Chassis Paint

JRV,

Thanks very much for your (and everyones) answers to my questions so far.

I noticed some of the black chassis paint is peeling in the rear of my '76 308 right below the coolant overflow tank. It seems at some point long ago the tank (or hose) leaked on the back wall of the engine compartment (the silver-crackled finish) and a frame "stringer" that runs side-to-side. Being picky, I would like to scrap the black paint, sand and recoat.

What kind of black chassis paint do you recommend? Do I need a primer underneath?

Also, how should I go about scrapping the thick silver-crackle finish and reapplying? Where can I find this type of paint?

These are small areas, I am just very picky!

Thank You,

Anthony

>>What kind of black chassis paint do you recommend? Do I need a primer underneath? <<

Hi Anthony,

IMO...the Chassi Color on your car is Satin Black sold in many stores or by Eastwood Products. Satin Black &amp; Semi-Gloss Black are imo either the same color by different names or extremely close shades of the same color. You be the judge {}.

I'm not so sure I would get carried away with the silver....imo it is some type of tar paper painted with heat resistant silver. When you try to remove the paint if I rember correctly it damages the tar papery material it's on. I have always just cleaned very well and then painted again with Dull Aluminum.

If you find a better way please share with us.

Regards, JRV

Thank you...

The problem with the silver is that it is peeling already and flaking in an area with some rust underneath - I am not sure if I should scrape the flaking part off or not....?

Hi Anthony,

When I redo an early 308 series engine compt. (not to concours mind you)I carefully scrape the old peeling paint and try to knock down the edges a little so that the new top coat doesn't look to half done. To redo this area with the engine in the car looks like a serious challenge.

I just went into the shop and looked at a 77 B I'm doing the engine on, the rear wall is sprayed with profesional rubberized undercoating (like the type Wurth Products sells)and then painted a dull aluminum. If your car is of this type you might try to first scrape the parts that are peeling and then use paintable undercoating to get the texture back and then top coat with the correct shade of silver. It's possible a layer of undercoating would cover many of the edges left by the old coating.

HTH's

Regards, JRV

In a bit of a related question.

When and how do you rustproof a car's chassis? Can this sort of thing only be done when doing a full restoration?

I'm guessing you have to shave down to bare metal and then apply? Once you do this, how long would it be before you need to reapply?

Cheers

Thanks again ! Yes, only my rear wall needs to be addressed, the rest of the compartment is like new.

Thanks for the info!

Anthony

My personnal favorite satin balck is SEM "Self Etching" black primer. It is available in most automotive paint stores. It is very durable, rust resistent, enviromentally friendly and topcoatable.

Mark