Hello all,

Today, I rotated my tires and took the opportunity to do something that I meant to do on my Cobalt SS when I had it, but never got around to. If you have ever peeked underneath your HHR, or whatever delta body you may have, you would plainly see that the spray on undercoat that is put on at the factory ends abruptly at the wheel well, and ends slightly above where debris could still continue contacting. This is about where the peg for the lift goes in.

On my SS, I could plainly see that it would have greatly benefited from about another 3 inches of undercoat. There were scrapes and gashes from debris as well as some rust forming in the spots where paint was missing.

I took it upon myself to scrub the area with soap and water and undercoat it myself.



My spray started only where you see that it is wet. It was only painted before and I could see a few chips and dings in the paint just begging to rust later on.

Here you can see that I sprayed it from the spot where it was missing back about a foot or so to protect from any other debris.

Has anyone else done this? I Believe that this would be a great, cheap beneficial mod to ward off any small amount of rust. This almost acts like mud guards do, minus the actual flap.

 

I can see where that's a good idea, especially in the snow belt where you get "sandblasted" underneath by anti-skid all winter long.

Just out of curiosity I took a look under mine and no damage to the areas you mentioned, but we treat our roads with salt brine in case of snow...anti-skid is something you only encounter here once in a blue moon.

 

Two major country roads I travel on my way to work were being repaved. What they did was lay a layer of small gauge rock loosely for miles. This rock was about .5 inches in diameter. It was constantly kicked up and I could hear it impacting my wheel wells and undercarriage. Whenever a car would fly by I'm the opposing direction, I would get completely pelted with stones-even though I would slow to a crawl and stop on the edge of the road as they pass. *****s. After a couple weeks, the rocks are compacted enough to form a surface.

I am STILL filling paint chips. Underneath my HHR looks like its been sporadically blasted on the paint surfaces. I feel slightly more at ease with this simple task. I ultimately need running boards but this should preserve the undercarriage ever so slightly.

I don't recommend the whole underbody be painted. This can cause pockets of salt water to form and could be worse.

 

Sounds like that road was "tarred & chipped", its a cheap a** form of resurfacing that leaves the lucky motorist(that would be you)to compact the surface. Its very common up in PA and NY, I didn't think that they used it in Ohio because O-Dot used to list it as an unapproved form of resurfacing.

As you unfortunately found out Nac, tarred & chipped roads can tear the heck out of your paint job. Its also pretty dang dangerous after a few years when the chips have been worn off exposing the oily tar, add a little rain....and hang on.

 

Yes. You're exactly right. I wish there was some way that I could bill the municipality or township. Absolutely asinine.

 

I'd call the township or municipality and outline the damage to your vehicle, also put in a call to O-Dot. You may hit a brick wall, but if enough people complain about damage, something might be done.

 

nice mod, looks good, i drive down a lot of country roads so thinking of doin this, good to see someone else has done it already