Studebaker undercoat

[swvalcon]

Did the factory do the undercoat or was it done at the dealer? I have a rear fender on a hawk that I'am about to work on and where it was undercoated it was easy to install and I'am sure easy to see but did very little to prevent rust. Looks like more of a sale pitch item than to actually prevent rust. Where the real rust would start had no undercoat. The rear fenders and inner fenders should have been undercoated before the fender was installed. I'am sure if they had taken the time to ask a bodyman at the time he would have told them( No undercoat over here and over here.)

[Mike Sal]

Undercoating was actually more for sound proofing rather than rust prevention....although it was certainly marketed for rust by dealers and local garages as a way to make extra money.
Mike Sal

[StudeRich]

Up until 1954, Most of the Factory Undercoated Cars if not all, were covered on Top and bottom of the floors, Firewall to Rear of Trunk.

Some of the Non-factory undercoated Cars would have been done at Dealers.
And THEN, there is the possibility that your Fender or other Part was a wreck replacement hurriedly done by a Body Shop.

[swvalcon]

Stude Rich I have three sets of rear fenders for the 62-64 Hawks and this is the way all are done. Just undercoated in the wheel area on both inner and outer fenders. There is a baffle at the front and rear of the opening and that is where the undercoat stops. I'am sure the undercoat was done after the car was totally assembled.

[55s]

The build order for the Packard Hawk I just had painted had factory undercoating. It has less than 60K miles, I believe it is original, and it seems to be all over the bottom and inside the fenders. The good news is that there was virtually no rust.

[Pckstude]

I recently received a copy of the build sheet for my 1965 Wagon. It indicates undercoating from the factory.

[kmul221]

In my Packard-Hawk it was on the factory build sheet,put on after it was fully assembled.lt was every where but in the places where but the places where it would have done the most good.

[DEEPNHOCK]

My '61 Hawk had the factory tar put on in stone impact areas, but it was not considered 'undercoating'.
My Dad had the dealer do the 5 year guarantee undercoating before he picked it up at Pabich Motors in Roselle, IL.
That undercoating was super accurate, too.
5 year guarantee.
5 years and 5 minutes later the whole car was pretty much rusted through....

[Bordeaux Daytona]

I recently received a copy of the build sheet for my 1965 Wagon. It indicates undercoating from the factory.

Yep. Here's a copy of the window sticker of our '65. It says no charge. Sorry it's so large, it's from another post.
The frame rotted out towards the leaf springs. I have a '64 fixed roof that wasn't undercoated and the frame is a lot nicer so it's going to be used on the '65 with the X member swap.

[swvalcon]

Bordeaux. I see your car was shipped to Mn. and in Minneapolis at that. There is the reason for the rust. Back when I first started to do bodywork in the early 70's most cars here in Mn would start to show rust in just under 5 years maybe 6-7 if one of the better undercoats was applied when new.

[studegary]

Yep. Here's a copy of the window sticker of our '65. It says no charge. Sorry it's so large, it's from another post.
The frame rotted out towards the leaf springs. I have a '64 fixed roof that wasn't undercoated and the frame is a lot nicer so it's going to be used on the '65 with the X member swap.

It states "no charge" for the "aluminized rust proofing". It includes "070 undercoating" for what looks like an additional $23.50. It is the undercoating that led to more rust problems, such as on your frame. The undercoating got hard and separated from the metal leaving pockets to trap dirt and moisture, resulting in accelerated rust.

[Chris_Dresbach]

While leading tours through the plants, I had a former Studebaker employee who told me about the undercoating line. Somewhere near the end of the line in final assembly in both the truck plant and car plant there was a pit the cars would come over similar to old garage service pits. Down in the pit there was a guy with a spray gun applying the undercoating. That guy was always high due to poor ventilation in the days before OSHA.

[Warren Webb]

I have a 60 Lark 4 door that is now a parts car. I cut out the floor to use on the 59 wagon. When I removed the undercoating it revealed clean metal as if it was made yesterday. No doubt it was from the factory.

[pinehurstbob]

My 60 convertible was factory undercoated according to the build sheet. Its a South Bend build and it certainly preserved a lot of the body since the car was in Maryland from new till I bought it and restored it 11 years ago. The worst rot was in the torque boxes, where it appeared to have rusted from the inside out. Firewall was like new when rust proofing removed.
Bob

[JoeHall]

I recall reading in TW, undercoating was standard procedure in all 64 and later Studes. No longer an option that cost extra.