Thread: Can I keep the Gunk?

Gentlemen,
I am in the midst of stripping down my 1953 Series 1 80" in preparation for a repaint. My chassis is 100% original with no repairs and is in close to perfect condition. This is due to having spent all its life on a small farm and never being exposed to salt water or salt on the roads.
Over its considerable life the chassis has picked up a nicely textured covering of oil impregnated dirt that has taken on a bitumen-like property that has protected the chassis better than any paint could.

So it seems a shame to spend days scrape off all this lovely protection and then apply paint, when the bitumen finish is doing am perfect good job.

Is there anything wrong with leaving it as it is , or even better, is there a paint that might adhere to this Gunk so I have a shinny finish over my age-developed protective layer of Gunk?

thanks
Jeff
in warm sunny Western Australia

I thought the same.....until I clean off some of the gunk and found corrosion through chassis, will need repairs......and mine has spent all its life in the desert.