Well, I hate to tell you this…….but really there is no easy way. No matter what you use it’s still a lot of hard work.
I have yet to try Eastwoods “Under Gone”. Their website says it is for undercoating that can be imprinted with a thumbnail. It comes in an aerosol can, it’s also biodegradable and loosens the undercoating from the metal. Most of the undercoating that I have to remove is over forty years old and hard as a rock.

Photo courtesy of The Eastwood Company
The method that I use most often is with a scraper and nothing else. A real sharp scraper that will get under it and pop it loose from the metal.


I have also used a heat gun which works fairly well because it softens it up making it easier to scrape off. I have also used a torch which works really good. The only problem with using a torch is it catches the undercoating on fire, which really smokes up the shop. The smoke smells really bad and is not good to breathe. Then it falls on the floor burning so you have all of these little tar fires on the floor. To add to the fun, you have to be careful where you step or you will have hot tar stuck to the soles of your shoes. This is really bad if you forget to take your shoes off before you walk into the house.

So no matter which way you want to try, you are still going to need a scraper, some time, and some muscle. And if you have a big job like this to do. I know how you feel!









Stumble it!
1 response so far ↓
1 Jim Hathaway
// Nov 28, 2008 at 8:48 am
Thanks for the effort you’ve gone to in sharing the ‘49 Merc. convertible restoration effort. I’m just getting started on mine and expect that we’ll want to share notes on parts resources as time goes on.
Last week I took off the right side quarter and rocker panels. Mine appears to be a little worse than yours, but doable.
The car spent most of its life in the Chicago area getting rusted from the bottom up, and then 18 years in Florida getting corroded from the top down, before I picked it up.
I’m a pretty serious hobbyist located near Tucson. A couple of challenging street rod projects have gone through my shop since retirement, but never this level of rust!
I hope that your project continues to keep me motivated.
Thanks, Jim
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