Undercoating:. Leave it or remove it?

Bdubbs

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I could see you more doing it to your '65 Mustang (if it was needed).

How many miles on your '93 Fox, Brady? And is that factory undercoating?
The 93 has around 27,500 miles.
I think a ton of Foxbody cars had that done at the dealer. Zeibart was a thing around here:
Brady did you have an original window sticker or Marti report? Would be interested to see if undercoating is on the Window sticker.
Interesting that the Pacifica Hybrid I spec’d at the dealer had the option of PPF on some body areas. No undercoating option tho.
-J
I'm still waiting on hopefully getting the window sticker from the original owner. I do have some form of a Marti report. I'll be ordering the other version.

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SicOne

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That's the machines. There are places that will do it. That's how I would go about it. I'll likely leave it alone.

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I think places are few and far between, Especially as a service. Fortunately there is a sand blasting company in Hastings, emptypockets4x4.com, they do "dustless blasting" and from my understanding that is dry ice.

I know the car won't see salt but I would still remove it. Undercoating has been known to actually cause rusting if not done perfect with a quality product. Being it is unknown. It doesn't seal out moisture but will retain it more so. Being from MN myself, I know our humidity levels and I wouldn't trust it, But my truck met its fate from the undercoating and ate my lower cab bad! BTW beautiful stable from what I've seen.
 

Bdubbs

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I think places are few and far between, Especially as a service. Fortunately there is a sand blasting company in Hastings, emptypockets4x4.com, they do "dustless blasting" and from my understanding that is dry ice.

I know the car won't see salt but I would still remove it. Undercoating has been known to actually cause rusting if not done perfect with a quality product. Being it is unknown. It doesn't seal out moisture but will retain it more so. Being from MN myself, I know our humidity levels and I wouldn't trust it, But my truck met its fate from the undercoating and ate my lower cab bad! BTW beautiful stable from what I've seen.
Thank you,. I'll have to look into them a bit. Luckily, my shop is fairly dry and that's where the car will be most of the time.

I'm starting to think this was possibly done by the dealer when the car was new. It's spent it's whole life in Wisconsin until this past November.

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SicOne

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Thank you,. I'll have to look into them a bit. Luckily, my shop is fairly dry and that's where the car will be most of the time.

I'm starting to think this was possibly done by the dealer when the car was new. It's spent it's whole life in Wisconsin until this past November.

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Is it hard or more rubbery? It don't look porous in the photos anyway.

Chances are you will be fine, Unfortunately if not, by the time you notice it is too late, I noticed mine and then my cab corner was gone lol. With it being a midwest car increases the chances that it was done right and not just slapped on to make a sale.
 

specracer

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they do "dustless blasting" and from my understanding that is dry ice.
Typically "dustless" blasting is a traditional media blast (sand etc) but with water and a rust inhibitor. The water keeps the dust down.
 

Bdubbs

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Is it hard or more rubbery? It don't look porous in the photos anyway.

Chances are you will be fine, Unfortunately if not, by the time you notice it is too late, I noticed mine and then my cab corner was gone lol. With it being a midwest car increases the chances that it was done right and not just slapped on to make a sale.
I'll honestly have to look again. It almost feels "hard".

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Detroit Iron

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I removed some of the undercoating on my 92 coupe by myself. It's a giant mess and total pain in the ass. It looks like you have the rubberized stuff that was pretty common back in the 90s. Since you have a low mile, mint car that you plan on keeping for the long run, I would spend the money and have it dry ice blasted. It's really the only way to get in the nooks and crannies, the fox body has lots of them. The one good thing is that all the metal and paint underneath will be factory fresh. I say go for it, you'll recoup the money if you ever want to sell.

Here are some pictures of my DIY project. The Goo Gone stuff works great for breaking down the undercoating, it turns it into mush. To get all of it off using this method you need to remove the transmission, driveshaft, exhaust, etc. The dry ice blasting should be able to get in there no problem without removing anything.

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CobraBob

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I agree with @Detroit Iron about trying to get it dry ice blasted, if possible, but a cleaner and more complete job.

Nice low miles on the '93, Brady. If I was going to keep the car, I'd probably lean towards removing the undercoating. It will look much better, plus alleviate concerns about rust under it. There probably isn't any, but.....
 

Bdubbs

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I removed some of the undercoating on my 92 coupe by myself. It's a giant mess and total pain in the ass. It looks like you have the rubberized stuff that was pretty common back in the 90s. Since you have a low mile, mint car that you plan on keeping for the long run, I would spend the money and have it dry ice blasted. It's really the only way to get in the nooks and crannies, the fox body has lots of them. The one good thing is that all the metal and paint underneath will be factory fresh. I say go for it, you'll recoup the money if you ever want to sell.

Here are some pictures of my DIY project. The Goo Gone stuff works great for breaking down the undercoating, it turns it into mush. To get all of it off using this method you need to remove the transmission, driveshaft, exhaust, etc. The dry ice blasting should be able to get in there no problem without removing anything.

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Awesome! Yeah that looks like a lot work. I'll do some research and see if there is any reputable shops around here that do it.

Thanks
I agree with @Detroit Iron about trying to get it dry ice blasted, if possible, but a cleaner and more complete job.

Nice low miles on the '93, Brady. If I was going to keep the car, I'd probably lean towards removing the undercoating. It will look much better, plus alleviate concerns about rust under it. There probably isn't any, but.....
Yeah I'll definitely do some checking around on the dry ice blasting.

I may do it eventually, just looks so much cleaner without that undercoating.

I doubt it will happen this year and maybe not the following. But something eventually. Depends on if I can find a very reputable place that does it.

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Detroit Iron

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I think the dry ice blasting is relatively new in the car world. I'm sure more shops will invest in the equipment in the near future. Removing this crap is definitely worth it both for cosmetic reasons and knowing for sure there isn't anything bad hiding underneath. I don't think you have anything to worry about, your car has led a pretty good life compared to the typical fox.
 

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