Undercoating

Ken Arms

Ken Arms

Well-known member
Can anyone tell me if Ford undercoated cars when new? My 34 has gobs of it inside the body and out. Ken
 
Yes, in a few places like the inside of doors and 1/4 panels as a sound deadener that I know of.

I built and raced Ford modified hardtops in the 50's. We cut out the inside of doors and the window channels to lighten the cars, you could see it clearly. Now I wonder if that was a good idea, because we then installed roll bars and side bars inside the car to protect the driver! Mark
 
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The older cars were sound deadened as described above. In the late 40s dealers started undercoating them, it was an add on the purchase price. I personaly undercoated the 39 convertible I drive at lot 30 years ago. I had it on the lift the past few days and it still looks good. This is not a show car but a driver. The undercoating not only preserves the floor, body and fenders but also makes it quieter. Use the rubberized type if you use it. G.M.
 
I used 3M BodySchutz on the underside of the body and 3M Road Guard for the underside of the fenders. Road Guard was then covered with body color paint which appears then correct, rather than black. I was also concerned about abuse from road elements chipping the paint or corroding the surface. Doors had alot of sound deadner and no additional was needed.
 
back in the day when these cars were used every day. in the fall when you brought your car in for a grease job for a little extra we sprayed the bottom of the car with a specaal rust treatment . it was 50%used oil & 50% gasoline. as strange as it sounds it worked .the guys that did not want the spraying there cars rotted in no time the ones we sprayed never had a rust peoulbem & i lived in the rust belt
 
I've heard people with 1941 Lincolns say that theier cars were undercoated. I don't know if that was factory or dealer applied though. I have a 1946 Lincoln that was undercoated. I Think the Lincolns were under coated to make them quiet.
 
So the undercoating in the bottom of my doors on my 41 Ford was done at a dealer? I would have thought since you had to remove the door panels to do that. It would have been done at the factory. Huh,learn sumthin new every day.
 
To clarify, undercoating applied "under" was not a factory option. The same or similar was factory applied as soundproofing to interior panels at the factory.
 
I sandblasted the underside of my 47 when I was 25, because I thought it was caked with road grime and grease, I put it up on jack stands and crawled up underneath and went to work as I blasted I'm thinking this stuff is really on there, when I realized it isn't road grime or grease it was undercoating, needless to say I continued on and took it all of, not sure if that was the best thing for it, but I did primer it and then painted it years later, the car has always been inside, and to this day it's very clean and spotless on the underside.
 
peewee2you said:
I sandblasted the underside of my 47 when I was 25, because I thought it was caked with road grime and grease, I put it up on jack stands and crawled up underneath and went to work as I blasted I'm thinking this stuff is really on there, when I realized it isn't road grime or grease it was undercoating, needless to say I continued on and took it all of, not sure if that was the best thing for it, but I did primer it and then painted it years later, the car has always been inside, and to this day it's very clean and spotless on the underside.
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my 48 coupe is under coated i figure by the dealer when sold new
 
I put a window regulater in a 41 Ford coupe with 12,000 miles on that someone rung the square off turning it the wrong way. The paint was shinny like new inside with the sound deadening but I don't recall down in the bottom. I go by his place every day and have a key. I will pop a few clips off and look down the bottom and see what's there. G.M.
 
My 53 has undercoating as well. I just assumed the previous owner had it done, but after reading this thread maybe not.
 
My 51 Lincoln had undercoating sprayed inside the doors from the factory. It extended about half way up the door from the bottom. The underside was not undercoated. My car was from a western dry climate so rust was not a big problem.
 
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