: Stripping 58 underbody

Tom
thats exactly how i took the undercoating off my 59 a real PITA but i dont think there is an easier way. i bought this thing called a crud thugger if you have air tools it will definitelt help if your careful it will not damage the fiberglass. took me 3 months on my back 2 gallons of laquer thinner but when it was all said and done it was worth it
bob

[Richard M.]

Re: Stripping 58 underbody

Tom, Is the body on the frame or a dolly? If on the frame, is the frame restored and finish painted?

Soda blasting a option?

[Thomas H.]

Re: Stripping 58 underbody

Tom, Is the body on the frame or a dolly? If on the frame, is the frame restored and finish painted?

Soda blasting a option?

Hi Rich,

Body on frame, frame freshly painted.

I'd pull the body off in a heartbeat, but my dilemma is that I am working in a 1 1/2 car garage. I was trying to concoct a way to lift the body high enough (keep in mind the body is painted although needs some rework on the nose due to paint cracking) to allow me to roll the chassis out into the driveway to work on it, then back in the garage at night. Of course the weather is turning cold so I'm not too thrilled with that idea. But it is possible.

Second idea,,,, Since the car will be going into the body shop to have some paint repair done on the nose, maybe we could separate the body there, I could take the frame back to the house and finish it mechanically, run lines, install engine / trans, etc.... Maybe ask the painter to strip the underside or see if I can work at his shop for a few days to get it done myself. I'm going to stop by there today or tomorrow and see what he thinks of my scheme.

I think soda / media blasting is out. Most likely chemicals and elbow grease.

Tom

[Richard M.]

Re: Stripping 58 underbody

Tom, I like your plan......Do you or the shop have a body dolly?

If that shop had a dolly and rotisserie, that'd be the way to go. Flip that baby sideways and upside down and in a few hours the job is done. Maybe you could do it there so that goop doesn't drip all over you.

Rich

[Donald H.]

Re: Stripping 58 underbody

If you end up taking the body off, below is a picture of my 60 body turned on its side in my garage. Of course I was very concerned with doing it. But I built a frame out of 2x4s screwed to the garage wall and used ratchet straps to hold the car body against this frame. Probably an overkill.

I had put some eye-bolts at the 4 main body mount locations so that I can set the body on my garage floor and have it up off the floor so that we could roll it over onto some high density foam insulation sheets I got from Homedepot.

This approach worked great for me as I didn't have a lot of chemicals dripping on me and I could easily get to everything. But you do need a few friends to help with this. As I recall three or four of us did my body.

I also had 20+ 'extra' holes in the underside of my body, and having it on it's side sure make patching those holes a lot easier.

Before and after pictures

Don

[Jill J.]

Re: Stripping 58 underbody

Hi Tom.

I put mine on a rotisserie and used mine outside because it was warm at the time, however it will also work in my garage at nearly the same degree as the picture I've posted here. To clean the underside of my 59, I used full strength Simple Green and a razor blade and putty knife (although the razor blade worked the best) so I didn't have to use harsh chemicals. I also kept a spray bottle with clear water to rinse the area after cleaning with the Simple Green. I've also posted a picture of what it looked like after I cleaned the underside with The Simple Green. I bought the 1 gallon bottle and put it in a spray bottle to make it more manageable. The car also smelled pretty good when I got done cleaning it. :-)
Jill

[Jill J.]

Re: Stripping 58 underbody

Hi Tom.
I was sharing your post with my husband and he suggested maybe looking at a car tilter as an option. Here's a link that he shared with me.

https://www.accessiblesystems.com/et/et.php

Jill

[Ian G.]

Re: Stripping 58 underbody

Same thing on my car. I just bit the bullet and laid under it and got it off with stripper, lacquer thinner and elbow grease.

[Dan P.]

Re: Stripping 58 underbody

Put Diesel fuel in a garden sprayer . Every day soak the under coat . After a week or two the undercoat will be very soft and you can scrape it off with plastic bond spreader. Very very messy . Put a blue tarp down first. The trick is letting it soak and solidifying the undercoat.

[Thomas H.]

Re: Stripping 58 underbody

Same thing on my car. I just bit the bullet and laid under it and got it off with stripper, lacquer thinner and elbow grease.

I started doing it this way over the weekend. Made some progress before other responsibilities came along.......

I appreciate all of the responses and suggestions. Since the car is already painted (I bought it that way) I have many concerns with lifters / tilters and possibly damaging exterior. Whoever painted the car also painted underside in black, no undercoating, just some gray primer and black paint.

As I mentioned earlier, the car will be going to my painter in late December for some repair work on the nose where the paint has started to crack. Other then that area, the paint on the rest of the is flawless. I will approach the painter about separating the body from the frame at his shop as they do that all the time. They specialize in C1storations and have done some very well known cars over the years. What I'm hoping is that they will separate the body / frame for me and allow me to work at their place one weekend to strip the underside. I'll then take the frame back to my house and finish the assy of it, engine, trans, etc.... Then take it back to their shop and put the two together again.

If that plan doesn't work out, then laying under the car in my garage using ramps, jackstands, stripper and elbow grease is the next option. Either way it will get done!

Tom

58-1.jpg

[Russ S.]

Re: Stripping 58 underbody

Dan, He is trying to remove paint not under coat.

Put Diesel fuel in a garden sprayer . Every day soak the under coat . After a week or two the undercoat will be very soft and you can scrape it off with plastic bond spreader. Very very messy . Put a blue tarp down first. The trick is letting it soak and solidifying the undercoat.

[Doug L.]

Re: Stripping 58 underbody

There probably isn't an "easy way" but an engine hoist will easily lift the body off the frame. Block the door openings or leave the doors on. Move the car to your driveway to do the removal. Build yourself a dolly first out of 2 x 6 lumber on casters. Plans are available. Place the body on the dolly and roll it back into your garage. Roll it out to strip. You can easily build a device to rotate the body onto its side by yourself. All it takes is a few pieces of steel angle iron bolted together. Here is a photo of my '64 rotated. The stripping is a piece of cake when the body is on its side. If you are after points have any pitting in the frame filled before you prime and paint it. The judges look for pitting. Send me a PM if you want more photos or details. Doug