Underseal on chassis

[HCA]

Does anyone have any experience of removing underseal/rubberised paint in quantity? Does blasting do the trick or is it still only removed mechanically?

My only complaint with the car I bought is that someone in the past went mad with rubber paint to the point the whole [Spyder] chassis is covered in it, right down to the wishbones and engine legs. There is absolutely no reason for it, there is no rust or accident damage to hide.

I am slowly thinking that the most economical way forward is a new chassis... Unless anyone knows any magic..

[JonB]

Eh up

You only just bought that car... That's a bit of a bummer, but is it really a problem? Is there evidence of it rusting underneath?

If you're going to replace the chassis because of it, well, you're taking the body off. So you could just do that anyway, then get in there with a scraper, blowtorch, chemicals, whatever. Nothing ventured, right?

[pharriso]

get in there with a scraper, blowtorch, chemicals, whatever. Nothing ventured, right?

Please don't do that, you will set the car alight! Crazy advice

The coating has protected the chassis, while it may not be pretty it has & continues to do it's job.

[Grizzly]

If you are prepared to separate the chassis, the best way of doing it is by having it chemical dipped but it will be stripped back to bare metal.

You can remove small area's with thinners or white spirits depending on how long it's been on for but if it's been on long enough to go hard your going to struggle.

[HCA]

Hi Jon!

You are right, I should not complain as I knew it was there from the start! It is just whilst waiting for my tank, I am looking at other jobs to do. put in the new starter motor - I cannot get the spanner onto the bolt holding the crossmember! Look at the suspension bushes - can't begin to get any spanners on! After time scraping and cleaning, one gets fed up after a while!

I will just have to put up with it. I can think of better places to put a couple of k than on a new chassis...

Any movement on your car?

Chris, yes, much as I thought. And expensive, and my thoughts that economically it would be the cost of a new one! That is not going to happen,
I could easily live with it if only they had stripped the chassis before and used new fixings to hold everything on instead of going in like a bull in a china shop!

[nigelrbfurness]

I haven't tried this personally, but I'm told that using a freezer aerosol like plumbers use to freeze pipes works very well on rubberised underseal. You freeze a section then you can chip it off easily in big chunks. Allegedly. Worth a try; heating it makes it even more sticky and horrible than it is already and fumes won't do you any good either. I'd say its worth a try.

[JonB]

Yeah, had a very promising viewing today with a proper enthusiast. Should know by midweek.

Regarding my suggestion, let me clarify. I meant, take the body of then have at it. If you decide you need a new chassis, well, the body’s already off. I did not mean to imply using a torch without removing the body first...

Ooh just seen the freezer suggestion, good one. Try an electronics freeze spray too. The stuff is quite cheap. Used to cool electronic components down to test for heat related failure modes.

So I think I’ll withdraw my blow torch comment...

[HCA]

Well, Nigel, that was an ace suggestion!
I had some pipe freezer on the shelf and tried a bit this morning. It did not loosen the underseal, but with chiselling with a pallet scraper, it came of in solid scabs. I would not like to do a whole chassis, but around the overpainted nuts and bolts, far better than heat.
So thanks for that!
I plan on doing engine and gearbox this winter, so might drop the chassis, take everything that hangs off the chassis off and clean them and then continue the underseal around the parts of the chassis the po missed so it just looks a bit more thought out.