Ziebart coating removal

[ncrobb]

The original owner of my ‘73 RR had Ziebart applied to it. The person did an over the top job and sprayed firewall, radiator support and fenders under the hood. Is there an easy to get this mess off? I have a guy replacing some patch panels and getting rid of any rust. He says this stuff is notorious for causing more rust in hard to get to places than it prevents. I want the under the hood area to be car color instead of black gunk. Any suggestions for getting it off? Mineral Spirits seem to work with lots of applied elbow grease.

 

[kiwigtx]

Mineral Spirits seem to work with lots of applied elbow grease.

Sorry, but unless you intend to dip the car or any panels, manual removal is the only way to go.

 

[tnfastback]

That’s Funny Kiwi, but true.

 

[Ironbuilt]

Diesel fuel will break it down then...scrape and scrub. Repeat, repeat, repeat!! Good luck, that stuff is a nightmare because of how it was applied. If you look in the door jambs you will find where they drilled holes to insert the spray nozzles in. That stuff gets EVERYWHERE. I bought a Challenger in the early 90's that was sprayed with Ziebart. What a disaster.

 

[ncrobb]

Yep, I found the holes you mentioned. Thanks guys. Looks like diesel fuel and a plastic scraper.

 

[Ironbuilt]

Yep, I found the holes you mentioned. Thanks guys. Looks like diesel fuel and a plastic scraper.

Don't forget A LOT of elbow grease.

 

[ncrobb]

Don't forget A LOT of elbow grease.

Yeah, I know-I know. It took me an hour to scrub it all off the purple “beep beep” horn. The “decal” side was perfect but the back side not so much. It still works and the side you see looks good so I put it back. She’s a driver, not a show car.

 

[mrhemi]

I removed all of the factory undercoating on my Charger years ago, by hand and elbow grease. Same process should work for Ziebart as well. I used Varsol (mineral spirits), scrapers and wire brush. What I found worked best was to thoroughly soak any area the day before, then scrape that area. Giving the solvent plenty of time to soak in seemed to be the secret. Good luck, it is a thankless job.

 

[Fran Blacker]

Might want to get old or cheap thin towels and soak whatever your using in them. They'll stay wet longer.

 

[69L48Z27]

I used heavy or strong, forget which one it was called, wax and grease remover from the auto body store. What I found underneath was terrific. It’s a PIA to remove but it really preserved the car. No factory undercoating and once removed I had factory paint.

 

[kiwigtx]

A couple of guys here used a special wire strand tool - basically lots of sticks of stiff wire beating down on the material to be removed....I can't remember what it's called, but it would be for the hard type of under-sealant found under the floor pan etc.

Maybe @Ghostrider 67 or @conv67bdere could chime in with the tool name and picture...

Needle scaler?

These are only for hard sealers...

 

[Ironbuilt]

A couple of guys here used a special wire strand tool - basically lots of sticks of stiff wire beating down on the material to be removed....I can't remember what it's called, but it would be for the hard type of under-sealant found under the floor pan etc.

Maybe @Ghostrider 67 or @conv67bdere could chime in with the tool name and picture...

Needle scaler?
View attachment 1009897

These are only for hard sealers...

The only problem I saw with using needle scalers, wire brushes and such is that Ziebart has an almost rubber-like consistency. When I tried removing it, my wire brush kept getting "clogged". I found that diesel cut the substance because it's petroleum based and the smell wasn't as harsh as mineral spirits. As others have stated, soaking it in the diesel overnight helped a lot. Just my opinion from a prior BAD experience with Ziebart.

 

[kiwigtx]

Yep...needled scalers are only for hardened sealants.

 

[ncrobb]

Well I’ll get after it as soon as the RR comes home from getting patch panels.

 

[Ghostrider 67]

Yes, that stuff is gooey. Scraping is the way, or, cutting it with a solvent/ petroleum product. The Needle scaler IS only for dry under coatings.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Do you have access to a real steam cleaner? Not a pressure washer, hot a hot water pressure washer... A steam cleaner....

take your mineral spirts/diesel & pour it in a garden sprayer... Soak the Ziebart completely & repeatedly, let it soak for 20+ minutes but don't let it dry out, re-wet as needed...

Now fire up the pressure washer & blow that crap outta there...

BTW don't do this on your newly poured driveway....

You might wanna spread a tarp under the car & maybe even bust up a bail of hay on the tarp....

 

[ncrobb]

My brother used to have a steam genny, hopefully he still does. The tip about a tarp and hay sounds good. I’ve been wondering how to keep the concrete from getting nasty.

 

[ord27]

I was planning on using Lizard skin on my '70 Bee project. Is that the same stuff yall are talking about?
What are thoughts about the Lizard skin sound deadening and heat shield coating

 

[Ghostrider 67]

I was planning on using Lizard skin on my '70 Bee project. Is that the same stuff yall are talking about?
What are thoughts about the Lizard skin sound deadening and heat shield coating

The current version of the Ziebart type coating is called WAXOIL. We had our cars and truck done here in Vermont last year. It's a never quite dry, always slightly pliable coating that doesn't come off with routine cleaning.