7 hours later and half of the frame is done . . .

[Allan Songer]

OK. I am cleaning up the underside of the '56--this is not going to be a show car, but with the rear axle, springs, shock, bumper brackets and gas tank out of the way it just looked SO easy to clean up the undercarriage a little bit. And so, after pressure washing everything with degreaser on Friday I crawled under the car with about 20 sheets of 100 grit wet-dry sandpaper, a spray bottle of Krud Kutter and spend FOUR AND ONE HALF HOURS hand-sanding the back half of the frame. I did use a palm sander where I had enough room. I then wiped all of the clean metal (I didn't get ALL of the original paint off) with lacquer thinner. I followed this up with a nice, thick coating of POR-15 in semi-gloss black applied with a foam brush. The frame looks FANTASTIC!!!! Seven hours later I am BEAT and the tips of my fingers are raw and bleeding (shoulda worn gloves, but I just HATE handsanding ANYTHING with gloves on!).

But now the frame looks like a silk top hat on a hobo! The original factory undercoating looks dull and grey.

So I have a question! Can I spray a thin coating of 3M undercoating OVER the original stuff? I have never done this, but it sure seems like a fairly easy way to go "the rest of the way" before putting everthing back in place.

Once the rear end is finished I'll be doing the FRONT half of the undercarriage in the same manner.

[PackardV8]

Hi, Alan,

Correct me if I mis-remember, but this hand-sanded frame, which no one can see, is on the car which started out planned as a flat-primer, Mexican blanket street racer?

As to spraying new primer over old, I suggest a scraper test somewhere out of sight. On my '56 C-body, large patches of undercoat were detached from the metal, but still holding together by its own bond.

thnx, jack vines

PackardV8

[Allan Songer]

quote:Originally posted by PackardV8

Hi, Alan,

Correct me if I mis-remember, but this hand-sanded frame, which no one can see, is on the car which started out planned as a flat-primer, Mexican blanket street racer?

As to spraying new primer over old, I suggest a scraper test somewhere out of sight. On my '56 C-body, large patches of undercoat were detached from the metal, but still holding together by its own bond.

thnx, jack vines

PackardV8

Guilty as charged! I dunno what got into me. It just looked so EASY until I crawled under the car. I just kept looking at the NEW springs, the FRESHLY painted rear axle, the NEW shocks, the clean-as-whistle gas tank and bumper brackets and thought I'd slap some paint of the frame. Dumb.

The undercoat is solidly attatched to the undercarriage--I tested it in serval spots and the only place it has chipped away is on the very bottom of the spare tire well--and there it looks more SCRAPED off than falling off.

By the way, the car will still get a primer paint job and Mexian blanket upholstery unless I get a windfall somehow. I had a "less than ten grand all in" budget and I can get there ONLY if I forget about paint and upholstery. The chrome will get done only because there isn't much of it and I like the look of shiny new chrome with flat black paint.

If I sell some rare jazz LPs that I never listen to I might be able to put some seat covers on and have a pro shoot some SHINY black paint. Time will tell.

But the question remains! Can I shoot some of the 3M rubberized undercoating OVER the factory stuff? I am talking about a REALLY thin coat.

[Dick Steinkamp]

I feel your pain, Allen. It is tough, nasty work. But in the end, 14 (or 20 or 30) hours to clean and detail the undercarriage is small potatoes in the scheme of the whole project and REALLY makes a difference IMHO. The devil IS in the details [^].

I personally don't see a problem with spraying a thin coat of undercoat over the CLEAN, WELL ADHERING original. In fact, you might just fog on some good semi flat paint over it. It would look the same.

[bams50]

My experience is the factory stuff's brittle. On the Daytona I'm doing, I tapped it with a hammer and it al popped right off...

I'd think you'd want to do that before you sprayed anything else on.



Robert (Bob) Andrews Owner- Studebakeracres- on the IoMT (Island of Misfit Toys!)
Parish, central NY 13131

"Some people live for the rules, I live for exceptions"- 311

"With your Lark you're on your own, free as a bird, alive as a Lark. You've suddenly discovered that happiness is a thing called Larking!"

[Allan Songer]

I hit it pretty hard and it didn't budge. My experience too is that the stuff falls off in big, flat chunks with little effort--but this car is different. Maybe because it sat for 40 years in the same place in the San Fernando valley? I dunno. The frame had almost ZERO rust--not even SURFACE rust--just DIRT and GREASE and LOTS of it! There was a tiny bit of surface rust on the rear crossmember.

I'm going to give it a try. Maybe with some Krylon sem-flat black as Dick suggests!!

[Jessie J.]

I've done it, quick way to spiff things up to look like new for a good long while, and it has never caused me any problems. If the old undercoating ever does "let go" you will be none the worse off, just chip off the loose areas and respray.

[Dick Steinkamp]

quote:Originally posted by Allan Songer

I hit it pretty hard and it didn't budge. My experience too is that the stuff falls off in big, flat chunks with little effort--but this car is different. Maybe because it sat for 40 years in the same place in the San Fernando valley? I dunno. The frame had almost ZERO rust--not even SURFACE rust--just DIRT and GREASE and LOTS of it! There was a tiny bit of surface rust on the rear crossmember.

I'm going to give it a try. Maybe with some Krylon sem-flat black as Dick suggests!!

My '54 Starliner was the same. I ran a putty knife over every square inch of the undercoating. Some popped off and I worked that area more to be on the safe side, but most was stuck fast. Same with the '53 Commander (The Ute) I'm doing now. You'd need a blowtorch and some strong solvent to remove the undercoating.

Also this Pink '55 Commander I'm doing now. I was under it yesterday and looked up at the rear crossmember. There was the secret serial number just as plain as day...with no clean up needed to be able to see it.

[barnlark]

This same time last year I was under mine doing the same thing, Allan. Wire brushes, four kinds of putty knives and a drill with a round brush for the front end to get the desert dirt and sand off the suspension parts. "Feel your pain," indeed! Long, nasty, dirty hours until late June. Like Dick said, though, well worth it at the end. Well, I say end. I have been under mine lately, fine tuning the details with a bright light and it's amazing what you can miss unless the whole car is upside down properly.
Mine was in Arizona until '96 or '97 so my Lark's undercoating sounds like yours... on there hard as heck. I decided to just fill in the small areas that came off with a chunky undercoating and the 3M stuff until it matched. I then painted it with the NAPA industrial coating paint. Not as semi-gloss as I'd like, but looks very clean now, which is all I wanted. I may still have paint on the back of my ears, not sure! What a messy job just painting. I had the new tank, shocks, diff., brake and fuel lines as do you and it really is nice to have a clean frame and body under that tank and everything. Now I know why they charge the big bucks for that job. Anyone who has done that, appreciates it when they see it done by any proud owner.
Good luck, sounds like a lot of rare Jazz records out the door to get it all the way you want it!

[Allan Songer]

Yep, same here-- secret serial number is as plain as day.

Too bad it sat with no passenger door window for all those years. then maybe I wouldn't have had to replace part of the floors.

By the way, the undercoating was STUCK FAST the to backside of the rotted out sections I had to cut out of the floors. The drivers floor was just about perfect with factory paint, but the passengers floor had a 6" hole in it and BOTH of the passenger floor areas were totally rotten. Never saw THAT before. Of course, here in SoCal I have come across more Studebakers with perfect floors that those with rot.

[barnlark]

Were they still using the hidden serial numbers in '59? I didn't see one.

[vegas paul]

DeWalt makes a VERY stiff wire wheel attachment for their small angle grinder that works wonders. Available at Home Depot, this is a cheap way to save some elbow grease, and fits in small areas.


Las Vegas, NV - Stop by, coffee's on!
'51 Champion Business Coupe G899965 10G-Q4-1434

[N8N]

if you choose not to strip the undercoating and/or apply new, I'd prefer to seal it completely with a coat of chassis black or similar paint OVER the undercoating. Looks great and cleans off with a hose. The undercoat will soak up a LOT of paint though.

nate

--
55 Commander Starlight
http://members.cox.net/njnagel