When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Grandpa's 49 F1 had udercoating applyed to under the fenders, hood, cab, & frame. I'm thinking this was a dealer "option" or did Ford apply this to vechiles that were prone to harsh winter inviorments? (Grandpa's truck was assembled in Somerville Ma.) Whatever they used back then, this suff is it's durable!
I've seen some with and some without undercoating. Adding heavy undercoating on the bottoms of the fenders is helpful to protect from rock dings and paint stars from debris being thrown up from the tires. Finding it under the hood and on the frame would definitely be a dealer application, so the rest probably is, too. Your undercoating is good likely because it's old school tar and asbestos. Unless its a problem or you're trying to do a concours restoration, I'd leave it alone.
My 48 had about 1/2 ton of that stuff under it, I removed it from under the hood and inner fenders. Pretty scary because I know it contains asbestos. I wore a mask and gloves but I did have to heat it with a heat gun to get it loose.
I remember my Dad buying a car in the early 60s and the dealer sprayed that gunk on it.
Asbestos is only a problem if it becomes airborne, in dust form, from grinding, sanding, blowing loose particles, etc. That's why you don't want to blow old brake or clutch dust with compressed air, or even with your lungs exhaling hard. The dust can hurt you. Deteriorating insulation flaking off wiring or especially from old pipes in your basement is especially harmful and needs to be remediated with care. Encapsulated in tar it's not such a big deal. Just don't blast or grind on it.
Asbestos is only a problem if it becomes airborne, in dust form, from grinding, sanding, blowing loose particles, etc. That's why you don't want to blow old brake or clutch dust with compressed air, or even with your lungs exhaling hard. The dust can hurt you. Deteriorating insulation flaking off wiring or especially from old pipes in your basement is especially harmful and needs to be remediated with care. Encapsulated in tar it's not such a big deal. Just don't blast or grind on it.
Exactly. Getting that undercoating off took a lot of grinding. That dust coming is scary.
When my truck was apart I tried to remove a small section of it from the frame but after pondering the possibility of it I decided to embrace it. I was told it’s cosemoline. I actually found the stuff still for sale in spray cans. Probably not the same thing as what dealer used in 52 but it’s close, and it repaired the small section of frame coating that I worked on.
My truck was built in Somerville MA as well and was stored in a barn only yards from the Atlantic Ocean for 30 plus years there’s not one spot of surface rust anywhere.
So in fact, I’m such a fan of it; even if I did a frame-off concours restoration, whatever that means, I’d still apply it! I’d argue since it definitely was a dealer installed item that makes it factory correct.
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalytic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
