> >Well, with a plastic scraper, a screwdriver, and a wire-brush, it took me
> >3 hours to clean up, oh say... 10% of the area. :( At that rate,I would
> >have to spend *every* Saturday for the next 2 months, just to strip all
> >that stuff. 
> >
>  In a nut shell... powertools! get an electric drill and various size wire 
> wheels and a wire cup. The wire cups will rip off undercoating very quickly, 
> 
If I may suggest, use wire brushes, particularly the cup shaped
ones on an angle grinder, in general they will work 500% better
than on a drill, plus you will find hundreds of uses for the angle
grinder working on VW's.  Buy a good quality 4 or 4.5" model, have
had a Skill Professional model for 6 or 7 years and it's in great
shape except for an often ground through cord.  BTW, I say peel off
all/as much as you can of the undercoating first with spring steel
scraper putty knives, it will save much brush work plus then you only
have to wire brush rusty areas and not places where the paint is still
good.  Removing old asphalt based undercaoting is of prime importance
because water gets under it through cracks and is held against the body.
Following up with POR-15, rust converter or whatever then re undercoating
with a rubber based or wax based products should stop that pesky rust.

Incidently has anyone ever tried adding some sort of sacrificial
electrode material to the body?  A friend's dad has a '65 Ford truck
in incredible shape because he bolted Zinc or Magnesium electrodes to
spots ground bare on the body, the electrode dissapears but the steel
doesn't.  My '86 Quantum had zinc (I think) washers bolted between the
body and front fenders for much the same reason, I believe.  Seems along
the lines of that B.S. Whitney's electrical system but is a passive
system.  I know the phone company and gas companies use Magnesium
electrodes on their underground lines or jackets to combat corrosion,
seems it might be just the ticket on a Bus.

John Anderson
ja@coe.wvu.edu
'71 Westy, '90 Corrado G60