When I talked to a local restoration shop, they suggested that we NOT strip the factory undercoating of my 69 unless we absolutely HAD to. His theory was that he'd rather not expose any of the metal that was currently sealed to oxygen, and simply recoat (I'm not sure how, but...) the underneath if it seemed solid. Plus, it's a crap load of messy, nasty work... I've ripped out the interior and carpet and the floor of the car is 99% perfect, the factory paint is intact, etc. The only area of any concern was a little surface rust under the driver's feet, but even it only looks superficial and can probably be cleaned with a wire brush, it's really that solid. Can I take this as a sign that resealing the bottom of the car is a legit plan? I've crawled under it and it looks good and solid. I know more when I take the rear springs off here in a few days, but right now I see no areas of real concern under the car or under the carpet... Is this a good practice or is just a form of saving money (time) in the wrong place? BTW, the car will be a driver and not a full-on show car but will live a pampered life in a garage, i.e no snow, no rain (on purpose, anyhow), etc...

I suspect it's more about not wanting to do that work than really believing it's not the right thing to do.

Best bet is to strip and clean then repaint and undercoat. If you are spending big bucks doing a full resto--why stay with 40 year old undercoating . You may find pin holes which are best to fix in this stage not when the car is all done. If you were just doing a repaint and all seemed solid, it would be ok to leave it.

Kev

At best there isn't any rust under the coating. At worst there's hidden rot. You can't tell until you take it off. It's between eight and sixteen hours labor. You likely will find the inner and outer wheel houses and nothing under the car has any seam sealer. I think leaving it alone is a short cut, depending on the overall price for the work.

Thanks for the replies! The guy's shop is T&M, so I doubt he really minds if I do it.. Besides that, it's not him that would do it, some high school kid probably! ;) Anyhow, it was only his opinion that it may not need done. It reality, it'll probably be me that strips the old crap off.. :(

Thanks!