Hey guys, I am restoring my IROC from the ground up and I need to know what primer and paint i should use for painting the underside of the car. This car will be garaged most of its restored life so I dont need anything heavy duty i suppose. Weekend warrior

I was thinking along the lines of an Epoxy primer and then just a few coats of paint. Should I consider spraying base coat and clear coat? Or is that just a waste of money?

 

spraying the underside? i'd say brush/roll it... i'd do black or a dark grey though, if you wanted colour it wouldn't turn out as nice. of course if you've got a rotisserie and are stripping the car right down, might as well spray it with the rest i suppose. FWIW, lots of epoxy primers are tough enough to withstand chemicals and weathering on their own, though rock chips are a different story.

general consensus here is that POR-15 is one of the best routes to go, stops rust and resists rock chips.

 

I would not basecoat / clearcoat my underside unless the car was doing shows ONLY. I would spray it with a more preventative paint in the non visual areas.

Por-15 is the preventative I would use as it is tough as nails.

Of course it all depends if it's off frame, time, money, goals and desire for the car.

Put some pics up when (or as) you do it.

 

x2^. I would por 15 it under there unless you are making it a non daily driver-show car.

 

Is POR-15 easy to apply? The site says roll, brush, or spray, but does rolling or brushing leave marks/brush strokes?

 

Yes! To apply the POR 15 without brush strokes will require spraying it. There is a special way to do it that can probably be found on their website. I think it requeires a reducer type material to allow it to flow.

 

The car is pretty much a rotisserie.. I am sand blasting the underside and want it to be black as night like the car. It wont be a daily driver but a weekend car. So POR-15 is the best route? I just want it protected and for it to be nice looking under it, not that you will be able to see under it.. It doesnt need to be the best like a show car, but darn close

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/auto...int-color.html
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/auto...underbody.html

 

i am using duplicolor truck bed liner instead of por 15. por15 is good stuff, yet while painting while laying on your back gets very messy and por 15 doesnt clean off of your skin. plus the truck bed liner in cheaper and pretty durable.

 

Hey guys, I got the underside done. I used "SEM" brand rust preventative that hardens like the por-15. They guaranteed it at my local shop. It was 45 dollars a gallon. I also got some gloss enhancer and hardener for it. The paint came out GREAT. I sand blasted the under side and scraped all the old under coat off it for preparation. I attatched images of how it came out.

The last picture is of the inner rear fender on the passenger side, it looks white in the picture, but its mirror finish black. The flash made it look white.

 

Shiny. Let us know how it holds up after a while, if it handles rock chips and whatnot.