Looking for a Durable Undercoat - in gray

[kbscobravert]

Lots of race cars don't have carpeted and plastic molding interiors but instead a prepped, primed and painted surface. I am trying to find a similar system for the undercarriage of my car. Something that is durable, resistant to easy scratching like powder coat but without the powder and bake application is what I want. I can find a black undercoating all day long. I want something in a gray. I spend enough time under there and the light reflective properties would help me see what I am doing. Plus the added benefit of a hard coating that has a gloss finish so I can clean it up as needed or chase leaks also.

Anyone have any ideas?

I am coming home in a few weeks and plan on stripping the (rear) suspension, fuel tank, fuel lines, etc and cleaning the undercarriage. Then the plan is to sand blast, weld up torque boxes, install Stiffler's jacking rails and paint everything.

Thoughts, comments, photos, experiences are all welcome.

tia

[ttocs]

Seems like if you were to add a little bit of white paint to the black undercoating you could probably get a grey. Or find a white one and add some black. Check out lizard skin as its a lightweight undercoating so it will save you some weigh but I don't think it comes in grey.

[95riosnake]

[MENTION=569]Whiplash473[/MENTION] any suggestions?

[kbscobravert]

Seems like if you were to add a little bit of white paint to the black undercoating you could probably get a grey. Or find a white one and add some black. Check out lizard skin as its a lightweight undercoating so it will save you some weigh but I don't think it comes in grey.

Kind of what I was thinking but to find a undercoating that is a smooth, non rubberized, semi-gloss.

Lizardskin is some awesome stuff, maybe I can search their line to look for a smooth finish material.

[Whiplash473]

I'd say POR15, seems like what you're looking for.

Sent from bored/stroked iPhone 4S

[kbscobravert]

I'd say POR15, seems like what you're looking for.

Sent from bored/stroked iPhone 4S

So use their:

1. Prep & Ready

2. Marine Clean

3. Coat with POR15 and I can get it in Gray

for extra protection and hardness

4. POR15 Self etching primer

5. Sand smooth with 300grit - I would think for the undercarriage, I could forgo this step

6. Coat (x2) with their 2 Part Topcoat - Hardnose and I can get it in a Light Gray

POR15 advertises a 1qrt = 96sqft. I would think that would cover the undercarriage brushed on.

Question is, how good of a finish with just the POR15 Rust Preventive Paint give me?

[95riosnake]

I'd say POR15, seems like what you're looking for.

Sent from bored/stroked iPhone 4S

Did some searching on the POR-15 site and it looks like a 2 coat process would work well for you [MENTION=794]kbscobravert[/MENTION]

I would say use POR-15 self etching primer first

http://www.por15.com/SELF-ETCH-PRIMER_p_35.html

Then finish with Flexcote top coat, which is available in gloss gray. It says it can be rolled, brushed or sprayed. It's actually intended as a marine coating but should work great under a car I would think.

http://www.por15.com/FLEXCOTE_p_39.html

Only thing I'm unsure about is that it states that the Flexcote is designed to be applied over a coat of the regular POR-15, but I would guess that it can be applied over the self etching primer, because the description of the self etching primer says that all top coats bond to the primer extremely well.

[Rolocut]

Do yourself a favor and tape off the car and spray it. The amount of time taping off and spraying is about half the time of painting with a brush. I painted bottom black with a brush a few years ago on my back in the garage it prob took 8.5 hours to do first coat. Pretty insane. And first coat always looks like crap. Lizard skin or por 15 would be great. We are going to do both the heat and sound lizard skin to my brothers 2011 gt this winter

I used tractor paint and sprayed my car, tractor paint from tractor supply is very durable and resists chips and cracks and sticks to grease rust and dirt, and easily blends if you have marks from the jack or jack stands you can just spray over, at 30 bucks a gal it's a good deal, I added hardener in the mix to make it rock solid and shinier, 25 min to spray and walk away. I only used a quart lol which was like 11 bucks. Results speak for themselves. And with the hardener it dried to touch in an hour but I waited 20 hours to work on it

On going project, 94 cobra, r block, tfsr225, hp efi, vortech ys

Instagram [MENTION=584]Rolocut[/MENTION]

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[Psychorugby]

Wow! Thanks [MENTION=569]Whiplash473[/MENTION] and [MENTION=584]Rolocut[/MENTION] for the advice. I can't wait to tear the underside of the 95 apart to do this. I think I will go black though for the contrast with any suspension components (still deciding on coating them all Rio Red).

[Whiplash473]

[MENTION=67]95riosnake[/MENTION] is right on the money.

Sent from bored/stroked iPhone 4S

[kbscobravert]

[MENTION=584]Rolocut[/MENTION] that looks great. I like the contrast in colors it will have when the rest of it goes together.

Good idea on the tractor paint and if I can borrow a compressor and can get the car high enough off the ground I will shoot it. Even if I go with the POR stuff, the Flexcote can be shot too and at $37 a qrt that is still not that bad.

The nice thing is, absolutely no rust under my car and should clean pretty quick. I think this trip home, I can get the car apart and high enough off the ground to get the rest down.

[Rolocut]

[MENTION=584]Rolocut[/MENTION] that looks great. I like the contrast in colors it will have when the rest of it goes together.

Good idea on the tractor paint and if I can borrow a compressor and can get the car high enough off the ground I will shoot it. Even if I go with the POR stuff, the Flexcote can be shot too and at $37 a qrt that is still not that bad.

The nice thing is, absolutely no rust under my car and should clean pretty quick. I think this trip home, I can get the car apart and high enough off the ground to get the rest down.

Yeah, won't be bad. I steam cleaned the bottom of my car twice then shot it, didn't wipe or touch anything

On going project, 94 cobra, r block, tfsr225, hp efi, vortech ys

Instagram [MENTION=584]Rolocut[/MENTION]

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[SublimeRT]

Something that might be of interest to you is an automotive/industrial/marine paint called Zolatone. I've heard great things about it and have seen it used in a few nice builds. Through my research on it, it was used by Trans Am teams in the late sixties and early seventies to paint the cars undercarriage/engine bay/interior. It comes in many colors and there is an optional additive to make it more chemical resistant. I'm considering using it on my Cobra. I just need to get some color samples to be sure it's the color/finish I'm looking for.

www.zolatoneaim.com