Picking a Shop for Undercoating

[postjosh]

Hi. I'm a nubie to TheSamba. I just purchased a '93 EuroVan which I'm having shipped from Washington state to my home in New York City. Because I live in an apartment in a crowded city, I don't really have the option of doing the undercoating myself.

My question is what should I look for when hiring a shop to do the undercoating. Since the EuroVan is old and has some surface rust, I'm sure it will need extensive prep before the undercoating is applied. A chain shop like Ziebart most likely would just spray on top of existing rust. So, I'm thinking I should look for a good body shop that does undercoating. Ask them to put it up on lift and go over with me what they will do or repair before spraying.

What should I look out for? What questions should I ask. I'm willing to drive anywhere in the New York area, if anyone knows a shop that does exceptional undercoating work.

Thanks!

[theKbStockpiler]

I had a experience with my local Ziebart last year when I suggested a family member have a new-used car undercoated. Don't go there for any reason! They are an absolute hack/slop shop. People either Never go back or don't inspect the job. Your car will be worth less after they preform a service. If you are thinking how bad can they be?

-Some areas of the car had undercoating dripping off while they missed other spots.
-They do not remove the wheels 'because of insurance reasons'.
-They do not use cavity wax in the frame rails. What good is the rest of the car if the frame rots?
- I had to heat my garage for about 10 hours to get it to dry. It was in late fall in NY.It was not even tacky when the car was released.
They oversprayed everywhere, inside of rims ,exhaust ,wiring ,shocks ,springs etcetera. They just use one nozzle and hope for the best. No masking or even using a piece of cardboard to stop overspray.
-They damaged the weather stripping around one of the doors by stepping on it when they got in.
-They left a mark in the door panel by kicking it when the monkey got out.

The undercoating they use is really good but as far as craftsmanship you might as well find a big dip in a parking lot somewhere , make a huge puddle of undercoating and drive your car through it a few times. Absolute Total Joke. Oh and don't forget to kick your own door panel and damage the weather stripping to enjoy the total experience.

The Bill was about $750.
When I left a honest review of the service the manager wanted to car back to make it right.
I told him that they already did enough damage the one time. His excuse was that they do about 80 cars a day and demanded I remove the review.I told him he should do a decent job and he would get positive reviews.
Have a body shop repair the rust and make sure they do a good job by inspecting it your self after each stage. It should be easy and a fraction of the cost to undercoat the van yourself when they are done. You want asphalt based undercoating.
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My beetle is not competing with your beetle. I have the yellow beetle in my town. There is a red one, a green one ......
Use all safety devices including a mask.

[postjosh]

Thanks theKbStockpiler. What you just experienced is exactly what I sam trying to avoid. I think I need to find a body shop that does rust repairs. I've been looking at Yelp under undercoating and then looking for places that are part of a body shop. Most paces that do rust protection are associated with an auto detail-er or a glass repair shop. I don't see them doing a proper rust repair prep job.

[scottyrocks]

My advice concerning any type of bodywork is to find a good shop you can trust and use it exclusively.

If I wanted to have done what you want to have done, I would call my body shop and ask them before anyone else.

If you'd like a reference, PM me. I'll tell you who I use. Call and talk to them, and if they do it, make your own decision.
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“If you care for a thing long enough, it takes on a life of its own, doesn't it? Mending old things, preserving them, looking after them – on some level there's no rational grounds for it.”
– D. Tartt, 'The Goldfinch'

[postjosh]

thanks scotty. i definitely agree that it's important to develop a relationship with a body shop when you purchase a 25 year old camper

i will pm you...

[theKbStockpiler]

To do the car right you have to use cavity wax first because it is wax mixed with thin oil and the oil will break down the undercoating. Use a spray wax kit first then give it a few days for the excess to drip out. Then wipe down the car with mineral spirits where the cavity wax accumulated on the outside of the frame rails so it won't effect the undercoating. I think asphalt undercoating is the best. Bitumen sounds the best but you have to heat it and then brush it on. I tried to source asphalt undercoating on the net and they charge a arm and a leg for shipping for it. You might try the RustStore. Tree Pruning Sealer is about $6 a can at a HomeCenter and is supposed to block water out. It goes on thin so you have to put on a few coats but does not leave voids. RustOleum water based undercoating leaves voids so I would put on at least 2-3 coats if I used it even though it goes on thicker.

Dealers use a product that is a spray that leaves an oil film. Some people swear by it but it is about $500 a treatment.
_________________
My beetle is not competing with your beetle. I have the yellow beetle in my town. There is a red one, a green one ......
Use all safety devices including a mask.

[postjosh]

unfortunately, i don't have the option of doing it myself but i will keep all this in mind when i discuss it with what ever shop i'm talking to. thank you!

[Mike Fisher]

I would brush on www.masterseriesct.com silver and or black. It protects and looks good! Dan & Neena work on their squareback on the streets of NYC.
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[postjosh]

i might do some small things on the street but i'm not crawling under the van.

[theKbStockpiler]

I wonder if a any new cars get undercoated at the dealer or by a contractor for the dealer. I have seen old European cars that had a really good looking undercoat job but I have not been in the business for decades.
_________________
My beetle is not competing with your beetle. I have the yellow beetle in my town. There is a red one, a green one ......
Use all safety devices including a mask.

[c21darrel]

I used the Masterseries silver, then their topcoat and finished off with 3M undercoating. The gun was an extra $20 but well worth it. It still looks new after 6000+ miles and 4 years.
https://www.amazon.com/3M-08864-Schutz-Rubberized-...ng+and+gun
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[postjosh]

i thought i should post what i actually ended up doing after all the helpful advice here.

other than one ziebart shop in nj, i didn't find anything in the immediate vicinity of nyc. i eventually found some info online about a shop called rustoration.com in wapingers falls, ny, near poughkeepsie. it's basically a one man shop run by a guy named doug rose and i agreed to leave the van with him and he dropped me off at the train station.

doug specializes in rust repair and is a qualified metal worker/welder. his undercoating is a two step process derived from coatings that are designed for marine applications. he said third party undercoating has fallen out of favor because the franchise shops did a terrible job. according to doug, they just spray it on and often clog up the drain holes in the process.

he was very helpful in coming up with a plan for bringing my 270k mile eurovan back from years of neglect. he knows vw's and i believe he said he owned a vanagon once upon a time. he showed me a photo of a very cool type 2 pickup that he had done a full up restoration on.

stage one was inspecting the van and finding the areas that needed immediate treatment. he did a couple of welds underneath. one to reinforce the rocker panel and one by a jack point. he also ground down the rust anywhere on the surface of the van where it was bubbling the paint or worse. he covered bare metal with white primer to roughly match the van.

the plan for the future is...

stage two will be removing the windshield and dealing with the rust around the edges there. i also need to remove the door cards before i return because there appears to be some rust damage coming from there.

stage three will be body filler in a few spots and paint. i will also remove the mudflaps before paint.

stage four will be to bring it back to doug to finish the undercoating. he didn't do the wheel wells or go all the way to the edge of the underbody the first time because he said overspray will effect the paint job. after he finishes all the undercoating, i will either replace or remount the existing mudflaps.

there were some mechanical issues that occurred bringing the van upstate and doug was really great with suggestions even talking to local mechanics about fixing my brakes before i drove it home. in the end, he helped me arrange with aaa+ to flatbed it to my mechanic in queens to repair both the brakes and an oil seal leak.