Cleaning Underbody

For the two or three hours I had free at the garage today, I spent the entire time wiping down the underbody with thinners, cleaning out as much remaining greasy undercoating as I was able to. I used the screwdriver to scrape the more stubborn deposits. Maybe I'm being overly cautious, but I want the epoxy primer to adhere to as much of this metal as possible! There is still a good deal of old seam sealer and undercoat crap up in the top of the fender/body seams, and at the edge of the front closing panel/fender seams. I could spend another month just cleaning the underside of the car if I want to get it perfect. I don't have that kind of time, and I've been finding that where I am taking away old "sound" undercoat, the metal underneath looks perfect. Extrapolating from this, there is very little utility gained from removing the remaining undercoat to simply replace it. I have all of the bad portions removed already.

Tomorrow I'm out of town, Thursday morning I hope to finish wiping down the car, laying out a ground cloth, and spraying the DP on the underside and inside. Pictures will of course follow.

On a safety note: I've read and evaluated very carefully the respiratory protection recommended for spraying epoxy primer and then later base and clear coats. All contain isocyanates, which are extremely nasty to breath and cause long term health problems. While supplied air systems may be the best and safest, my understanding of the chemistry of isocyanates reassures me that a brand new, fresh filter mask is safe for limited exposure. I bought a full face mask from 3M that I plan on using for the primer. If I do any more painting with 2K paint or primer in the future, I will of course get new cartridges for it. $100 well spent. You don't skimp on taking care of your health.