what color should i paint the underbody?

gray or black.......i think candy would be a bit much for a car i plan to drive alot. needs to be a color that can be touched up nicely.

 

glossblack

 

How about.....undercoating, then with black paint on top of it. Makes a good sound deadener while preventing rust!

 

i plan to use por like normal, but i'm against true "undercoating" i don't drive it through harsh elements so it isn't necessary and truthfully i've seen some great damage caused by such a process on many vehicles.


just help me pick a color please?

 

black all the way

 

Black

 

What kinda of damage can you cause from undercoating?

 

Sometimes water can get inbetween the undercoating and the underbody of the vehicle. It "can' cause incredible rust down there.

 

yep that's the ticket............have be very certain what's going on. not always but most times that happens and you won't know until its way to late.

 

gloss black all they way.

 

I'm getting ready to paint mine with por 15 since it is supposed to be impervious to rust, but I'm using a light gray type I believe they call it colorcoat. I was gonna do black but the more I thought of it a light gray would reflecct light better which will help when tooling around under it. Also if you notice most of the nascar teams use a shade of light gray on the chassis, engine bay, and interior.

 

I am doinf mine in POR-15 this spring as well. I am using a pneumatic die grinder first and removing any spot of rust, clean it and then coat it. Unfortunately there are many pockets that I wont be able to get to. But whoever owned it before me must have driven it here in Mich with all the salt on the roads.

The trans and rear are coming out anyway so its great timing.

Kandied I'd recommend a product like POR-15 or a rubber based coating. I wanted to get the underbody coated when I got it painted but he said it would cause it to rott quicker.

 

well if your going to use the p.o.r i wouldn't get rid of all the rust. it won't adhere to perfect metal. you have to use an etcher which esentially eats away at the metal so it can adhere.

if properly set painting it smooth works just fine, this car is only driven on nice days so it will last.

just trying to decide a color....thanks for all the suggestions.

 

Kandied,
I say go with the gloss or semi-gloss black. I did my wheel wells with a semi-gloss and it looks great. I do like the idea of a light gray, but I think it would show too much dirt and grease. Just my .02 cents. Thomas

 

Thats not totally true. I have a Can of Semi-gloss black por-15 right in front of me. A smooth surface only has to be scuffed lightley for a good bond.

Im doing the underside, inside and engine bay. The bay will then be scuffed since its gloss-black and primed with por-15 primmer. smoothed then painted.

The underside can stay black.

 

If you are painting over a semigloss you must scuff it to remove the sheen otherwise the paint will not properly adhere. Paint will not adhere to smooth surfaces well. But you can paint over a flat or satin finish paint.
As far as bare metal you are correct, most paints have difficaulty adhering to smooth metal. Therefor you need an etcher or a direct to metal primer. por inlcuded an etcher with the kit.

As far as color I am going with satin black. I don't care for high sheen levels. ANd black is just a nice standard color that rarely looks out of place.

 

They do that so that any cracks in the structure are more visible. They check them before every race (supposed to at least).

I painted mine gloss black with POR15 after doing SFCs and it looks great.

 

thanks!!

i think i'm going to go with satin black.

 

Have you thought about maybe using a product like rhino lining if done right it could look quite good and be very chip and scratch resistant but no matter what black is definately the way to go.

 

not to worried about the chip part.....just the rust part.


i don't drive my car through enough harsh elements to need a rhino lining setup. not that it's a bad idea though.

 

Kandied, how much would a job like this cost? I have been thinking about it for a while. Being under my car and seeing all of the "imperfections", it would look better painted and protected! Roughly, what should it cost? I know you probally have a discount, i would just need an estimate for the average customer, thats all. Also, what would be the steps or the process? I think TPI383 explained it pretty well, i just did not know that por-15 stuff had a primer also! Time to look it up on Google. Thanks-later

 

something like the underside i would do myself..........no reason to pay someone.

however, if i were to pay someone i'd be looking at roughly 500 for my color with a slight discount. just to give you an idea.

since i'm going black and i like to do as much as i can myself i will do it myself.

i'm hesitant to use the por only because once it's on it's rather difficult to get off. i don't go through harsh areas so i don't need such a touch layer. if it were a daily driver then i might do it.

still undecided, either way i'll have roughly $40 in supplies to finish the whole underside.

 

Do you have access to a lift? I would have to do it in my driveway on jackstands. I guess i could manage to do it, just cleaning everything off first would be a PITA! I would like to clean things up a bit with some type of compressor or maybe a powerwasher. Kinda hard on jackstands IMO. I could see the materials price, but that is a lot of money for the labor, damn, would not have guessed it. I guess when i really get serious i should ask my body shop if they do this type of work. Thanks

 

Ive got my car up on 6ton Truck jack stands right now. Beadblasting the underside is a pita, Im on a creeper with jacket and mask on. blasting away. when done I'll clean it off with a metal prep. no need for any thin film left on befor the por15.

Check out www.por15.com they have tons of diff products.

The rhino lining would be nice to but I already have por 15 for my engine bay so Just gona do it all in it.

 

Damn, now that i think about it, it does sound pretty bad! If you have the right tools it can be done though, like many things, just a pain and time consuming if you do not have all of the tools! Thanks for that link 383. Later