What did you cover when undercoating?

[Carl Beck]

Good Point Carl,

....snipped..... I have no intention of ever selling my Z. And I hope my daughter doesn't either..

Hi Ed:

Didn't we just see a thread somewhere where the person was restoring a 240-Z that he got from his Father-in-law??? hummm...... We better watch pretty closely just who our daughter are associating with.... ;-)

See: <a href=http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21248 TARGET=NEW>http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21248</a>

I have a son 36 and another 32 and my daughter will be 12 this year....

regards,

Carl B.

[Zs-ondabrain]

When I did the under coating on the 70' Z, It was for 2 major reasons. The first was to protect the metal from any further abuse and the second was for cosmetic and sound.

By undercoating everything under there, I have eliminated about 40% of the noise that you ussually get from large un-protected panels. My exhaust is loud enough and the stiffened suspension adds to the noise factor.

I just got done (yesterday) adding precisely placed patches of "Dynomat" to the inside of each outer door skin and to the noisy panels that are visible when the door panel is removed. By doing this, in small noisy areas rather than the intire door, I saved an a$$ load of money. Dynomat is NOT cheap!!

Result! Door speakers are louder and outside noise is minimized toa point that I can actually hear myself think. The new 5-speed and lower RPM's coupled with the dynomat'd doors and undercaoted underbelly actually allows the occupants to carry a conversation inside the Z at 70 MPH with out yelling.

Keep in mind that each door also has 1) 4" 2-way speaker, 1) power window set-up, 1) door lock actuator and 1 led where the door lock knob used to be.

The straps for the power windows help tie the panels together and bolting the actuator to the skin also helps reduse noise inside the door panel.

FWIW

Dave.

[mlc240z]

Ed,

i'd trade undersides with you anyday.

excellent point, Carl. i agree with you about a loss in value for a fully restored Z with improperly/over applied undercoating. if strict OEM is what you're looking for, it has to hurt. something to keep in mind depending on your intentions with the Z.

however, i don't think most of us here are looking for a garage queen/trophy winner. we want to drive and enjoy it.

as long as the process is adequately documented with a fair amount of pics at each stage, it would definitely increase the amount i'd spend on the car.

an unknown underbody covered in gunk (like mine!) is worth only so much since i don't know IF it's hiding anything. to see it done with love, care, and pics for documentation........ my wallet would definitely open wider even if it hurt. it would be worth it in the long run knowing i hopefully would NEVER have to touch it again, at least in my lifetime.

[a7dz]

I guess that I once again disagree with the common thoughts on undercoating. A couple of things to remember is was the coating put on right to begin with and what is your reasons and expectations for the use of undercoating. I just got through scraping the undercoating off of my 70 which was applied in 70. The only places that I had problems with the floor pans is where the under coating was removed. Scraped off or damaged some way. All the places that the coating was intact the metal is good. This product is like all others the prep is everything. I did have rust problems on the right floor pan not because of the undercoating but, because of damage to the floor pan stiffener. Probably by a jack used in tire shops to lift the cars up from under the frame. I have seen this same damage on several Z's where the stiffener is rolled over. Then it collects water and dirt is out of sight and before you know it the major rust appears. I am going to POR15 mine and then I will recoat it with an undercoating. Which one is still up in the air.

[Ed]

I guess that I once again disagree with the common thoughts on undercoating. A couple of things to remember is was the coating put on right to begin with and what is your reasons and expectations for the use of undercoating. snip.

You hit the nail on the head. Very often do we see Zed's for sale. Some of these are suspect from the get go. The pictures speak for themselves. You have a car that looks to be in o.k. condition but then the undercarriage has a "fresh" coat of rattle-can undercoating. Just makes you think, Hmm, what's he hiding???? But if the car is cherry, well documented restoration, AND fresh undercoating that looks immaculate, well what do you think then?

All good points so far.