So im going to be doing my 54 chevy project soon. Im getting together all of the things i will need for all the body work. This last weekend i went and got a rotisserie down in San Diego and can't wait to get the car off the frame and onto it. I plan on wire wheeling the under side and coating it with something. Im pretty new to getting this involved with the car esp with flipping it i want to know what's the best product to use for underneath the car? I know the term "best" is kinda generic since there are so many great products, bit again i haven't the slightest direction on what product to use. Thanks everyone
think how old your car is--how did what the factory did hold up---copy that process as closely as you think is reasonable---good luck
You have seen that product on TV where a guy sprays a screen door and makes it the bottom of a boat and it floats. You can buy a Rustolem product at wally's world (Walmart) in the paint dept for half the price. I coated the bottom of my C cab with it I highly recomend it.
40 years ago I wire wheeled the underside of the fenders on my '40, and brushed on black roofing tar. it's still on there...
There are a lot of things you can use, but about 14 years ago I coated the entire undersides of an OT Mercury Capri with a product called "Trailer Coat" that is made by Pe***. I worked at a marine store, and Pe*** packages the same product into two different cans, one is marked Trailer Coat and the other is Underwater Metal Primer. My Son sold the Capri and it went up north for 4 years and was driven on salt covered roads and then the car came back to Florida. My Son was able to buy it back about a year ago and when we climbed underneath it the car is as clean as the day I painted it. The color is silver, but it can be topcoated with something like bedliner to make it black (which is what we are going to do). It is a Urethane product, and here is some info on it. You can find it at most large marine stores because it is made to paint on boat trailers and also the rudders, shafts, and props of boats.......so it is TOUGH. http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|10918|296162|11453|311507&id=12044 But, let me give anyone a warning if you are thinking of using it. DO NOT GET IT ON YOU because it DOES NOT COME OFF !! I didn't read the can and laid under the car with only shorts and tennis shoes on me, with the stuff dripping all over the place, including on my head and body. When I was done I used every product in the shop, including laquer thinner, and it didn't touch it. For 3 weeks I was going to work with silver Trailer Coat all over my face, arms, and head. But if you want the very best metal primer out there, this is the one I recommend. Just buy a hooded paper suit and full face shield or you will be sorry. Don
I was reading another review about a guy that made his own lizard skin from micro balloons he got from the hobby shop and latex paint. I guess its also a great sound barrier also. He said you mix the mix the macro balloos with a really cheap latex and you brush it on direction only not back and forth like you would regularly paint. I like all the ideas you guys have, very interesting to see what everyone else has used over the years.
In the fall our local Pep Boys and others have sales on rubberized under coating and I stock up. I keep it in stock. My collector cars spend most of their life in the garage. I don't drive them in a snow storm. I use it mostly for cosmetics. Wire brush the loose stuff off and give it a nice coat of undercoating. I use Krylon semi flat back for the ch***is and suspension. You can spend a lot of money on fancy products that are over kill for my fair weather cruisers.. JMHO