Clean/paint or remove/replace wheel well undercoating?

[dakota]

My 70 Challenger still has what I believe to be the original undercoating in the wheel wells.   The undercoating apperas to be in good shape physically (no cracks or bald spots).   The problem is that there is a combination of road dirt all over it along with some  very visible paint overspray (plum crazy) in several places.   Since I seem to be on the "while I'm in there, I might as well fix this too" treadmill, I'm debating whether to remove the undercoating and re-apply it.   This will never be a show car based on my skill limitations, but I do want it to have a clean appearance where possible.   What experience is out there with freshening the appearance of the undercoating (specifically a paint that would stick to the undercoating after a deep cleaning), or should I just bite the bullet and go with the removal and recoat route that's covered in other threads here?

[burdar]

If it's still good just leave it.  No use in removing it just to put more back on.  After cleaning, just go to a parts store and get rubberized undercoating in a can.  Basically you are just putting a thin layer over the existing stuff so it looks better.   

[dfrazz]

If it's still good just leave it.  No use in removing it just to put more back on.  After cleaning, just go to a parts store and get rubberized undercoating in a can.  Basically you are just putting a thin layer over the existing stuff so it looks better.   

     I just power washed mine really good and then sprayed on a rubberized liner over the factory stuff.  If you are building a trailer queen, then go ahead a strip it and repaint.

[soundcontrol]

I got the same thoughts, my undercoating looks fine, floor looks great if I remove some (this is from installing my subframe connectors). I like the nice clean look of just paint under the car and in the wheel wells, on the other hand, the undercoating seems to protect it great, dont know if this is factory stuff or done later, if its factory, its pretty amazing for a 44 year old car! Either I strip the car and pain it, or I clean it and find a paint that will work on top of the undercoating. Not sure what I'm gonna do yet.

[ToxicWolf]

I got the same thoughts, my undercoating looks fine, floor looks great if I remove some (this is from installing my subframe connectors). I like the nice clean look of just paint under the car and in the wheel wells, on the other hand, the undercoating seems to protect it great, dont know if this is factory stuff or done later, if its factory, its pretty amazing for a 44 year old car! Either I strip the car and pain it, or I clean it and find a paint that will work on top of the undercoating. Not sure what I'm gonna do yet.

As I understand it Chrysler undercoated all of the wheel wells but the rest was optional.   

[burdar]

Yes, all E-bodies were supposed to receive undercoating in the wheel wells.  It was for rock protection.  If there isn't any undercoating on the inside of the fenders, a rock can put a dent in the fender from the inside out.

The full undercoating was an option.  It wasn't really for rust protection.  It was more for sound deadening.  If full undercoating was ordered, the car also received under hood insulation.