Factory Undercoating

[Mopar_Gods]

I have noticed that many people have did the underside and undercoating of there vehicles with several options out there rather it be epoxy primer or paint or some type of rubberized liquid. My question is what did most Aspens and Volare's come out with from the factory directly when they were built? Was it some type of a tar back in the day? Were they lightly painted underneath? Was the underside painted the body color? Surely not with assembly. Just wondering. Thank You

 

[NoCar340]

The cars were fully primered, above and below, but when the paint was applied most of what got under the car was overspray. Usually the driveshaft tunnel, inside edge of the framerails, floorpans inside the rails, etc. would have maybe a dusting of body color but the primer showed through.
The undercoating was very similar to hardened, somewhat-fibrous tar in consistency, and it petrified over time. Imperials got the worst (best?) of it i my experience; they're so goo-laden in some instances you can hardly make out where there are bolt heads. The reasoning behind that, as I understand, was additional sound deadening. Even cars that weren't optioned to have undercoating still had it sprayed in some places (such as wheelwells) for specifically that reason.

 

[Mopar_Gods]

The cars were fully primered, above and below, but when the paint was applied most of what got under the car was overspray. Usually the driveshaft tunnel, inside edge of the framerails, floorpans inside the rails, etc. would have maybe a dusting of body color but the primer showed through.
The undercoating was very similar to hardened, somewhat-fibrous tar in consistency, and it petrified over time. Imperials got the worst (best?) of it i my experience; they're so goo-laden in some instances you can hardly make out where there are bolt heads. The reasoning behind that, as I understand, was additional sound deadening. Even cars that weren't optioned to have undercoating still had it sprayed in some places (such as wheelwells) for specifically that reason.

Thanks for sharing the info. Yeah you can find out most of the paint codes for the interiors and body color but I couldn't find anything on factory under carriage. My health has not been so great here lately but the next step on my Aspen will be the underside. The wife says No. But I say Yes.

 

[NoCar340]

If you're going to go whole hog, use a good polyurethane primer over the entire underside and fully paint it as well. Body color would be the closest to "correct" and would look better, but black is inexpensive compared to colors, especially reds and blues. Note that the lower pinchweld on the rocker panels got a shot of black paint on lighter-color cars for styling reasons. It helped hide the area.
One thing you don't want to do: use "magic paints" like POR-15, Chassis Saver, etc. They do not work as well as a good poly primer for corrosion resistance. A friend of mine restored a '74 'Cuda 360 about 8 years ago. Lots of rust repair, via both sheetmetal replacement parts and fabrication. That car needs to be totally redone already. The "magic paint" is bubbling, cracking, and flaking off... and exposing serious rot that wasn't there when he applied it. I was using it around the same time on my old LeBaron coupe and saw similar results within a couple of years--and that car literally never left the garage.
We were both warned by at least one restoration guru, and neither one of us listened. Lessons learned the hard way...

 

[Mopar_Gods]

Yeah I know people who have used the Por-15 and Chassis Saver and the Rubberize coating stuff and got some serious rust issues from using all three of those products also. But then again I know people who have had good results with all three also. I am uncertain if I will ever restore the Aspen to show room quality but who knows god willing health money and so on I might. So not saying I don't want to do it right or I wont ever. Just a few factures I am facing now that makes it pretty tuff at times. I think we all would rather have a mint over a driver any day. I know I would. That being said the exterior of the Aspen is pretty close to perfect. My glass is good as is the chrome on it. All that is really left on the vehicle is the under carriage engine and transmission. All to which I have been waiting on kinda because in all reality I would like to be able to do all three together.

 

[NoCar340]

Well, I bought my Imperial with the intention of making a great daily out of it. It's a Texas car and is very nice underneath, so I'm not going to disturb any of that unless it's necessary (4-speed conversion, suspension upgrades, fuel system, etc.). It'll get new paint but I'm not going to shoot for show quality, simply because I don't want to end up with something I'm afraid to actually drive. "Cherrying it out" would just mean more of my work getting damaged in use.

 

[NoCar340]

Your health is your biggest concern, so do it but don't overdo it... and don't risk your well-being over a car!

 

[Mopar_Gods]

Your health is your biggest concern, so do it but don't overdo it... and don't risk your well-being over a car!

Yes I agree but then again I don't have a lot of patience. We all have dreams and goals. And since the Aspen will more then likely be my last over haul it has became a obsession. I know it sounds crazy. But to me it doesn't. I am sure you know what I mean.

 

[Aspen500]

Not a huge concern because of the type but, the factory soundproofing (the fairly hard, rough, thick stuff) has asbestos in it. It's basically non-friable and not likely to become airborne but minor precautions should be taken anyways if removing it.
The cars that had the factory stuff were ordered with the soundproofing package which also included an underhood pad. Otherwise, as mentioned already, only the wheel wells were sprayed.
My car had only the wheel wells sprayed. Reason it's rubberized undercoated now isn't really for rustproofing or sound deadening. It's more of a "hidesy-badsy". To make the floor pan and subframe rails nice enough for paint would have meant a few more hundred hours laying under the car doing bodywork. I'm afraid to drive it now as it is (afraid something will get chipped or dirty under there), I can only imagine if the floor pans were made paint worthy. Darn thing would never come out of the garage probably, lol!

 

[volareandgtcat]

My F body has some real thick goop on it that looks either factory or dealer applied .. then the previous owner had the car regularly oil sprayed and that kept everything quite soft and pliable .. it gets all over when doing simple repairs or checks .... I just hope I can keep this car as well maintained as he did ......... I agree tho .. your health is most important.
Just remembered in assembly I used to see tar patches applied before paint in key areas for noise and it would get baked right in.

 

[volareandgtcat]

Wow .. just came from the exhaust thread and realized you guys keep the under carriage cleaner than I keep the top side