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.
The only instance in which you should remove it is if you are seeking to have the car's originality judged. Otherwise, it's up to your preferences for appearance. The original appearance of the floorpan was smooth, unpainted fiberglass. FYI, there was a factory-applied undercoating to the wheel wells to protect the fiberglass from stones picked up by the tires that could cause impact stars in the top surface.
To me, the coating on the splash shields looks like the coating that the factory would apply to the wheel wells. The splash shields are fairly close to the wheel wells and are white plastic.
Factory workers would do interesting and sometimes silly things to break up their day. Could be a factory worker added some additional coating to your splash shields just because. I'd leave it alone until I got some more opinions, especially if you're interested in preserving originality. What does the other shield look like? Is it the same? What about the rest of the car?
Interesting stuff.
To me, the coating on the splash shields looks like the coating that the factory would apply to the wheel wells. The splash shields are fairly close to the wheel wells and are white plastic.
Agreed it looks similar, but how different is undercoating done by the factory vs. a dealer or used car lot? We do know that the under-body was not spec'd to be undercoated and I'd be surprised if any employee would take the time to add something when there's another car coming down the line right behind this one. I'd think it more likely that an assembly worker would skimp rather than add to.
The splash shields for C2s and C3s through at least '72 (OP's car and mine) are not plastic but sheet metal.
I removed it.....the stuff is ugly. And just retains dirt. The only undercoating left on my cars will be in teh wheelwells, where as was said, it protect the fiberglass and paint from stone chip damage. Under the car...its useless.
Ronkat63, thinking about those splash shields, if you decide to remove the undercoating, those shields will come in handy to experiment with solvents. They're easy to remove and work on as you figure this out.
Elbow grease... Remove the heavy stuff with a hard plastic scrapper or flexible putty knife. Sometimes heating it a little with a heat gun sometimes, if it's old it'll usually chip off once you get underneath. Then lots of rags with varsol and rubber gloves and fresh air / fans
I re-sprayed the wheel wells with 3M 08883, it gives some protection without looking too thick
Splash shields and other items got spray bedliner, a bit less undercoat looking but still has some protection
99% of people have no idea of the original purpose of undercoating was. It was NOT for rust prevention. It was sold as an insulation option to keep th interior quiet from stone being thrown up under the car while driving. Never offered on a Corvette that with the fiberglass body this was not a problem like it was with a metal body.
Regarding removing it, it is a very labor intensive job. Do you show the car with mirrors under it? If not why go to the trouble, no one else sees it.
My 72 had it shot into the wheel wells from factory. They called it COATING U/B PROTECTIVE (then someone sprayed rubber undercoat all over the place ) .
I always look at it as something to prevent the rocks from hitting the underside of the fenders/quarter and star chipping the paint type of thing
) .