Hello All, Anyone have any thoughts on what is the Best undercoating for areas such as the lower cab & frame rails ? I have some exposed areas but did not want thick tar like material. POR painting seems nice but expensive. Steve Owens
Undercoating Here is a photo showing my truck with undercoating from the firewall break down. It is a thin rubberized coating that can be painted. I am going to the shop where my truck is today so I will get you a name brand and find out whatever else there is to know. Bill
I assume that you'll need to get the metal down to bare and then prime before you apply the undercoat? Is there a primer that works best for this? Thanks for the info in advance. That truck's really coming together Bill! I bet you're really starting to get anxious!
He sanded the painted surface before applying the undercoat but he did not take it to bare metal. The product that he used is 3M Underseal rebberized undercoating Item# 08883. It comes in 19.7 oz. cans at about $20 each. It didn't say on the label how much area that covers. It is a little expensive but it looks good and can be painted over. By the way, in an earlier post I mentioned that my painter was starting to bellyache about losing money on my job. Well today he dropped the bombshell. He wants $2,000 more. I saw it coming.
Thanks for the information Tailgater. Sorry to hear about your painter issue Ouch !!!! Feel lucky mine is already painted. Good Luck, Steve
Ouch! Sounds like way back when I got started on my house. I can build the heck out of anything wood, but I don't do roofs. We have an old victorian two story with a more than 12/12 roof. The place where I worked had a roofing crew. They bid it at a very fair price. I told the lead guy EXACTLY what I wanted so he could bid accurately. After the job was done, he gave me the bill. $5,000 more than the bid! I came unglued. I told him that if he couldn't get any closer than that, after bidding roofs for 15 YEARS!!!! that he could go ahead and take me to court, 'cause he was just out of friggin' luck! Granted, the shingles were way up on my roof now, all nailed down- what was he going to do/ Take $5,000 worth of shingles off? I know you have a diiferent deal because your truck is in pieces and it would be hard to take it out of there at once, but if he ever plans on doin' business again, he might want to think long and hard about how he does his customers. How long did he say he'd been doing this kind of work? I bid 15 years of jobs, and always bid worse-case. Sometimes it didn't turn out- that's just the way it goes. I'm sorry for your situation. That stinks! Tell the guy people around the world now have seen his product and know his methods and unless he wants a yard full of vintage trucks with angry drivers, he better re-figure his cost.
Here's the deal The original quote was for $15,000 and included pretty much a turnkey job. I told him that I had a daughter in college and that it would not be fair to spend that much on a hobby. He "sharpened his pencil" and came back with $12,000. I talked it over with my wife and decided that it would be feasible to go ahead and get it done. If you are interested you can see the initial shots and the progress here: http://www.81x.com/tailgater/cars_and_trucks As you can see, he does good work. Here is what I have decided to do. I am going to tell him that he can either finish it for the amount agreed on or he can show me his records to date and we will settle and I will move my truck out of his shop. I would rather start with someone new than to have someone pull a bait and switch on me. Comments?
That's bullshyte!!!!! Look I work on cars for a living (flat rate tech) That means if I'm not wrenching I'm not getting paid. Every estimate that I make is fair to the customer as well as myself. If I get in a situation where the car is totally kicking my butt, then I can't have my service writer to call the customer and tell them I need more money because I undershot the estimate. I have to suck it up and do the right thing and finish the car. If this guy doesn't do this job and put the quality and pride into it then he is a coward and you can tell him I said that. This is what gives us in the automotive field a bad name and that really pisses me off!!!! I hope all comes out okay in your situation, but I think I would almost tell him to forget it because you don't want him to finish the rest of the truck and not do a good job at it.
Tailgater, I agree, you are in a tough situation, being in prgress already. Just a thought, in some states a written estimate is legally all that you are required to pay for a job. You might consider calling around to the state, or to an automotive agency in charge, if there is one, to find out your rights. It may help you to decide. For what it's worth, the guy may really be losing on the job, possibly having found more than normal issues, I don't know, but it does sound like he may not be that good at keeping you informed of progress and issues that may have come up. Good luck....Mike
I am sure he has found things that he didn't foresee. I thought that the $12K would have had a buffer amount in there to cover that. I do odd jobs for folks in addition to my regular job. I put in a bathroom for a lady that I work with. I did it on a cost plus basis but I added about 10% to what I thought it would cost because when you get into it you just never know what you will find. I would think that a guy who has owned his own body shop and has been doing it for many years would do the same. My honest opinion is that, when I turned down the $15K price he decided to bait and switch by saying he would do it at a lesser price then raise it later. I have decided to tell him that I have honored my end of the deal now he needs to honor his. I will let you all know how the standoff goes. Thanks for the comments.
Hey Tailgater, one thing that you might mention to him is the power of the internet. With a lot of negative press on this site as well as other sites, he might not be in a position to do what he did to you to others. A "bug" you might want to put in his ear. As a matter of fact, an ad in your local paper, or the threat of it, might get his attention also. Obviously a transplant because a native Vol wouldn't do that to someone!
I am sorry but not surprised to hear of this , 'Gator ~ it's the new way of doing Bizz-nezz doncha know I say screw this jerkoff , he's doing good work so far , this indicates he's done it all before and like the other guys said : we're pros in this bizz and sometimes you make a goof in the estimate and that's tough titties , do some more gravy work to make up for it , don't put the stones to the customer . BTW : rubberized undercoating is bad stuff ! it gets cracks in a couple years then water gets in underneath it and doesn't evaporate for 9 months or so , the entire time it's rusting your restored truck....
Nate, So if rubberized undercoating is not the stuff we should use what would you recomend ? Living up here in Northeast area we need something to help. Thanks, Steve
I just saw a new truck for sale. Underneath there seemed to be alot of paint. Undercoating was big when I was a kid. (60's) But it does seem that things have shifted away from that. How 'bout it Nate? By the way- look at this months "Custom Classic Trucks" to see how coooooooooool wide whites look even on something slammed down on the ground!
Does anyboby remember Ziebart rustproofing? Are they still in business? I remember it as a thin blueish color that they used to be sprayed underneath the body and they actually drilled holes in the doors and sprayed in there, etc, then plugged with cute little plastic plugs. We need to research this because i know that we "Ziebarted" our '63 Biscayne and never had rust through the '60's and '70's even on the front fender rocker panels that always rust out on Chevys.
Go to Ziebart.com and you will find a location near you by typing in your zip code to the store locator. I have a friend with a very large structural steel fabrication shop. His hobby during slow winter months is to rebuild his trucks (some hobby). with multiple overhead cranes and lots of accumulated equipment it's easy for him. He uses a product called "Chassis Saver". It is much like POR 15, only cheaper. Paint right over surface rust, etc. He swears by it and has been using it for years. He gave me a gallon of it and I will be applying it to my frame very shortly. Made by Magnet Paint and Shellac Company, 1 (800) 922-9981. It is not a rubberized product and is paintable after it is applied. Andy
Well ; I do recall Ziebart but it didn't help our brandy new 1969 Jeepster all that much , like any undercoating , the ability / skill and work ethic of the applier makes all the differance in the world... I'd say POR-15 or the stuff Andy mentioned is the way to go these days as the modern undercoatings are more rust proof than the rubberized stuff , that was popular not only due to being cheap and easy too apply but it also was great sound deadener too ~ it made your cheapo $1679.00 1962 Chevy stripper almost as quiet as your uncle Robert's new Buick Century The spray on bedliner stuff should work well too . BTW : when was the last time anyone saw the Ziebart logo ? back in the day it was an Olde English knight's armored helmet ...... Where's this classic truck I'm supposed to look at ? . 'round here there's LOTS of primered " Rusto-Rods " with big red wheels and wide whites , not my cuppa tea as they're super uncomfortable to ride in over 20 minutes or so but the poseurs love 'em and they do look pretty sharp .
The trucks are on the cover of "Custom Classic Trucks" magazine. You have the same thing as what they're showing Nate. All you have to do is take out your springs and shocks and it would look about the same! BTW- who's the lady in the photo of your truck? She's smiling- whad you do, leave the keys in the ignition? The picture you didn't post was the one of the backside of the truck as it speed away in a cloud of dust, right?
That's SWMBO and she's smiling because she was having a good time . She doesn't drive a stick shift and I only have the one slushbox equipped car so she doesn't drive any of my rigs . I'll have to go to the 7-11 and peruse the magazine rack for that truck I guess .
