underside paint choice

underside paint black or body color

  • paint the bottom black

    Votes: 63 51.2%

  • paint the bottom body color W1 white

    Votes: 60 48.8%
  • Total voters
    123
  • Poll closed .
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dodge71demon

dodge71demon

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I'm at the stage on my 69 Valiant to start laying paint. I have it on a rotisserie and it will be W1 White. I have the bottom all prepped and sanded with 400 grit. My plan was to paint the bottom black but the more I look at it I'm considering painting it the White except for the wheel wells which will be black (due to up keep) What would you I do
 
factory painted them body color
 
for me, it would depend on how I wanted to use the vehicle. If it's going to be a show car, I think that Mopars look the best with the undercarriage painted to match the top side. If it's going to be (like my '68 Charger project) a daily driver that will sometimes see inclimate weather and gravel I'd use a coating such as POR-15 top coated with undercoating to prevent rust, help insulate, and quiet the ride. Our Charger was completely stripped, with new floors, trunk, quarters, etc... The undercarriage was stripped of all previous undercoat and rust. I even sanded and rustproofed the inside of the frame rails where ever I could reach. Our goal was to have a very quiet (from road noise) car that could be reliably exposed to the elements without being overly concerned about rusting. Even though we have everything new and could focus on detailing the bottom of the car, we're still going to undercoat. We spent over $400 putting POR-15 inside the doors, quarters, roof, ... - everywhere. Time will tell if it was worth the effort.
 
also have my 69 dart on rotissierie ,tubbed tied painted black looks great but the more I look at it after hundreds of man hours am going body color. my 2 cents. nw dart.
 
I painted the underside of my 66 Dart with two coats of epoxy primer then two coats of single stage red body color. looks nice and clean.

My 69 B-Cuda is white. It came from Cali many years ago, it is also white underneath, still original. Nice and bright under there.

Paint it white.

barracudadave67
 
nwdart said:
also have my 69 dart on rotissierie ,tubbed tied painted black looks great but the more I look at it after hundreds of man hours am going body color. my 2 cents. nw dart.
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That's my feelings exactly. After many hours of work I look at the bottom and say it's a shame to cover all that hard work with black paint. That's either the advantage or disadvantage of using a rotisserie
 
1967 'cuda said:
for me, it would depend on how I wanted to use the vehicle. If it's going to be a show car, I think that Mopars look the best with the undercarriage painted to match the top side. If it's going to be (like my '68 Charger project) a daily driver that will sometimes see inclimate weather and gravel I'd use a coating such as POR-15 top coated with undercoating to prevent rust, help insulate, and quiet the ride. Our Charger was completely stripped, with new floors, trunk, quarters, etc... The undercarriage was stripped of all previous undercoat and rust. I even sanded and rustproofed the inside of the frame rails where ever I could reach. Our goal was to have a very quiet (from road noise) car that could be reliably exposed to the elements without being overly concerned about rusting. Even though we have everything new and could focus on detailing the bottom of the car, we're still going to undercoat. We spent over $400 putting POR-15 inside the doors, quarters, roof, ... - everywhere. Time will tell if it was worth the effort.
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Very true I have another a body for general use and I'm not a show car nut.
 
My 69 383-S that is B5 blue was not painted body color on the bottom. It was a dark primer gray color. I don't think all Mopars were painted body color on the underside.
 
My 69 383-S that is B5 blue was not painted body color on the bottom. It was a dark primer gray color. I don't think all Mopars were painted body color on the underside.
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You are correct. These cars were not painted body color on the underside. They were dipped in a gray or black primer(depending on assembly plant). The only body color that was on the bottom was overspray. The amount of overspray could vary from car to car.

This is how I'm doing my Dart. It will have a single stage paint on the bottom that matches the dark gray color of the dip primer. Then there will be body color overspray on top of that. That was my biggest mistake when I built my Challenger. It's body color on the underside. I wish I would have gone the primer/body color overspray route with it.
 
DusterDaddy said:
I Vote Body Color.....
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I also vote full body color unless you're doing a stock from-the-factory resto. It just looks so much more finished with the underside in body color. It also lets you detail components in different paint colors.
 
I's go white.

I want to tell you aother option.. We did a mustang and a unicab. When it came time to do the underside we had it done in Rhino Liner. (bedliner) They were able to match the color of the car and it is bulletproof.
 
My duster was light gray with orange over spray from the electrostatic painting process.

The light metalic colors had more color on the under side from more dusting then the darker straight colors.

I will paint the complete body orange before assembly. Many do this for appearance.

My other orange Duster is black on the underside but has many modifications and Appearance wasn't the objective. It was performance for a driver. Right now it is covered with rubber and exhaust soot. So body color would have been a waist of time.
 

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factory would be gray primer with body color overspray and all cars rec'd undercoating in the wheel wells except some LA cars which had the front wheel wells painted black.
..however you can paint the underside and all the suspension components any color you like and it will be correct for you.
 
rlevs said:
i am for body color but this is another idea
http://www.monstaliner.com
it is bed liner that comes in many colors very durable and still looks like factory paint if they have the right color
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Don't take me wrong but I do not understand why people like to use bed liner on cars.If you ever have to do something to where's it applied it can be a real pain.I know ---- whoever had this car before me really liked the stuff
 
jefflock said:
factory painted them body color
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No they did not.

The undercarriage was grey primer (except LA plant) with body color paint oversprayed from the side onto the undercarriage. ie parts facing he side of the car will get more overspray than parts facing downward or inward (very little overspray

Cars built at the Los Angeles assembly plant have a black primer in he underside.
 
dodge71demon said:
Glad you posted the picture I see you painted rear tire wells and otuside the rear frame rails black. That's exactly what I was considering
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I agree.

When you see body color through the front grille and behind the tires it looks distracting and bad. Seeing bright body color behind the grille and tires looks confusing to the eye and takes away from grille and rim/tire combo.

I don't care if it's a race car, modified show car, OE stock resto, or whatever. Still looks bad.
 
i left the factory undercoat on mine and just freshened it up with satin black spray paint. plus she sits to low to the ground to get all the way under her comfortably just to wax the underside lol
:banghead:
 
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