To leave undercoat or not to leave

[Panzerjunky]

Good Evening gents
Starting my M151A1 restro bottom of vehicle is covered with undercoating leave and re-coat or remove? metal is good I just know on My M35A2 I removed it from the bed and it was a pain in the a-- do you guys see any reason to remove it and was that done at the factory or at unit level?
Thanks Jerry

[davegargiulo]

I would remove it.Looks so much better and undercoating traps H2o. Like most of us ,your Mutt will be garaged.I,m planning the same project on my 151 soon.You can use a butane or they sell at autobody supply some kind of remover for just that. Dave

[rickf]

I can tell you that when Diamondjim removed it from his A2 it was a nasty sloppy job. It did not want to come of. I would tap around with a ball peen hammer and listen for any soft spots indicating loose undercoating or rust and only address those areas.

Rick

[Weasel M29c]

Maybe hard to get a hold of but I have see the rally guys use liquid nitrogen. Danger! it is very "COLD".It gets poured on the in side/or out and then just tap the steel. Falls of like rain.Shatters like glass. Very hard to work with! DANGER WILL ROBINSON!

[mrdibbles]

Maybe hard to get a hold of but I have see the rally guys use liquid nitrogen. Danger! it is very "COLD".It gets poured on the in side/or out and then just tap the steel. Falls of like rain.Shatters like glass. Very hard to work with! DANGER WILL ROBINSON!

VERY good post Weasel. I like where you're coming from right now

[Horst]

the best way of removing it would be dry ice blasting. Perfect results but not cheap. I would remove it.

[battlebuggy]

Some mutts were undercoated by AMG at the factory. Most others were done by the MSS shops (now FMS). It stops or slows the rust. That has been proven by experience. Without a good rust preventative coating these things rot out faster than a 76 Datsun. If its in good shape then leave it. If you want it to be desert tan or green underneath, it is paintable after about a month so you can just coat over it. It is considered an advantage for both sound deadening and corrosion resistance to have it but is a bear to take off, and you will never get it out of all the channels where it is applied. It would be simpler to just buy an M151 without it if it bothers you to see it.

Glenn

[rickf]

Keep in mind that with the dry ice and nitrogen that you will also be taking off the undercoating from inside the rails. You have no way to remove the debris nor to recoat the inside of the rails.

Rick

[Horst]

Rick , not with dry ice blasting. At least not how it is done over here. Works like sand blasting but with dry ice instead. Will not go inside any rail.

I personally don't like any old coating as moisture might be trapped between it and the metal. I believe blasting , painting and wax is the way to go for a collector's item. Rails should be treated by a professional as most people don't have the required equipment to coate the inside of rails. There is a long lasting debate if that should be done with special formulated grease or wax. Grease yields the best results in long time testing but is the most difficult to apply.

[sirhc]

Whilst on this topic, mine was rustproofed from new.. there are red plugs all over it, filling the holes which were used to inject the coating. I need some more of these plugs, as I'm taking them all out to refill the cavities. Anyone know where I might get some?!

Thanks,

Chris

[mrdibbles]

Whilst on this topic, mine was rustproofed from new.. there are red plugs all over it, filling the holes which were used to inject the coating. I need some more of these plugs, as I'm taking them all out to refill the cavities. Anyone know where I might get some?!

Thanks,

Chris

You need to take one off and mail it in an envelope to Restoration Specialties. They specialize in these types of items and I've used them several times. Restoration Specialties will return the piece you send them once they use it to match it to their inventory.

http://www.restorationspecialties.com/

[Cobra5]

MIne was undercoated by the military and I only stripped off the areas where the coating was peeling. I shot blasted the area, repainted, and than reundercoated the entire underside. As far as the red plugs, I went to the local car quest paint supply store and bought black plastic body plugs. You should be able to get them at any auto parts store.