A little background... Recently bought a '63 Impala 4 door for my 14 year old. Been working on it together. He's 6'6" already, so hard to fit in an earlier car Hasn't run in awhile, needs motor work, but we have time and so are planning to go through most of it so it is reliable and smooth, especially things like brakes, fuel tank, fuel lines, suspension bushings, etc. When he starts driving, it will be a 3 season car only, don't want it on the salt here in Indiana. My goal is to get it in good shape mechanically, redo the interior (carpet, seats, stereo) and if the kid wants to do a frame off one day on it, he can do that on his dime and time. It isn't going to cross the block at Barrett Jackson soon. Just want to try to "preserve" it from a body perspective. I own a machine shop, but don't wanna put the time/money into doing a frame off on this thing. That brings us to the body. The paint is decent, good enough to run with for a few years at least. Trunk is fine, front sheet metal is good, doors are good, outer rockers are not too bad. Frame has one bad spot, I can get to it and fix. Problems are p***enger side inner rocker, outer edges of the floors in a couple of spots and a couple of floor supports. I can get most of it patched and welded without issues. With all of that background... I would like to clean up the underside as best I can, even though not going frame off. There is the usual mud/crud and surface rust, on the body and frame. What is the best way to handle - both in tools and paint? I have been using an angle grinder with a wire brush on it and it has been pretty effective, hard to get in the corners though. ***uming I get it cleaned up, what is the best way to try to protect it, something like POR 15? Sorry for the long post, I figure alot of that matters though.
I didn't know we were supposed to clean up the underside of the body on cars like that. I never did anything to the underside of my 55. edit: But they were originally red oxide primer under there, where the body color overspray didn't reach. If he wants it kind of original looking, that's what I'd use. If not, some type of black paint would cover things up pretty well.
Sounds like you have a good plan, but remember POR-15 stands for Paint Over Rust. So clean the crud off and let it sit for a few days and get a decent coat of surface rust on it. Dont worry because POR seals to the point that no air or moisture can reach the rusty metal. without moisture and oxygen the metal can not continue to oxidize so it really REALLY slows down the rusting process. If you weld in some patches make sure to seal them good with a weld through paint on the surfaces that can not be reached after its welded in like the inside of the rockers.
From your post, I guess you have the patching and welding part down. Your asking for an easiest or best way to clean up scale rust and undercoating and general **** underneath? and then what to do with it? I wish there was an easy, not so dirty way to do the job, but there isn't. I usually use a heat gun or propane torch and putty knife to remove the old undercoating. If I can't media blast as in your case, I then use wire wheels, angle grinders, DA's or whatever works to get the job done. Once I have it clean and prepped, I will shoot some epoxy on it and then some "Lizard Skin". I really like the Lizard Skin. Little spendy but worth it in my opinion. You can then sand and paint on top of the L. Skin, or just leave as is.
I have a portable blaster, and where my shop is, I could probably do it outside and get away with it, would just be a bit messy. I don't know the environmental regs on that (we do fixtures, tooling, custom machines - no cars or body stuff) but it's probably not legit.
After or before cleaning.Power wash+ degrease .You could under coat floor boards and rustoleum spray frame.
Best tool for that job is a young kid about 12 years old with a sharp chisel and some rustoleum. At least that's what my dad used to use me for.
Wire cup brush on a 4 1/2 grinder then spot blast long sleves and goggles some of the old under coats are rubberized a twisted cup brush will do it then theres less **** to blast off. Hope this helps
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