trailer undercoating

When I got my trailer I washed it down and found "REBUILDT" stenciled on the front panel above the hand brake. The underside of the tub was coated with a heavy black undercoating of some kind. Has anyone ever seen that on an M416 before or is it typical ? The reason I'm asking is whether or not to remove it or just leave it.

The trailer is a '65 Stevens rebuildt in '73. It has 5 tags on the rear upper panel. They have gotten faded pretty bad and are only somewhat legible.

 

Mine appears to have some sort of undercoating that had been applied at some point. It has the appearance of alligator skin painted OD. I am in the process of rebuilding my trailer. I am going to undercoat mine with spray on bedliner. I know its not origional, but I'm trying for a functional and nice looking trailer. I'm not hung up on origionality.

 

I'm not concerned about a "correct restoration " either. But the undercoating I have is thick, leathery and solid. I don't feel a need to pull the tub and ruin it.

 

The trailer in this post will be getting sold soon. I don't have room for it so it's going to waste.

 

FWIW the US M-37 trucks aren't usually undercoated however the ones belonging to the Seabees and the USMC were undercoated. The same or similar may apply to trailers. Do you know what service(s) owned your trailer?

 

It has all the original markings on it. U.S.M.C. with 342536 stenciled under it

 

I'll bet that the undercoating is original. Too bad you're on the wrong side of the country, the trailer would make a good match to my 1951 USMC M37!