Painting the underside

[nsmall]

So now that I've decided to Media blast and prime the bottom of my car I'm not sure what to do regarding painting the underside.

I live in a desert where it basically never rains and I don't plan to ever drive on a dirt road.   I just go to the park with my son, go get burger, basically I drive the car like 10 miles week and it's in town.

So I guess my question is what should I expect my painter to charge me to paint the underside body color? The car is not going to be on a rotisserie so maybe this is just a total nightmare that I could avoid by painting the Underside myself somehow.

I'll do some research tonight online on other threads out there regarding this topic. If I was to paint it black as it would look good against toxic orange is there a certain paint anyone could recommend? I don't have a spray gun and I'm not looking to build a perfect car.  I don't want to lay down a coat of think undercoat as down the road if I ever have to sell the car I don't want anyone to think I'm hiding anything.  My car looks pretty good underneath besides above the rear axle.

Lastly, does painting The Underside body color  end up being a mess to keep clean? I don't plan to wash my car with water once it's fully restored but I do like the idea of the underside being painted body color.  Sorry but I got another question. Assuming I do the wheel wells body color does the paint chip really easy so it might be best just to do some sort of undercoating on the wheel wells?

if anyone can post any threads on the topic, cool, I'll look online this weekend. Thank you

[Crazypete]

I'll throw my .02 on this cause I've been where your at.  I really need anted to do the full underside detail but after talking to a few guys that did it you would hate it if you like driving your car.  Lots of cleaning and once painted you may find little  imperfections that you normally would not see .  I went the opposite direction and I did spray truck bed liner because I love driving my t/a and I didn't want to have to worry about rust ever again

[screamindriver]

You didn't state what type of resto you're doing so I'll answer this way..
.route 1 :To give the bottom a correct appearance You'd "prime" the bottom using the color the manufacturing plant used{Generally Hamtramck is grey,LA is black primer}... Most are using a modern epoxy or urethane to simulate the primer...Then the color coat would be sprayed /oversprayed onto the bottom...Keep in mind the factory never coated the bottom completely whatever got shot during the panel painting is what it got...Do your homework and look at examples if you go this route..
route 2: Use the substrates of your choice followed by a complete color coat coverage on the bottom...A lot of guys go this route it does look better but not OE correct..
route 3:As already suggested, if you plan on driving the car regularly you'll want to undercoat some or most of the bottom...Yeah, full undercarriage paint looks nice but it's a nightmare to keep clean even on highway runs...Plan on saving paint for rock chips and touch-ups if it's not fully undercoated...

[Cuda Cody]

Like it's been said already, there's the 3 major choices.

• The OE way with primer and the factory overspray look.  Most like not for you if you're not doing OE judging.
• Paint the underside body color.  This is what I normally do since I don't drive my cars in the rain and they stay really clean.  With the weather in your area this is what I would lean towards.  But this is not easy to do without a rotisserie.  It can be done, but it's pretty hard
• Undercoat or use bedliner.  Super durable, but make sure you take lots of photos before so if you have to sell it then it will be easy to show that you're not covering up rust or problems.

Always use some sort of inner fender wheel well under costing.  That will help stop rocks from coming up and putting a "ding" or "star" in your new paint.  Happens more on front fender that only have a single layer of metal on the top so make sure to get a decent amount of undercoating in there.  Here's some photos.

[Shoooter]

I would have loved to have mine painted it looks way cleaner in my eyes. My car was a undercoated car so it was left on.

[nsmall]

I am the original poster for this thread.  I guess I would describe my car as a weekend warrior with the occasional (maybe 2 per year) car show appearance.  I cant imagine spending much time at car shows as I have small kids, yet I am spending a lot of  on this car so I will have to go to at least one a year.

That being said, the overspray option sounds good as this is NOT some trailer queen.  The media blaster is using PPG for the entire car including the underside.  Any recommendations for what type of paint to use besides body color or bed liner for the underside???  Dont laugh too hard, but what about a rattle can of some Rustoleum glossy black over the primer?  My Cuda will be toxic orange, black goes well with that color IMO.

As for the underside of the fenders, any suggestions for what type of coating to use?  Prefer something easy and cheap to apply. 

  As for the wheel well, I see some body color on Cuda Cody's pics (frame rail), yet some black on the panels on the inside of the front fenders.  I have those panels too, mine have undercoating on them that I am assuming can come off? What would I spray on the inside of the wheel wells?  Again something easy and cheap would be preferred .

THANKS 

[farmboy70]

Here are a couple underside shots with the factory type look to go along with the full paint pictures. This may help give you a idea of what look you may want to go for.
I use a satin clear to preserve the underside and aid cleaning.
Dave

[anlauto]

That's a great reference photo to show any body shop when trying to explain what you want

[farmboy70]

I have several pictures of other cars, but having trouble loading them to the site. Keeps locking up my computer. Ill keep trying.
Dave

[farmboy70]

More

[anlauto]

Problem I have with this site is that I can't "steal" the pictures once posted here.....I know that's a good thing, but it sucks when I see something I like to save or share somewhere else.

[farmboy70]

I have win10 and use the photo app for pictures. Any problems with that?
Dave

[farmboy70]

again

[farmboy70]

full paint

[farmboy70]

These may help also as the unassembled pictures don't give a good idea of the final look.
Dave