Undercoat or Paint ? ?

[OSTUNNER]

Hey guys, so I finally got my frame off and I'm in the process of cleaning my undercarriage. What a dirty mess. I wanted to get some opinions on whether or not I should do primer/paint or undercoat. I have read a lot of mixed reviews of undercoating as far as causing rust, chipping , cracking etc. My car will be a fair weather driver so with that being said from your guys' experience which would be my best option?

 

[1958 delivery]

PAINT same as top of car. Undercoating makes it look like you're hiding some defects.

 

[Jim Sullivan]

I'm going to use red oxide primer with a satin clear coat on the under side of my 63, if I ever get that far.

 

[tripower]

Nate,
The undercoating will be a mess, it takes years to get hard. I put down 2-coats on the entire floor pan of my Pontiac with 1-quart acrylic enamel from NAPA. I also added a flatner so it has a 60% sheen.

 

['59Imp]

I'm not doing a frame off resto on my 59, but trying to do the best I can without doing a frame off resto... I've been using stripping wheels on the underside to strip it down to where its very clean, apply a few coats of primer, then paint it gloss black.
Here's what it looks like, so far... I'm 1/3 the way done, working from the rear forward, it takes quite a while...

 

[skipxt4]

 

[LMBRJQ 60]

We have a lot of gravel roads over here

No concrete roads in NZ

I under seal the floor and braces after i have painted them for protection

Steve

 

[1961 Bubble Boy]

The logic for using undercoating is simply to provide a surface that can take impacts from rocks without cracking and reduce noise from such impacts. Paint in the wheel houses will get chipped and cracked from impacts with no undercoat. We even coated the visible rocker areas with a clear anti-chip coating on new trucks and cars for the same reason.

For your case as a fair weather driver, I would skip it. If you drive on gravel roads frequently, spraying the wheel house area would be logical.

 

[OSTUNNER]

Thanks for all the input guys, I think once I get it all cleaned up I'm going to go ahead with painting it! The red-oxide does look good; factory correct I'm assuming ?
What's the deal with acrylic enamel? If I use an acrylic enamel could I lay down ZeroRust as my "primer" ?

 

[tripower]

Thanks for all the input guys, I think once I get it all cleaned up I'm going to go ahead with painting it! The red-oxide does look good; factory correct I'm assuming ?
What's the deal with acrylic enamel? If I use an acrylic enamel could I lay down ZeroRust as my "primer" ?

Yes you could use Zero Rust. The acrylic enamel is what everyone calls single stage. It provides better protection then primer.
I also use truck bed liner on the wheelhouse.

 

['59Imp]

Thanks for all the input guys, I think once I get it all cleaned up I'm going to go ahead with painting it! The red-oxide does look good; factory correct I'm assuming ?
What's the deal with acrylic enamel? If I use an acrylic enamel could I lay down ZeroRust as my "primer" ?

Yes, the red oxide primer is indeed factory correct. That was the factory's main primer they used.