botttoms up

[eldubb440]

i hate undercoat.....ive removed it every way possible. ive scraped it, chipped it, steamed it, but i find that paint stripper works the best. i stripped the undercoat off the underside of my fenders last night.....after some intense prep,  im gonna use a paintable "body shutz"(sp?) on the backside of my fenders, the outside of the inner fenders, and my rear wheelwells. the rest of the underside i will make pretty much smooth, fixing all the dings, dents, ect.  using a little seam sealer and shutz where necessary,  then everything painted body color. i was wondering how many of you guys have gone totally overboard prepping and painting your undersides.  i know im not the only one..... this is the only place i will ever ask to see your bottom, so lets see it! 

[mopar-addiction]

No, you are not the only one, I'm guilty of that too. Check out my photo's in my gallery.

http://www.bigblockdart.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=182

[eldubb440]

thats what im talkin about!!!   we have the same polaris, too.... how did you deal with the inside of your fenders? 

[mopar-addiction]

I did not do anything with the fenders yet, might be going with fiberglass fenders when funds permit. If I end up going with my steel fenders, I will re-coat the insides with bedliner spray to prevent rock hits from doing damage to the outer paint job seeing as it would only be a single layer of steel.

[eldubb440]

yeah, we are on the same page.....im goin with the paintable body-shutz (same concept). the inside of the fenders are a little tougher to prep also. i dont want to sandblast them. im gonna get them as clean as possible and coat the pitted areas with rust bullet, then epoxy, and go from there.

[MVRCorp]

Maybe I'm nuts, since my 69 Dart is my first restoration, but I'm doing my "bottom" in a U-Pol product called Raptor Lining. This product is actually a truck bed liner......but here's the "hook". This product is thin-able, to almost a paint consistancy, and it can be tinted to match your paint color. Best of all it's chip proof. Here is the link.....you might have to click on "Whats New".

http://www.u-pol.com/countries/us/navigate.htm

Jim

[eldubb440]

Maybe I'm nuts,
Jim

nope, not nuts.........this is why i started this thread. i was curious to see how other guys go about it. looks like a good product.... i wanted to look into UPOL, they dont  list an epoxy primer?

[MVRCorp]

No, my guy is shooting my car (top and bottom) in black epoxy primer. I will be getting it back into my garage 12/7. At that time I will be installing the Alterkation front end, 528 Hemi (mock-up block), tranny and TTI's headers and complete 3' exhaust system. I have to do this to determine the cuts and welding necessary on the shock towers to fit this monster engine in. I figure by 1/15 it will be back at the paint booth and at that time it will be shot with the U-Pol product. Keep in touch and E-mail me, around that time, and I will tell you what I think of the finished product.
By the way, my car (finished, I hope) will be at Bandimere Speedway in May for "Mopars on the Mountain". If you can, this is a "must see" show. Last year they had 5,000 cars at the show and you can run them thru the quarter!!!!!!!
Jim
MVRCorp@aol.com

[eldubb440]

i may get to that product before you.......im currently building two cars and may use it on one of them.....ill keep you posted or vice-versa 

[451 valiant]

I ended up totally stripping the underside, the undercoat was so thick in some spots.  I scraped off anything that was still soft and sandblasted the hardened stuff off.  I don't even want to think of how many hours it took. Turned out good, but what a pain.  The underside is now epoxy primed and ready for paint. Here's before and after pics:

Before :



After:

[eldubb440]

nice work....there are only 4 of us?........id love to see the bottom side of Tom's RR. HINT!

[b569rr]

Mark,

I will get some picks of it tomorrow. I have to work OT tonight.

As for the RR, I media blasted the entire unibody. But the bottom was a hard decision. I knew that I was going to drive it alot (2000 miles a year) and I wanted something durable. rock chips drive me crazy, same goes for the underside and I know I just have to get over it.

I sealed the body with 3m seam sealer, sprayed the POR 15 system with the chassis black over it. I did the same to the wheel wells. The surface is extremely durable almost plastic like. The surface is also slippery smooth so the underside road dirt wipes right off. It does not chip. I also had ZERO body rust on the underside. Now if they made something as durable as POR 15 in a body color, that would be the ticket.

If I would have painted it body color, anal me would be under there waxing and using detail spray. It was a self intervention.

Tom

[MVRCorp]

Now if they made something as durable as POR 15 in a body color, that would be the ticket.
 


Hey Tom, check this stuff out, It's tintable and a great sound deadener. Also thinable to almost a paint consistancy (sp?). When you get to this site you might have to click on "What's new"     

http://www.u-pol.com/countries/us/navigate.htm

[b569rr]

Now if they made something as durable as POR 15 in a body color, that would be the ticket.
 


Hey Tom, check this stuff out, It's tintable and a great sound deadener. Also thinable to almost a paint consistancy (sp?). When you get to this site you might have to click on "What's new"     

http://www.u-pol.com/countries/us/navigate.htm

Thanks, looks like good stuff. If I can manipulate a KK-1 turquise out of it that would be the way for me.

[CudaSRT8]

My Baccaruda had thick, factory undercoating.   I strung the body from some beams (with proper safety precautions) and went under there with a propane torch and a 2" putty knife.   Softened the undercoat just enough with the torch and scraped it off.   This left a very slight bit of thin tar base from the undercoat.   I wiped that off with some mineral spirits.   Scuffed the underside with 3M scuff pads; primed with PPG DP epoxy primer and shot it with a satin black single stage polyurethane paint.   Love these California rust free cars!!

[Mopartist]

Now you've done it. I was gonna shut my eyes to the undercarriage restoration; but seeing all the inspiration around here has got me wanting to push forward and go for all of it. Darn! If only you guys woulda let it go....................

[CudaSRT8]

Moparartist,
You can't draw a line and stop at half-ass.       You have to "go for it" and build your dream.      My pop always told me "do it right, or don't do it at all".    What a curse!   
O.J.

[MVRCorp]

Curse is right.....When I started this project I looked at the grill and thought "this is the best grill Iv'e seen and this is perfect for re-install". FOOL......This damn thing has a evolved into a life of it's own. 50K and climbing.....
Now I need a "restored" grill!!!!!

My daddy (rest his soul) always said I had a Champane diet on a beer income. God, I miss him!