Scirocco Central

Hi all,just pulled into my girlfriends drive and scraped about 8inches of the underseal type stuff off thats under the door. What actually is this stuff and can i repair it myself?? its the textured stuff thats under the door.

Thanks,in advance john

Thats bad luck.

Not the easiest of repairs. You don't say whether its a gouge or a strip has come off. It will be hard to replicate the finish as its a spray gun applied as the chassis passes that factory line point before pre-top coat painting.

The official substance is part number D 003 500 - Extened Duty or Long Life Underseal. It comes in 1.0 ltr paint tins. Not cheap at £25 - £30 from VW. Doesn't go off if re-seal properly, my two tins are 20 years old. Its made of PVC as its base material. Its like thick light grey custard and is very sticky, so unforgiving if applied in the wrong spot. Once skin dry (soon surface cures), paint and lacquer can be applied. I've only ever used it with a small 1/2 inch decorators paint brush. (Use the D 003 500 to repair the jacking points or underbody panels on other cars.) The brush allows one to acheive the stipple effect reasonably well.

Before applying, any bare metal, even if looking clean should be brushed with Kurust pencil stick to make sure the microscopic surface rust that has formed is stopped and inerted. Also recommend a white primer paint base coat is applied before the colour top coat otherwise the light grey colour of D 003 500 will come through the top colour coat and darken the paint shade slightly. Painting should be after about 16 hours.

Alternatively, Hammerite Stonechip Shield 600ml Aerosol will do a similar but the surface finish will be much smoother being an aerosol. You may get a better finish by spraying it into a large aerosol cap and painting it on with a decorator's brush. Buy the white colour version so paint shade is less affected.

And one last thing, take your time with D 003 500 and mask off beforehand so loose drips don't detract from the main job in hand. It is better to build up coats allowing about 3 hours between each coat to fill deeper cut areas. It does 'paint run' easily albeit at a snail's pace so don't build more than 3 coats without allowing a day for it all to dry before adding more layers.

C.

Thanks for your reply,very appreciated! its definitely more of a gauge,probably about 8 inches long by 2 inches wide at the widest point. There is no visible bare metal underneath though. So should i build it up over a few coats and then spray over it with a rattle can from halfords? Im not that bothered about it being perfect as my car is rarely 100% clean as its candy white but the way it looks at the minute isnt great!

thanks john

I'd use the VW's 2 pack rattle cans for paint (colour & lacquer). Isn't that expensive at VW. Particularly as its Candy White. It matches well.

C.

Only thing ill add is to get some rubbing compound to blend it in afterwards its basically a harsh polish. Halfords or similar will do a tin/tube for about £4.

just to clarify do i use the rubbing compound on the underseal or on the gloss coat?! Thanks for your help john

Just to blend the top coat in a tidy up the overspray. I'm sure after a quick google, you can find a DIY guide with some step by step instructions.

I spoke to my local vw dealer today and they said the overseal D 003 500 was no longer produced, instead its another one thats available at a cost of £35!! Think Ill give the hammerite version a try before spending that much! cheers, john

Ah yes, the march of environmentally friendly materials. D 003 500 is now D314 D36 M2 "Grey". Does the same job, just water based like the paint coats.

C.

Ive only just got round to doing this as the weathers been too cold! I had a go with the hammerite stuff but after about 8-10 coats there was still a noticeabe gouge as the paint wasnt going on thick enough. The original stuff under the white top coat is at least 3mm deep and its gone down to the metal so will all need building back up. Would it be any good filling it with some body filler then going over the top with the hammerite and then the white top coat? Otherwise it just seems like its going to take a lot of the hammerite stuff to build it up?! Thanks in advance, john