leave underseal or not

[aupickup]

well my dilemma is this

i have taken some years old underseal off the front and back inner wings, and have found the original paintwork, do i leave the underseal alone or do i scrape it all off and see what lurks, if anything underneath

[chickenjohn]

Remove it, clean off any rust you find, then give a fresh few coats of paint (zinc primer followed by chassis black would be my preference) then heavy wax coating (waxoyl or the thicker dinitrol etc).

[aupickup]

i am talking about the inner wings , and not underneath the car
the under neath will be scraped off and rust proofed of course
well the paint on the inner wings has lasted all these years so it should go another few years

will take on board all suggestions

[youngun]

Ive found that there is often rust under the original underseal. Scrape it off and apply some more as per chickenjohns instructions.

YG

[aupickup]

ok it is paint under the underseal, i am talking about the inner wings and not the underneath of the car

[bmcecosse]

And under the paint - is it good clean metal - or rusty coloured metal? If it's good clean - then i would only disturb where any suspicion of damage.

[youngun]

ok it is paint under the underseal, i am talking about the inner wings and not the underneath of the car

yes, theres plenty of underseal on my inner wings as well, which was hiding surface rust!!!

[aupickup]

it is good clean paint work undrr the bits of underseal i have taken off

but ................who knows the rest

[chickenjohn]

exactly, like youngun, I have found rust festering under supposedly sound underseal. It can trap moisture and cause rust unseen untill it gets all the way through the panel of your car and you have a problem. THis is even more likely to occur on the inner front and rear wings as water is regularly splashed up by the wheels.

If you do remove the under seal, seam seal any seams/joins before paitning top coat.

[Robins]

I think a car looks at its best when you look underneath and it's all the same colour as the body. As the arches are more noticable and still visable when standing up, and this is what your question is about. How about clean off the underseal on the inner arches, and if the paint is still good and solid clear waxoyl it a couple coats. If you find rust then spot blast it and touch in the paint with the same colour and then clear waxoyl it. Any good?

[aupickup]

many thanks robins exactly the answer i needed,