Re: Repainting my bottom

[Doug Ahern <D170A833@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 08 06/28/07, Menko wrote:
> The question is,
> what color did these usually come in?  I see parts of the frame are
> body colored (most likely over-spray?), some parts are a gunmetal
> grey, and the rest was simply rust red, so I have no idea.  I am
> painting the tank all the way forward to the T-bar cross member.  I
> was thinking painting the frame rails semi-gloss black, and the rest
> some kind of grey.  Does this jive with what most cars sort of looked
> like?  I don't care if its factory original, just want it to look
> decent.

after the unibody was run through a series of dunk tanks and spray rooms
were anti-corrision  and metal prep solutions were applied (either by
full immersion or sprayed on in select areas)  it was then primed  with
2 coats of primer,  baked then sanded.  after it ws sanded, it was
painted its exterior colors and interior colors (upper door frame
paint).

http://www.enbcom.com/cuda/stuff/stuff003.jpg

if you look at this picture, you'll see that the car was not hoisted
high in the air such that final paint color would be evenly applied
to the underside.    final paint color that hit under the car was
mostly over spray.   The rust red you saw might have been the primer.
my 66 Coronet was primed red, my 67 Dart was primed with a greenish
primer.   This lack of underside paint didn't necessarily leave
the car as a rolling invitation to rust.  southern cars didn't need more
than that.   In the southeast (my area)  most car rust is from the
top side down (leaky interiors, water trapped under carpet or in
trucks.) 

some initial assembly was done, like fender splash shields.

black out was applied to behind the grille areas and to wheel wells.
at some point, undercoating was applied if the car was so optioned.
I'm not sure if undercoating was applied before or after gas and brake
lines were installed, I'll have to look at my 67 Dart underside
(optioned for undercoating + under hood silencing pad).

the car was then assembled.  if you want to see some pictures, go to 
google images and search for combinations of "lynch rd" "hamtramck"
"assembly" "line", etc...

http://moparmusclemagazine.com/featuredvehicles/p182079_image_s.jpg

FWIW: no assembly line car ever looked like this with this kind of 
body color applied this throughly under the car.  its not a bad thing,
but don't get the idea than somehow your car was originally like that
and the paints rusted/ fallen off...


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