Omega Owners Forum

Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: Webby the Bear on 10 November 2013, 18:08:40

Title: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: Webby the Bear on 10 November 2013, 18:08:40
Hi guys.

I just been to the pub with me old man and we got talking about maintenance items that he used to do as a young man that are not done anymore.

He mentioned that he took his car once (a Hillman Avenger he tells me) to his mate who painted a thick tar-like substance on to the underside of his car to protect it. He couldn't remember the name of this stuff.... anyone any idea out of interest what they would have used back in the day? :)
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: BazaJT on 10 November 2013, 18:15:19
Afraid underseal is as far back as I go in this regard.Although it was laid on really thickly in places-mainly to hide some type of bodge repair!!
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: Varche on 10 November 2013, 18:17:23
Good question. I remember it was very popular in the 70's. I bought a Morris 803 (1000) that had a very very dodgy chassis repair hidden by the stuff.

I remember helping my dad gunk up his Capri with the stuff and we also fitted an Eflow(?) sound deadening kit. Thick wads of what can best be described as carpet undelay. Glued to under bonnet, under the seats etc.
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: cem_devecioglu on 10 November 2013, 18:44:51
vx/opel use a yellow , thick substance instead of tar.. :-\

but still I'll prefer epoxy ;D
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: pscocoa on 10 November 2013, 18:57:42
Ziebart was the brand that comes to mind
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: omega3000 on 10 November 2013, 19:08:48
You can still buy that thick tar stuff , brush on or spray on . Engine oil is good also  :y
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: Webby the Bear on 10 November 2013, 19:10:22
he said epoxy is ringing bells .....
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: YZ250 on 10 November 2013, 20:00:33
Ziebart was the brand that comes to mind

That's the only brand that I remember.  :y
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: 2boxerdogs on 10 November 2013, 20:35:13
Think I used some in the 70's called Tetroseal.. used it on sills to cover fibreglass repairs !!
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: Entwood on 10 November 2013, 20:44:33
Early 70's ....  Fiat 850 Sports, so full of rot that on doing an emergency stop my heel went through the floor pan .. :( ... into garage, made a thick papier mache mix and some cardboard, and filled in all the holes, then acquired a couple of catering size beans cans from the mess, which we flattened and attached either side of the cardboard with more papier mache .. allowed to harden for a week then covered inside and out with a thick layer of underseal ... the tin cans were there in case a magnet was used to check the floorpan .... then drove to a mates farm and spent 30 minutes doing doughnuts in the milking yard slurry .... quick rinse of the body but NOT the underside (boy did it stink), left for another week, then drove to a garage and traded it in .. :)

Black underseal had many uses .......   :)
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: 05omegav6 on 10 November 2013, 21:23:58
Waxoyl is another :y still widely available too...
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: symes on 10 November 2013, 21:39:14
bet it was bitumen tar-that wouldn't surprise me at all
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: Vamps on 11 November 2013, 00:54:25
Ziebart was the brand that comes to mind

Yep. that was the brand at the time, and as a then Junior car salesman I used to get Commision for selling it, or giving it free to clinch a deal........My other life, those were the days......... :y :y
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: dbug on 11 November 2013, 01:07:43
Used to use auto schutz underseal back in the 60s - think its still available.   Waxoyl was good for injecting into chassis members as it had the ability to creep into joints/corners :y
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: YZ250 on 11 November 2013, 09:09:38
Used to use auto schutz underseal back in the 60s - think its still available.   Waxoyl was good for injecting into chassis members as it had the ability to creep into joints/corners :y

Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that brand. Schultz underseal was very popular for the diy'er back then.  :y
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: Varche on 11 November 2013, 10:19:34
Ziebart. Yes that was the stuff. Still going now. ziebart.com

Entwood's story brought back other memories. Yikes cars were bad when we were young.  :o :o :o
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: biggriffin on 11 November 2013, 11:18:57
All still available, schlitz,tetrolseal,etc,any good automotive paint supplier.
applied using a,schiltz gun, now called stonechip or underbody sealer.
 the old fashion way of using a brush,whilst leaving the tin in a hot water bath,so it's nice n soft,still used by the resto purists ;D
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: henryd on 11 November 2013, 11:31:23
Ziebart. Yes that was the stuff. Still going now. ziebart.com

Entwood's story brought back other memories. Yikes cars were bad when we were young.  :o :o :o

Dinitrol was another,again still going strong :y
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: Webby the Bear on 11 November 2013, 11:31:54
Entwood. OH. MY. GOD  :o :o :o ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: Entwood on 11 November 2013, 12:02:59
Entwood. OH. MY. GOD  :o :o :o ;D ;D ;D

:)

That's one of the "tamer" stories ... the Mk1 Consol with a hole in the piston .. now that WAS naughty .. but I was short of cash - basic pay 21 Guineas a week, out of which the RAF took most for food and accommodation, and the NAAFI bar took most of the rest - so needs must as they say ...  :)
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: Webby the Bear on 11 November 2013, 12:28:36
Entwood. OH. MY. GOD  :o :o :o ;D ;D ;D

:)

That's one of the "tamer" stories ... the Mk1 Consol with a hole in the piston .. now that WAS naughty .. but I was short of cash - basic pay 21 Guineas a week, out of which the RAF took most for food and accommodation, and the NAAFI bar took most of the rest - so needs must as they say ...  :)

A hole in the piston....  ??? ??? ??? Pray tell young sir
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: Vamps on 12 November 2013, 23:54:45
Early 70's ....  Fiat 850 Sports, so full of rot that on doing an emergency stop my heel went through the floor pan .. :( ... into garage, made a thick papier mache mix and some cardboard, and filled in all the holes, then acquired a couple of catering size beans cans from the mess, which we flattened and attached either side of the cardboard with more papier mache .. allowed to harden for a week then covered inside and out with a thick layer of underseal ... the tin cans were there in case a magnet was used to check the floorpan .... then drove to a mates farm and spent 30 minutes doing doughnuts in the milking yard slurry .... quick rinse of the body but NOT the underside (boy did it stink), left for another week, then drove to a garage and traded it in .. :)

Black underseal had many uses .......   :)

It certainly did, all manor of bodges in those day's, chicken wire and newspaper......... ;) ;) :-X
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: Jukeboxnut on 13 November 2013, 20:43:46
I once had a 1957 Vauxhall Victor that I bodged with baked bean tins and pop rivets over virtually all that was left of the floor pan and then disguised it all with a thick coat of the old black bitumen underseal.  Happy carefree days!
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: omega3000 on 13 November 2013, 22:22:55
I once had a 1957 Vauxhall Victor that I bodged with baked bean tins and pop rivets over virtually all that was left of the floor pan and then disguised it all with a thick coat of the old black bitumen underseal.  Happy carefree days!

Hope they were Heinz bean tins  ::) ;D
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: Andy B on 13 November 2013, 22:30:01
I once had a 1957 Vauxhall Victor that I bodged with baked bean tins and pop rivets over virtually all that was left of the floor pan and then disguised it all with a thick coat of the old black bitumen underseal.  Happy carefree days!

Hope they were Heinz bean tins  ::) ;D

 ;) ;) :y :y :y
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: JDX on 14 November 2013, 09:41:01
I did something similar about 2 weeks ago  :D - found a tin of 'Holts' undershield which had been sat around for about 30 years (or so!) and using a stiff  brush painted on the underside of my wife's Micra. The stuff was still as new. I just cannot throw anything away!  :y
Hi guys.

I just been to the pub with me old man and we got talking about maintenance items that he used to do as a young man that are not done anymore.

He mentioned that he took his car once (a Hillman Avenger he tells me) to his mate who painted a thick tar-like substance on to the underside of his car to protect it. He couldn't remember the name of this stuff.... anyone any idea out of interest what they would have used back in the day? :)
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: 2boxerdogs on 14 November 2013, 18:17:06
My first car in 1971 an Austin A40 , the floor was a Hillman Imp bonnet !!
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: Jukeboxnut on 14 November 2013, 21:04:09
Of course they were Heinz beans, nothing but the best for my old Victor, in fact it still had the original exhaust that exited through the rear bumper (rare even in 1970) and many a repair was carried out using bean tins and jubilee clips.  Eventually the whole lot fell off on the A3 late one night coming back from a party in London and the noise was simply amazing, just like a low flying aircraft!  I managed to crawl back to Bognor virtually deaf dumb and blind without seeing a single police car but leaving a trail of house lights going on in my wake.  A trip to the scrap yard the following day with my father yielded an exhaust system cobbled out of pipes and boxes from a variety of cars for about £1 iirc.  I learnt my craft on that car and still run cars as cheap as possible now.
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: tidla on 14 November 2013, 23:13:36
You can still buy that thick tar stuff , brush on or spray on . Engine oil is good also  :y

Most omegas down the centre will be good for years to come then.
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: omega3000 on 16 November 2013, 22:53:36
You can still buy that thick tar stuff , brush on or spray on . Engine oil is good also  :y

Most omegas down the centre will be good for years to come then.

I did notice that  >:(  ;D Saves waxoiling it  :)
Title: Re: Black ''tar'' people used to paint on the underside of the car...
Post by: ronnyd on 17 November 2013, 20:49:41
I remember when the MOT was just brakes, lights and steering only. Had an old Austin A50 then and could see
the road if you moved the carpets out of the way, was rotten as hell. Also my old granddad used to  brush old
engine oil on the underside of his A30. Made a hell of a mess of his garage floor. Happy days! :D