Underseal

[DevonGTV]

Hi everyone
I am new to this forum and more notably new to Alfa Romeos having recently bought a 72 2000 GTV. Anyway whilst not in need of major work it does need some, one of the tasks I would really like to do is to remove the underseal so a) I can see the true condition of the body/pannels and b) I perhaps somewhat foolishly subscribe to the belief that once underseal starts to flake it does more harm than good. Can anyone suggest the best method for underseal removal obviously the less time consuming and less costly the better but any help is much appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Alister

[Mr. C.]

Hello and welcome to the AlfaBB and the fun world of Alfa driving.

Provided the underseal is of the soft asphalt or rubberized type, it will come off with kerosene or Eastwood's "Under Gone". If you can pull a bit off with your finger nail it is the soft type. Kerosene is not pleasant to work with. The Eastwood stuff is better. It sells for $10 US per aerosol can.

www.eastwood.com

[DevonGTV]

Many thanks will see if I can get hold of it or the UK equivelent.
Alister

[tubut]

Hi Alister,

Welcome to AlfaBB!

With respect to removeing undercoating, I recommend elbow grease and chisels (see here). It's a long and ime consuming process (about 3 weeks for my car) but it will give you a very good understanding where the metal may have sarted to corrode due to failure of the undercoating (no adhesion of the undercoating means air could get to the metal). Depending on where and how difficult the undercoating is to remove, you may decide to leave it in certain areas -- an option that disappears after you use stripping chemicals on those areas.

Good luck,

Ruedi

[Touringspider]

Another option is to use a heat gun to soften up the underseal prior to attacking it with the scrapers and chisels. Ruedi's points about the advantages of non-chemical methods are well founded.

Arno Leskinen
AROC-USA National Concours Chair
102
115
116

[DevonGTV]

Thanks for the tips hope to make a start on it soon.
Alister

[Mr. C.]

I don't understand what you guys are talking about. You use the chemical on an area at time. Spray it on and then scrape off the under coating. Same o, same o, but the scraping is easier. And you don't risk making holes with your chisel.

[pathung]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubut Hi Alister, Welcome to AlfaBB! With respect to removeing undercoating, I recommend elbow grease and chisels (see here). It's a long and ime consuming process (about 3 weeks for my car) but it will give you a very good understanding where the metal may have sarted to corrode due to failure of the undercoating (no adhesion of the undercoating means air could get to the metal). Depending on where and how difficult the undercoating is to remove, you may decide to leave it in certain areas -- an option that disappears after you use stripping chemicals on those areas. Good luck, Ruedi