Painting underside - black or body color, Wurth undercoating or not Options

[Qarl]

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...

[Doug Leggins]

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.


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