52 lincoln fender protection?

ratrig

ratrig

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
I see this section hasn't been used in a while, so I going to wake it up again.
Im removing headlight buckets , chrome trim etc on my 52 Lincoln front fenders. Most of the nuts are covered with a thick (like 1/2" in some places ) tar like substance . It is very difficult to remove, but managed to dig out the nuts at least. My question is this: Was this done at the factory or has it been done afterwards. The metal underneath is like brand new and the color of the exposed metal( behind the wheel) is the original color. Im surmising these fenders where never off the car. Question 2: I am sandblasting everything, Will that remove the tar??
 
I know nothing, just old and stupid.

That sounds like the car was aftermarket undercoated at some time.

Careful with the sand blasting, in the wrong hands it can warp some panels.

Maybe a heat gun or halogen heat lamps for half a day and some engine de-greaser / varsol and a scraper (had some luck with a air powered gasket scraper)

BUT I don't know crap !
 
Had something like that on the 3 1952 Buick’s I took apart. Almost like a seam sealer on the bolts and clips...no rust under that stuff...came off at the sand blasters...if it’s the same stuff...I used a butyl rubber around the trim nuts when I put it back together..hopefully it will not rust for the next 70 or so years..Old Rays right about the blaster...lost 2 good fenders to heat warpage from one of the blaster guys...find a good guy and you should be good to go
 
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Thanks for the replies. I should have mentioned that the tar stuff is completely covering the whole front half of the fender. Not just the trim nuts.

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Nope. The blaster will not remove the tar. It will remove pretty much everything but the tar and oil and grease.
I use those cheap old pry bars that you buy at your local chinese tool store. They aren't any good for pry bars, even though they look exactly like the ones sold off the big tool trucks.
Sharpen the tip slightly, just enough to peel off the tar, but not enough to dig into the surface of the metal. It won't come off just pushing the scraper into the tar. Not enough force.
Start with the scraper (pry bar) or whatever, a few inches back, and take a run at it. Most of the time, the tar is old and hard, and it will just fly off the surface.
I've tried the heating with a heat gun method, and yes it works just fine, but makes one hell of a mess.
I've done this on fenders of almost every manufacture of vehicle, and when the tar is old and hard it works great.
 
Thanks John, There is a lot of it, even on all the fresh air ductwork in front of the wheel well on the inner fenders . I was hopeful the blasting would take care of it :(
Thanks for the scrapper trick.
There will be plenty more rookie questions to follow in the next few weeks as I will be stripping this car down to the bare shell. I will defiantly require some expertise in removing trim as there is a lot of it :) Meanwhile I am trying to figure out everything I can by myself and the google machine.
Thx for all the replies.
 
Ha..good lord...that’s a lot of tar...yeah mine wasn’t anywhere near that thick...probably because cars were from the south..was just on the nuts, clips and seams....be sure to take tons of pictures of everything you take off...and how it came off..tag and bag also....you might think you will remember where stuff goes back on ...but a picture will make sure you will remember....good luck..
 
JohnnyBgood said:
Ha..good lord...that’s a lot of tar...yeah mine wasn’t anywhere near that thick...probably because cars were from the south..was just on the nuts, clips and seams....be sure to take tons of pictures of everything you take off...and how it came off..tag and bag also....you might think you will remember where stuff goes back on ...but a picture will make sure you will remember....good luck..
Click to expand...

Yes, I am bag and tagging everything plus taken tons of pics. This all new to me. I have never done a full resto before. This is a new experience for me and I'm willing to commit to it (so far) :D
P.S. I now realize that I don't really need to remove all the undercoating, just the areas where I need to remove trim. I can fill those areas later with patch.
Thx
 
The tar like stuff, or under coating is most likely a product they used to use called Zeibart, which you can still get today I believe. It was awesome and awful stuff all in one lol. Brutal to get off but boy did it work good. My Satellite was a good example of how they used to use it. Not only was the underside done and in through the trunk but it had a series of plugs down the door jam or B Pilar, from where they drill into it, they then stuck a long wand into the rear quarter section and prayed it in there, the doors had the same thing done as well. As a result my Satellite had very little rust.
 
One more little bit of advice...when I took my body off the frame there was shims in between the body and the rubbers. I was putting in new rubber mounts so I just put all of the shims in one bag..what I should have done was put the shims from each mount in a separate bag and tag it. Some of the mounts had one shim..some two and some none...some were thick..others thin.. when I was putting things back together I had a hard time lining things up or getting the door gaps to fit evenly. Just putting a shim in one spot might fix the issue you are working on but it might throw out a measurement somewhere else. I had to hire a body guy to figure out where they all went.. lesson learned....
 
JohnnyBgood said:
One more little bit of advice...when I took my body off the frame there was shims in between the body and the rubbers. I was putting in new rubber mounts so I just put all of the shims in one bag..what I should have done was put the shims from each mount in a separate bag and tag it. Some of the mounts had one shim..some two and some none...some were thick..others thin.. when I was putting things back together I had a hard time lining things up or getting the door gaps to fit evenly. Just putting a shim in one spot might fix the issue you are working on but it might throw out a measurement somewhere else. I had to hire a body guy to figure out where they all went.. lesson learned....
Click to expand...

Good Tip ! Thank You! I have put all 22 body bolts in one bag. When I pull the body I will definitely document each mount and shim.
 
When I removed the inner fenders from my 58 chev, there was a good thick layer of tar on most of it.
I used a 1" putty knife and a heat gun to scrape off what I could before applying a stripper to remove what was there for paint.
 
This is what I use to remove undercoating https://www.harborfreight.com/6-piece-pneumatic-scraper-kit-95826.html I don't think you have Harbor Freight in Canada but the is someone who carries them. The truck is to get the panel as cold as possible, I do it outside in cold weather. The tar comes off in big chunks leaving a clean surface behind. I use the minimum air pressure needed to make it hammer, you can adjust that with the regulator near the air connector. You can probably do that fender in 15 minutes or so, or in metric, quick as shit.:)
 
I would leave the existing undercoating in place, and just patch where it needs to be removed for fastener removal or metal work - unless you're planning on a concours+ restoration with a filled and gloss painted underside, that's going to be up on a rotating stand with mirrors underneath.

You can clean the surface of the old undercoating with a good soap and pressure wash, then refresh the appearance of it when you've finished work on the underside with another thin layer of product - to restore a 'just applied' appearance, much like top coating an asphalt driveway.

As you mentioned, the metal that Lincoln stamped back in 1952 has been saved from corrosion all these years because of that coating - why mess with a good thing? :)
 
WestCDA said:
I would leave the existing undercoating in place, and just patch where it needs to be removed for fastener removal or metal work - unless you're planning on a concours+ restoration with a filled and gloss painted underside, that's going to be up on a rotating stand with mirrors underneath.

You can clean the surface of the old undercoating with a good soap and pressure wash, then refresh the appearance of it when you've finished work on the underside with another thin layer of product - to restore a 'just applied' appearance, much like top coating an asphalt driveway.

As you mentioned, the metal that Lincoln stamped back in 1952 has been saved from corrosion all these years because of that coating - why mess with a good thing? :)
Click to expand...

Yes. I have decided to leave the coating as is. Besides, I may use different fenders also. I have also decided to leave the doors in place as the hinges and fasteners are coated as well. They open and close perfect so I'm not going to mess with that either. I am going to dismantle everything and leave it untouched until the time to reinstall and make a decision then how to prepare it for paint. I made that mistake last build where i overdid the dismantling when it wasn't necessary.
 
Well it looks like I’m alone on my thinking...I would remove all of the old coating...I would clean all of the hinges and fasteners...when I did mine the fenders looked great. When I took off the tar coating most was good but in some spots water had got underneath and started to rust. You will hate the fact that the car is nice and shiny and every time you open the door you will see the old crappy tar On the hinges and wish you had taken the time to clean and paint them. I know your the only one that will see the dirty old hinges ..and you will be saying.I shoulda..I coulda..but I didn’t... nows the time to do it..and do it right....also when you bag and tag the parts don’t use painters tape...it falls off after a few years and use permanent marker to write. Mine sat on the shelf in boxes for about 15 years. When I went to get them out the tape was laying in the bottom of the box and the writing had disappeared...very frustrating..just my 2 cents..
 
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jbgood, I appreciate your help and sharing your experience to a restoration newby. I should have been clear from the start I guess, that I am not building a
show car to impress others ,but still a good reliable daily and long haul cruiser, that will last many years to come. From the firewall forward ,including inner fender wells will most likely be custom, as the suspension and powertrain will not be stock. My goal is that everything visible will look right. The inside of the fenders and door hinges from the front are not visible. I am comfortable ,with the amount of "tar" on them ,they are well sealed and after a good washing and paint will suffice. Again, thanks for your input and tips on the bagging. :)
 
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