Undercoat

[buggin65]

Hey you guys, I'm doing an amateur restoration on the fenders of my 65 bug that I've had since '92, proudly. What do you use for the coating on the underside of the fenders. It looks like tar material is original but most of it is gone. So what would you use? Rubber spray in a can feels too thin, so maybe brush on some Henry's roofing tar? Or, Hercules bed liner in the pint can? Other ideas? Thanks

[glutamodo]

If you want thick, 3M Schutz isn't bad. You have to get a gun designed to spray it.

[buggin65]

I'm kinda on a budget, what about the brush on Henry's roofing tar? But I am worried that it won't harden up or something because it is upside down and not exposed to the sun to dry.

[fly2kads]

I just bought a quart can of Rustoleum Undercoating for this job, but haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

[carcrazed]

Don't use the roofing tar as it will get sticky when it heats up. stop by your local auto parts store and get some spray undercoating.
_________________
1965 Herbie Replica. 1776cc dual Kads.
1961 Beetle 33,000 Original Miles

"Just When you think you are getting ahead, you're always wrong."

[glutamodo]

I used that Schutz that I mentioned above back in 1992 when I first restored my 62 Bug, to go over and augment the original undercoating, and it worked pretty good. Eventually it started to crack and flake off and since then I've just augmented it with rattle-can undercoating and I've found that works pretty good.

-Andy

[widefivebug]

[HippyTom]

I sanded and painted the inside of my fenders and fender wells. You may be able to find a Krylon spray paint that is very close to your color. Since it is under the rest of the paint it doesn't have to be an exact match as long as it is real close. Prep the surface correctly and take your time doing it in layers and it will look great. Then, once a year just use a red scuff pad to scuff any chips and shoot the few spots here and there with another layer or two. It will blend in.

If you don't want to deal with the painting, I would recommend using a good, high quality bed liner kit. That stuff is tough and durable and will handle road debris much better than undercoating. I used undercoating on the inside of floor pans before and regretted it. It doesn't set up to a durable finish like bed liner.

[panicman]

This stuff is good.

_________________
Plate of shrimp

[buguy]

Bed liner or chip guard are both good options. And if you wanted could be tinted to match the car.

[txoval]

Stay away from undercoat.

Go with cleaning, prepping, primer, paint...or

The bedliner or chip (rock) guard are other good options. I went with the rock guard option on my 54, which is nice, but in hindsight I wish I went with smooth body color.

Body color was stock, undercoat was a factory option

[buggin65]

Thanks you guys good to know, nix the Henry's roofing tar. I guess a good bed liner is a good alternative, no need to risk gooey tar not hardening.

Hippytom, I know what ya mean about the Krylon, tide pool was almost an exact match to the bahama blue, but they discontinued it, now i dont have anymore touch up paint!! I have a local paint shop color match the paint and put it in a single use rattle can.

[Aynthm]

I used about 4 cans of this about 5 years ago and nothing has ever stuck to it in summer. It does what it is meant to do and has not cracked or chipped. I only used it on the fenders.

[Sharp64]

[HippyTom]

Check Rustoleum colors. They have a large selection also.

[panicman]

I used 4-5 cans of the SEM chip guard on my wheel wells and fenders. Notice in the pic below that you can see all of the factory welds; the finish flows very smooth. You can paint color on top of the chip guard also, and I doubt anyone would know (I decided to mask these areas off to save some $$)

This chip guard has now been on the car for years. There has been no lifting, cracking, or signs of incompatibility whatsoever. The finish wipes clean with a damp rag and looks new. Please disregard the droplets in the photo; I had just driven over wet streets when I took the picture.

The finish feels like smooth plastic, and it has a mild sound deadening quality. Post or PM if you have any questions.

_________________
Plate of shrimp

[Digger89L]

"Body color was stock, undercoat was a factory option"

Pretty sure that they didn't offer a factory option undercoating. Dealers did the undercoating ( "...and would you like to add undercoating, seat covers, whitewalls, and a radio?" ) as an add-on money maker. That's why you see some really crappy 'original' undercoating jobs. I've successfully used the Dupli-color rubberized spray-on undercoating on several vehicles ....and you can paint over it to keep the OEM painted underside look.
_________________
"If you can't fix it with pop rivets, crazy glue and duct tape, or hold it together with zip ties, velcro or magnets, it REALLY is broken."

[Motomazzo]

IMO, this stuff rocks. Eastwood products are great. Buy their gun. You can screw the quarts directly to the gun. Makes easy, quick and relatively clean work of it. You won't regret. If interested, check out my build thread for pics.

http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-s-rubberized-undercoating.html

Moto
_________________
Be Plant-Strong!! Watch "Forks Over Knives" on Netflix

'66 Sedan Project - http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=410718

R.I.P. - Mikayla. I miss you Baby girl.

[txoval]

You're correct, my wording was poor. I meant it as an option you could buy when new...

[buguy]

Rustoleum is just fine. Just make sure you don't put it on bare metal.