[DML] Re: Epoxy

[Mike Substelny <msubstel@xxxx>]

Claude said:

> NEVER spray undercoating to a Delorean frame,it EATS up the factory
> epoxy coating,it does nasty stuff to the frames,

Where did you get this information? Epoxy is very neutral chemically .
. . very few things will corrode or dissolve it. I am not sure of the
exact composition of the DeLorean's frame coating, but I doubt that it
is a particularly fragile epoxy formulation.

> I am sure those Deloreans that were sprayed when new, very quickly had

> rusted frames,

Not necessarily! I judged undercarriages at DMC Houston's Millenium
Coucours in Saint Louis. Although all the councours cars were beautiful
and clean underneath, I observed that the DeLoreans with only epoxy had
more rust than the specimin that originally came with both epoxy and
spray-on undercoating. The epoxy-only cars often showed rust on screw
heads, bolts, and other unprotected areas. The spray-on stuff looks
nasty, but that car appeared to be preserved better than any of them.
The combination of the two seems to have done a very good job over the
years. Based on my observations at Saint Louis, I wish my DeLorean had
originally been given both types of protection.

I am not talking about the 'black painted' frames here. I mean that
special batch of late DeLoreans that sat unsold for a long time. After
a period of sitting (on the docks?), DMC gave them the flexible,
spray-on undercoating in addition to the epoxy undercoating (as I
understand the story). Perhaps their intention was to hide something on
those cars, but the effect I observed was superior preservation.

Perhaps some of the cars with both types of protection do show more
rust. If so, it might be because they developed rust sitting (on the
docks?) BEFORE the spray-on undercoating was applied.

Epoxy undercoating is *almost* a great idea. Epoxy does seal the metal
very well, and it is immune to almost all chemicals, including salt.
The drawback of epoxy (and paint) it that it is not flexible. During
the normal course of driving any car its frame flexes quite a bit.
Epoxy is brittle, in fact it becomes more brittle with time, so after
many years of flexing it begins to crack. If the spray-on stuff was
applied *before* the cracks developed, it might help keep the steel
sealed better.

There is much more information on the subject in the DML back issues.
If anyone can better explain the history of those cars that have both
types of protection, please share it with us.

- Mike Substelny