I want to improve the look of the underside (floor pans)of my '73 which is in very good shape. What's the best to do? Paint or new undercoat? Any brand names of either and method of applying?
Thanks.
Before you do anything to that car I would suggest assessing the entire car. Read a lot of restoration threads. I do not believe it would serve you or the car to spray anything under that car until you have a proper plan in place.
Unfortunately a lot of people, (not saying you) buy these cars and try to just clean them up and flip them for a quick easy profit. Some shoot underseal all over everything hoping an uninformed buyer who does not know better will see that and think it is in like new condition. For me, it raises red flags, making the car possibly less in value unless the underside is properly prepared for new undercoating first and there are a lot of pictures documenting the entire preparation before any new products are applied. If you look at the complete restoration threads you will see what others have done to properly prepare a chassis for new underseal.
If I recall your pictures the underside of your car looked really nice. I would consider dropping the suspension and have new rubber bushings, ball joints, tie rod ends, strut inserts, maybe caliper rebuilds, new master cylinder, soft brake lines, new SS gas lines, soft gas lines, have the actual suspension components powder coated, have hardware replated and then clean the underside of the chassis with a mild cleaning solution and a soft brush before putting it all back together. It's a slippery slope.
Welcome Ampex351,
I used Wurth High Build Under seal on my 74 V8 car shown and it also was used on my restoration of my factory 6 at PMB number 41 the 30th car down the production line.
I cleaned the hell out of the underside and they ran out of Gray so I finished with Black.
This is the stuff. Takes around 3 cans to do the bottom without the fenders.
It smells bad but shoots really good. You need to where a respirator as you should with any paint product. It is rubberized but no stick to the touch but you can fell with a fingernail that it has a little give to it.
Bob B
I used the same Wurth product as Burton and did the same thing, except I painted mine the body color. I wish I had pictures of the original. Floors were generally solid, but the underside was just dirty and dusty, like some PO used to drive it a long unpaved driveway at some point. It was messy and a lot work getting everything off, but I'm much happier with it now.
Clean the car thoroughly & then drive it. KISS.
stone guard and then light body color
Quite a few of us have used tintable bed liner to both undercoat and "paint" at the same time.
Michael has a good point. Make sure you get good pics of the clean and solid underbelly before applying anything so you have proof you weren't just hiding problems.
I am going to do my under fenders as a rock can make a star chip like in the fenders. This is a small safety for that. I will paint everything Olympic Blue like the top end to be nice.
Bob B
And George, this Wurth high build seems to be just like the Wurth Stone Guard that I bought for my 6 from you 11 years ago.
I agree with doing the underside of the fenders with whatever you use to seal the bottom and provide some protection from rocks. I have seen those upward dents when rocks come flying off tires and strike the inside of the fenders.
This is my current restoration , 1973 2.0 . Drivers side floor is original , passenger side is new . I used gray tinted Raptor bed liner then painted it the original color of Ravenna Green . It's the second time I have used this product and I am very pleased witht he result.
I think I may have used closer to 5 cans, but I can't remember completely. It was a tough doing it on a mid-rise scissor lift (although jack stands wouldn't be so easy either), and so parts of it probably didn't go on as efficiently as I would like due to the painting angle.
I put a high-bond rattle can primer on top before putting the color coat on, but otherwise no additional prep.
Here is a picture of the bottom of my 6 number 41. PMB was in charge of the restoration and this texture and amount of yellow color is what they believe to be the correct amount of texture and paint intensity as it would have come from the factory. Small point but one that I think is right.
Bob B
No. When I said rocks come flying off tires, I was not clear enough, I meant coming off my own tires as the car is driving down the road.
Powered by Invision Power Board (http://www.invisionboard.com)
© Invision Power Services (http://www.invisionpower.com)