Undercarriage Painting

Q: Undercarriage Painting

What is the absolute most rugged and above all, correct paint for the underside of my 1968 bird??? I’m talking frame, floor boards, front wheel wells and firewall. In the recent issues of HPP, Jim’s 1967 was featured with talk about using PPG products and the various gloss levels. That’s great.. But which PPG products??? Anyone know? I want mine to be correct and I will use a spray gun rather than a spray bomb. Your helpful hints appreciated as always.

A: Here is what I got from a (gulp) Camaro restoration article. I can’t imagine the Firebirds being different:

Firewall, inner radiator support, and othr engine compartment sheet metal:

PPG paints
– two qts “mixing black” #386
– one qrt “universal flattening agent”
– one qrt “mixing clear” #310
– use PPG #DDL-16 quick dry thinner or DuPont #3608S.

Undercarrage, frame and suspension:
Egg shell black enamel;
– three qrts mixing black
– One qrt flattening agent
– use PPG DTR601 quick dry reducer

Enamel is used for these pieces because it’s more durable than lacquer and will quickly wipe clean for “showing of” purposes.

A: In this day and age Im surprised that anyone would use laquer or enamel for a place like the underside of the body. There are many good urethanes that are far superior to enamels or laquers, for chip resistance,and general wear and tear. Most of these urethanes have flattening agents to get the proper dullness or gloss. You do need to play with mixing to get the proper amount of flattner vs. gloss. Anyone tried the POR-15 semi-gloss? Curious as to the correctness of the gloss. Also dont forget to do this before you paint body so you can get overspray on the rockers and into the cowl area as the factory did. Carefully mask the frame and leaf springs, and all cables lines etc. Just remember how this was all done at the factory.

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