Early 1970 Dealership Option? Factory?

[7E-Bodies]

      I have a decision to make on the underside of my build. Going as original as possible and it looks like this 70 had some serious undercoating done. The previous owner had its belly blasted, and the blaster of course missed a few spots. As per one pic, it lifts right off with mild heat from a propane torch and a putty knife. It's in the rear wheel wells also. Super clean metal underneath indicates it rolled off the lot with it. The big question is should I shoot it the same with the stuff from Resto Rick? I find that option highly favorable for time and material savings as well as noise reduction and belly protection. Any thoughts on what this car may have been gifted with at birth? I'd be removing all of the belly epoxy shot on by the previous owner and properly applying DP40 epoxy first.

[7E-Bodies]

Side note, I replaced the trunk pan. Ignore that area.

[JH27N0B]

Was your car optioned with J55?  That is undercoating and hood pad.
I wouldn't undercoat a car I was restoring unless it was factory optioned that way.
Either using mass backed carpet or dynomat I think it's called under your carpet in your interior will go a long way towards insulating noise and heat if that is your main concern.

[70 Challenger Lover]

I've had cars with that option and it is quite thick. When I scraped it off, I found it did an outstanding job of protecting the underside in most areas.

That said, I would not undercoat the belly again. You're not going to drive it on salted icy roads or park it outside in bad weather. If it's a numbers matching, high dollar hemi car, then I suppose you kind of have to go back to build sheet correctness. I'd say in 99% of resales, undercoating is very undesirable, even if factory correct. People truly hate that stuff!

I tried selling my 71 Barracuda convertible last year and the factory undercoat option killed the sale again and again. People have it in their head that an undercoated car is hiding problems. No matter how beautiful the restoration or how many pictures you have to prove it's good. And that attitude is constantly reinforced by all the internet car experts. In my case, buyers still wanted the car but they wanted me to knock off huge money because of the risk they felt they were taking.

No one will ding value of any car that's been painted underneath. And if you're thinking you'll never sell, you can't really say that. Life throws us curveballs or better cars come along that make the idea worth considering. It's on a rotisserie so buying a gallon of inexpensive single stage paint and shooting the bottom isn't very difficult. I did this on a different car to the interior, roof before vinyl top, engine bay and trunk area. Came out really nice. The outside deserves a high quality, professional job with the best materials but you could do the underside and it wouldn't be difficult and look great afterward. All while increasing value and making resale easier.

If you do undercoat, I'd consider a newer material that is thinner.

[RUNCHARGER]

I would redo it. Nothing worse than hearing every little pebble come off your tires and tink, tink on your floor pan while you wonder if it chipped the paint or not.