Will be starting to slowly clean up the underside of my '73 2.0. The car has been undercoated and I don't plan to attempt to remove most of it but I would like to remove from the rear suspension. Started cleaning it a bit and the black paint underneath is in perfect condition. Problem is that it is going slowly. Will something like mineral spirits work without damaging the paint underneath? Are there other products I should consider? Thanks.

On a different note. Can someone tell me how to post a pic directly into a thread. I can do a hyperlink where you can then click through to the pic but would like to have the pic actually show in the thread.

Propane torch....scraper...easy.

All you need to do is get it warm. Don't nuke it. It WILL catch fire if you're not careful.

Undercoating or factory Shutz? Shutz is very had to take off while plain undercoating comes off quite easily with varsol. Leaves whatever was underneath just fine.

Hire someone to do it!

No it's not the cosmoline. That stuff is wicked. I'll try heating with a blow dryer or heat gun. Also not familiar with varsol but I'll check it out.

And I think I figured out the pic posting issue. Here is the underside as I'm just starting to clean up.

Varsol is awesome stuff but it might be hard to find. Might want to look for it on line. It used to be the key ingredient in tar & bug remover. Anything that is tar-like will be dissolved. Cosmoline is packing grease & I know of no cosmoline on a 914, however I'm sure varsol would dissolve that too. Shutz, the rock hard goop inside your trunks & all along the bottom of your car will not come off unless you do what Cpt Tripps suggested- heat & scrape.

Pics would help to determine exactly what you are dealing with. Edit, ok, now I see the pics. I think my solution below will get you great results on the suspension ect, still can't tell on the chassis.

I've been asked that question many times because I'm a huge fan of having a bare clean chassis and to show it off.

More times than not, it's not undercoat but 40 years of grime that appears to be undercoat.

First determine what exactly you have. If you can use slight heat to a section, and peel some off like a sticker, then yes, it's undercoat and heat and scrape is a starting point, but you likely won't be happy with the effort vs reward.

If you can "clean" it to the bare paint, then the job will have much better results but won't be much easier.

What I do is buy 4-5 bottles of orange glow type cleaner. I have heard that wd-40 works better but have yet to try that.

I presoak everything with multiple applications a few hours before the messy part.

Then I drive the car to my favorite hot water quarter do it yourself wash, I pick a not busy time.

I dress i with googles worst cloths ect and for about 20-30 dollars in quarters lay on my back and go to town. It's not a fun experience but is very rewarding once the original painted chassis shines through.

This is the only picture I have to show the after... this was after round one, it's better now.

When I got this car, I thought it had undercoat because everything was uniformly black.

Click to view attachment

Thanks. In this case I'm sure the car is undercoated. It is a survivor originally from Minneapolis and in great condition. Actually very clean under the car except for undercoating. As for cosmoline I was of the understanding that cosmoline...a very tenacious hard waxy substance was used at the factory on trans engine and other components. I have a 96 twin turbo and those cars do have cosmoline sprayed on at time of Assembly. I've spent time removing it from my twin turbo and it's a pain in the arse.

I did not know they use cosmoline on cars today. As far as I know, it was not used on 914s or any other Porsches from the 70's, but I could easily be wrong. I'm used to cosmoline being on guns, & I use Hoppes #9 solvent to clean the cosmoline off of a new gun.