[T2] Undercoating Removal Tip

[Joe Average]

On 03/30/2014 03:39 PM, Kevin Guarnotta wrote:
> When I stripped the underside of my '65 I lifted it up as much as I could,
> then got under there with a sand blaster.

Thanks Kevin! That's what I'll do the next time I restore this (or some 
next) van. I really want to sandblast it but have no means to get it 
outside or upside down inside my garage.

I found patches of undercoating that did in fact protect the original 
factory paint and everything looked new under that. Around the edges of 
the wheel wells though as the rust crept in here and there - the 
undercoating hid the damage going on. This describes what I found on my 
Beetle as well. Rusting from the edges right up under the undercoating.

Right where the the seat pedestal connects to the floor behind the 
driver's feet I found a tiny line of rust - on the bottom the 
undercoating looked perfect and on top the steel looked fine too - from 
standing height. Once I chipped off the undercoating my drop light 
laying on the floor showed through the damaged steel and I saw it for 
the first time from above. Easy fix. I could have skipped all this floor 
cleaning and had problems later.

Another way to look at this though - if the van lasted 35 years the 
first time living outside with it's factory applied undercoating, maybe 
since it will be garaged in the future, the undercoating will be fine.

Chris