Thread: Chevelle body undercoat...what to do?

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Hello,

We are in the midst of restoring a 1970 Chevelle. We have completely taken apart almost everything and are now sandblasting and painting various parts of the car.

At this point we have removed the frame from the body and are about to sandblast and do some welding undernatch the body before we put the frame back.

What kind of paint or undercoating does eveyone use in this situation?

Keep in mind this is just the under side of the body and not the frame...


We have already sandblasted and painted the frame black.




Thanks,


J. Adam

I used spray on bed liner on the last one, works great!!! Also does a bit of soundproofing, too.

Another possibility, depending on whether this is a "resto", or if a textured bottom is acceptable, would be to use a paintable undercoat or "rocker shutz". It would help to hide any welds, dents, or rough areas from rust.

For a while I owned the Capri my Son is now building, and since it was rustfree I wanted it to stay that way, so I primed the entire underside with a Urethane coating called "Trailer Coat" It is silver in color and you have to brush it on. It is made to paint boat trailers that are immersed in salt water, so it is super tough, and can be top coated.

But there was a problem. I laid under the car and brushed it on every square inch of undercarriage, and it was a hot day, so I was in only shorts. Stuff dripped all over me, and when I went to clean it off, nothing would touch it. Not acetone, laquer thinner, mineral spirits, nothing. Then I read the can, and it said "Do not get on your skin or it will not come off for one week." So for a full week everybody at work was making fun of the guy with silver paint all over his face and body.

I also did the bed of my pickup with the same stuff, but this time I wore a paper suit, gloves, goggles, etc. Stuff wears like iron, and no rust has ever come back in my truck bed.

Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

So for a full week everybody at work was making fun of the guy with silver paint all over his face and body.
Don

I'm priming my truck with something similar. I'm using Pettit Rustlok, very similar to trailer coat. Pettit uses aluminum as a pigment in all of their primers. The trouble is, it's moisture cured. If it gets on your "moist" skin, it cures nearly instantaneously. Once cured, it cannot be touched by solvents. It's convenient because it's a one-part primer, but because of it's solvent resistance it can be top coated with 2-part paints. It's extremely durable and chip resistant. It also takes heat pretty well, I primed my engine with it. It can be painted over rust as long as there is no scale. It wet sands ok if you're going to topcoat it. It dries in about a half an hour to an hour. I was able to apply 3 coats, sand, and topcoat in 1 day even while it was relatively cool and humid. On my frame, I prime with the Rustlok and topcoat with Rustoleum Satin black. You need do multiple coats of primer because the brush will leave some thin spots that will show rust after a while. This primer is the only 1-part primer I know of that can seal out water.

What ever you do, DO not use any of the rubberised coating they work ok for wheel wells but if it's on the bottom where it could get any type of oil on it! well i'll tell you YOU'll have a big mess on your hands!!! I had it happen to me on my 71 SS454 elcamino and cleaning it off sucks even more..
I have a few old jeep trucks 4x4's that i sprayed Morton bedliner to the bottom of the cab with and this stuff is GREAT even better then dupont bedliner.and it has a satin finish which looks nice on the bottom side...i even done the cowl vents too...OH and you can get it in colors and a kit will cost you a 100 bucks & it comes with a gun to shoot it...if you need more! you can buy it in qt's but you'll only need 2 maybe 3 of the qt's that come in the kit..Have a look.

Thanks for the replies.

I thought this was supposed to notify me by email when I had a reply to this post but I guess not!

I like the bedliner idea.

Few questions about it. Where can you get this stuff? Do I HAVE TO use a special gun to spray it or can I just use the standard paint guns we already have? Possibly just change the nozzle or doo-hicky that the paint comes out of? (sorry my dad is the painter, I don't know what some of this stuff is called).


Also what are your thoughts on Rustoleum. That's what we used on the frame. 2 coats of gloss black Rustoleum.



Thanks again,


Adam

Can't use a conventional paint gun, the bedliner material is too thick. You can also buy it (locally at Car Quest) that you just shake it up well and apply it with a small roller, dabbing the hard to reach places with a brush.

Plain old Rustoleum works well. I've also found that Ace Hardware has their own rust resistant coating in both flat and semi-gloss black in quart cans, only about $7.00. Around here we call it poor man's Por-15.

Hotrod396, excellent job on the firewall and the bottom, looks great and should be extremely durable, too.!!!!!!

Originally Posted by 76GMC1500

I'm priming my truck with something similar. I'm using Pettit Rustlok, very similar to trailer coat. This primer is the only 1-part primer I know of that can seal out water.

You are right, Rustlok and Trailercoat are the same product, I think, simply packed differently for two different uses. We sold both at West Marine, and the packaging was identical on the backside.

It's been a couple of years, and the silver is finally wearing off of my skin.


Don