Okay...

I spoke to the NEW body guy today who is going to redo the paint job on the 914 conversion. Hopefully he can take the car in 2-3 weeks and then get it done in 30 days. Should be pretty easy since it is a stripped tub on a cart. I am also going to have Engman's inner long kit installed and fix some of the bodywork fuckups from the last body guy (don't ask).

Since I am basically starting afresh, I am considering painting the underside (underside of floor pan, wheel wells, and everything below the engine tin seals) black.

My thoughts are that the car is yellow and the suspension (front struts) and rear shocks are yellow. I'm thinking that this would show off the suspension better.

I know Doug Leggins did this on his car and that I have seen several other restorations that have done this.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/post-2...-1109562333.jpg

I noticed that Gint undercoated his 914-6 car and then painted it body color.

http://www.914world.com/members/ginter/DSCN0257.jpg

Here are my requests.

1. Looking for photos of freshly painted cars with the undersides painted black.
2. Options for undercoating (I know Wurth is really good).
3. Does POR make an undercoating option. I know they have a chassis black product. Might be good for added rust protection and to yield a nice satin finish
4. Painting over undercoating. What's the paint layer application.... primer, undercoasting and then paint? Or primer, paint, undercoating, and paint.

Thanks!

Qarl


This is car similar to mine that someone from either Minnesota or North Dakota e-mailed me a few years back.

I don't remember who it was...

No photos to illustrate, all my cars (cept the new one) were undercoated black. Never liked that, always looked dirty and that texture trapped a ton of it.

One thing that I always loved on the earlier (earlier than 85) 911's was the stongard finish that was painted body color. Your suspension will hide if you paint it all one color, unless you want to re-coat all your stuff so I know where you are coming from.

I'd say wurth it and do body color!

I'm thinking this might be a really good choice.

http://www.por15.com/product.asp?productid=209

It can give you a satin black finish, corrosion production (good for all the seams and nooks and crannies underneath) and is extremely durable.

QUOTE (Qarl @ Mar 4 2005, 02:07 PM)

Since I am basically starting afresh, I am considering painting the underside (underside of floor pan, wheel wells, and everything below the engine tin seals) black.

are you nuts?

please, don't spend all that money on making your car that nice and then cheap out on the underside!

paint it body color! *NO* undercoating, pretty please. i beg you ... don't do it. noooooooooooooo
Andy

Is this going to be a concours winner?

If not then I think the Chassis Black looks pretty cool. I have heard a lot of good stuff about that product from restoration guys up here (where the salt is on the roads not in the water).

I am no purist, I may not know Porsches but I know what I like.

Just my $0.02 advice, Do not undercoat your car. I would recommend properly prepping and painting the underside. Use POR or some other quality product and then paint body color. Or you could spray the body shitz (sp?) on it to give it that texture. For me, a SMOOTH surface will hold the least amount of dirt/water/grime.

I like them smooth paint. NOT UNDERCOATING! Keep it clean.

It's not like you are going to drive the thing in the salt/snow/rain much are you?

Again, just my opinion (disregard it if you want).

I don't think chassis black is textured and it is a POR product already. You could even paint it Yella afterwards I think.

Please no undercoat keep the same as body color. If you have too, use a clear undercoating or scuff guard.

The 2nd link is the way to go.

Paint it body colour.....let people look for your upgrades. Smoother, cleaner looking.

If you want you suspension upgrades to stand out, paint them Floresent Orange or Green.

I hijacked Sahara Beige Steves photo. Look how easy you spot the wheelwells. think of that if it is black, and then black/brown with crud on it.

QUOTE

The 2nd link is the way to go.

Well the second link has an undercoat and then paint on top of it.

I think it is Wurth Underbody or SKS...

http://www.wurthusa.com/en/catalog/product...ath=06.0510.jpg

Whatever it is, it has to be paintable...

Hey man
Best of both worlds,
have him paint it and after, if you want, shoot undercoating on it, easy, hard to do the other way around.
Cheers
Joe

I really like the underside of the car to be body color, but I am a bit impartial....



-Britain

Karl.... my opinion on undercoating.....I have undercoating on my car and i believe if there is a crack in the undercoating caused by rock chips and the like is a fantasic place for moisture to collect and sit ....can you say rust.... i have talked to the body men to redo the darn thing and paint body color....however I never drive it in the rain or salt....so it will have to wait....a possible solution is under body wax after paint as the new cars have around here in BC
good luck on the project and keep us posted
if this paint guy can't get it right "say hello to my little friends"
steve

The floor pans, trucks and etc. are flat black on my '73. I talking to PO and according to him the bottom is orginial. Right now it need a respray.

My 73 had dealer applied undercoating, original paint underneath. Areas under the trunk were white, well under all the grease and dirt that made it black. I am powerwashing the new car's wheelwells this weekend and it is a non-undercoat car, I'll post my progress pics

Mine will be body color with no undercoating. I spent months and thousands of dollars to media blast and prime the damn thing. I gonna paint it like the factory did and no undercoating will ever touch it. Yeah, it will eventually get dirty. That's because it is a car.

Quarl,

You are living in Florida, land of humidity, rain, salt spray at the beach, mildew and RUST.

Seal that sucka.

Ken

Okay... the yellow's win...

So, now how to protect the body and underside. Because of the humidity and rain and the fact that it has the factory GT panels welded on, I want some added protection....

So, I am thinking one of the following...

1. A coat of the POR chassis with yellow body color on top might be best at this time

2. Wurth protective coating with yellow on top (like Gint's car).

If I understand correctly, your question about how they paint over the undercoating goes like this. I think that you prime, then apply the wurth or SKS snot stuff on (it applies clear, or yellowy clear, then paint over the top of that.... I think.

You could definately do POR15 and paint over it, but it sounds like you are wanting some chassis/paint protection from roadkill flying up in your fenderwells.

Qarl,

When I lived in Melbourne and Indiatlantic, the first thing you did after buying a car was taking it out for undercoating. There was a place in Melbourne that would apply 3/16 to 1/4 inch of rustproof coating everywhere. That was the only way to keep your car from rusting.

Except for Honduhs, those cheap POS come pre-rusted from the factory. People near the beach just won't buy them.

I like 2. Ever sandblasted? Something hard will pit. Something a little bit flexible (like duct tape) will survive. Wurth then paint would be my vote.

Ken

Qarl - Glad to hear that you are getting moving on the project again! I hope that in a couple of months you are smiling from ear to ear while looking at your new paint job!

Some reasons why I went black on the underside.

-I always thought that the color coded underside looked kind of odd. Nearly all cars that I am familiar with have a black underside. My opinion on this is changing however, after seeing more 914s. The color coded bottom looks really good on some 914s. And after all, that is the way they came from the facory.

- My car is intended to be a frequent driver. My thoughts are that the black will not show dirt as much as bright orange would. And after some suface scars appear and need to be touched up I should be able to blend a satin black into the wheelwell easier than i could blend in the orange.

-My thoughts were that a black underside would help to show off the black chrome powder coated parts.

- My painter was familiar with the black industrial enamel that we used. There's a local hot rod builder that has been using it for a few years and recommended the material. The material is an industrial equipment enamel made by Western Automotive Finishes which is a division of Sherwin Williams.

- The painter recommended spraying the tops of the wheel wells with a stone guard/chip resistant 3M material. With the car going to be a driver- this made sense to me. I am fairly certain that the stone guard is sprayed on top of the paint. Since both are black, this worked on my car.


Pics...

After the wheels and tires are installed and the car is on the ground, there is really not much of the wheel wells that is visible. The black underside does not draw attention to inside the wheel wells. The car body is where most peoples view will stop. With a color coded wheel well it seems, to me, to take my viewing of the car on into the wheel wells. I did not want this for a driver. For a show car I sure would.

More pics just because i can....

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I would use Hammerite Smooth finsh. The paint is very tough it will not chip once it has dryed.

Have you thought of using the hardnose coating from POR-15

http://www.por15.com/product.asp?productid=249

I would just like to say, doug you suck! God i'm so jealous, you could eat off of that thing! Jesus it's going to be new when your done, and we can all refrence it for how are car's are supposed to look !
Eric

P.S.
I'm partial to the color coded underside, but the black is more practical, yellow is pretty, but black dosn't show the uglyness the road will provide.

I think you already know what my opinion is!

Mine is epoxy primer, Wurth shutzschitwhateveritscalled, and BRIGHT TANGERINE PAINT!

The factory put undercoating on first, then the paint. It is less likely to crack or chip than paint alone. It will also reduce noise significantly.

Qarl, glad to hear you are "back in the business"

I painted the underside of my 914 gloss black. There is under that paint a thick layer of paintable undercoating mass. No problems after thousands of miles here in rainy and cold Finland.

But, black looks allways dirty after some use. So, I would use body color also in underside in your case.

My underside is yellow. The wheel wells are shot with gravel guard.

Here are the best pics I have right now:

last:

Not to Hijack but Joe, w/that last shot up into the fender It seems there is a significant lack of seam sealer. Did you gut it all out?
Doug I guess that Q is to you as well as youve gone down the complete resto mode.

QUOTE (rdauenhauer @ Mar 7 2005, 11:17 AM)

Not to Hijack but Joe, w/that last shot up into the fender It seems there is a significant lack of seam sealer. Did you gut it all out? Doug I guess that Q is to you as well as youve gone down the complete resto mode.

There is seam sealer, but it's minimal.

A friend of mine does this process:

1) Bare metal prepped for POR-15
2) POR-15 applied and dried
3) Shoot 3M Body Shutz
4) Paint to match.

Looks like this:



Doesn't that look sweet, AND deaden the stone/rock noise, and look durable?

Later,
Tom

OK Tom so how are your fenders going back on?

I agree with Eric Taylor......"Doug, you suck!" Can't wait to see that car at the FFC this year!

I stripped mine with a wire wheel (no rotisserie ), "metal readied", POR-15'd, and then gave the entire thing a nice thick coating of 3M truckbed liner.......hope that does the trick, cause there's no friggin way I'm going to lay under that car for 2 weeks stripping and recoating it again!

QUOTE (Joe Ricard @ Mar 7 2005, 02:03 PM)

OK Tom so how are your fenders going back on?

I'm not sure since it wasn't my car... I see what you are saying.

Regardless, it was just an example of what *could* be done. Seems to work well.

Later,
Tom