Bodywork, Paint, Interior, Trim, & Wiring

Hello all. This is my first post. I'm slowly restoring my '72 Rover P6 saloon. When completed I will use it on German roads, which don't get salted in the winter.
The car is presently stripped back to the 'base unit' or bare bodyshell, extensive metalwork has been completed to excise a great deal of rot, and shortly the front end will benefit from the addition of a 'chassis stiffening kit'. The suspension components have just come back from the sandblasters, with the exception of the differential, prop and half shafts. The entire undercarriage has been relieved of all old underbody and seam seal (many many patient hours with a hot air gun and scraper, then endless scrubbing with diesel-soaked rags, all needless to say performed upside-down) leaving the original mustard-coloured paint mostly intact.
I would welcome forum users advice regarding which products to use to protect the underbody and suspension/drivetrain components from corrosion. I want to cherish the car for many years, but I only want to restore it the once! I've been advised I can use 'truck paint', apparently a bit cheaper than 'car paint' for the underside. I've been reading the marketing blurb about POR15 Chassiscoat Black, has anybody on here used it? I realise nobody else is ever going to look under my car but I don't want to apply more tar-based underbody seal after wasting so many hours of my life removing all the old stuff!
Any advice most welcome.

Al, I don't know if the product is available in Europe, but one of the things happening here in the States is the use of a product called truck bed liner on the underside of the car. It can be brushed or rolled on and is almost impervious to anything the road can throw at it. Some brands can be tinted to match or closely match the color of the car as well. It also works well on the underside of the wings to prevent stone chips from the tires dinging the surface.

One of the main brands of skid-resistant truck bedliner here is "Line-X". On this Westfield Seven you can see that Line-X has been applied to the front surfaces of the rear fenders to prevent damage from stones thrown from the front tires. [www.britishv8.org]
I wish I had a photo of this car's luggage bay, which was coated with Line-X. It really looks nice, and the stuff is tough. As far as I know though, you have to take your car to a Line-X franchise to have the trained professionals there apply their coating. One thing Line-X brags about is that their application process is environmentally friendly.

Here's another brand of skid-resistant bedliner paint. This one you can apply yourself: [www.magnetpaints.com]

I've never painted the whole underside of a car at once... instead, when I've bought paint it was just to do small projects. If you only need a pint or two, POR-15 seems especially expensive. I've used an apparently similar, but much less expensive paint called "Chassis Saver" that's available several places around town here. It's made by the same company I just linked to above. Here's their description: [www.magnetpaints.com]

I'm satisfied that Chassis Saver is EXTREMELY tough. However, the Satin Black is glossier than I'd prefer. It's really hard to apply smoothly with any kind of brush. It doesn't "flow out" as well as one might wish, yet it dries slowly and picks up lots of dust. I believe if I had access to spraying equipment, I'd research epoxy paints. I understand that John Deere sells top quality epoxy paint for maintaining their equipment... and that the John Deere flat black epoxy paint is especially popular with "rat rod" builders. As far as I know, epoxy paints aren't so environmentally friendly. (Is it getting tough to buy paint in Germany yet? I would have thought your choices would be limited due to air pollution restrictions. Here it depends on which state you live in.)

Thanks for the input fellas. I'll have to research whether I can source the bedliner stuff in Germany. Have either of you used it on undercarriages yourselves? I expect I'll have to paint the underbody area upside down with rollers and brushes. Don't think I can spray it, and I don't think I'll be able to tilt the body. Will that work OK, do you reckon? Hints and tips most welcome.

I haven't personally used the stuff... but I did find a couple nice photos Line-X applied to that Westfield Seven:

Al, I have not used the product, but am planning on using it on my MGA project when ready to finish the underside. I've tried standard undercoatings, and paint and both have downsides. The undercoating is messy and not very visually appealing, paint doesn't offer the protection from stone chips etc. The bed liner looks like the best of both, good protection from road debris and good visual appeal. Several people on some of the various bulletin boards I visit have used it and are very pleased with the performance so far. Check out the web page of Lee Miller, he used it on his B and tinted it to match the car color as closely as he could. [www.miller-garage.com]

Here's one product that is available in europe, but is a spray on material. Rhino Lining [www.rhinoliningseurope.com]

Here's another product that is appied with a roller and brush. Herculiner [www.herculiner.com]
They list european distributors as well. Limited to four colors, black, red, grey, and white.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/19/2008 09:42AM by V6 Midget.

The International Harvester guys have been using Herculiner on their Scouts for years now and I believe it holds up well. It is moderately expensive, and good surface prep is essential or it can peel off. I also suspect it hardens over time though that may not be a bad thing. It seems to basically be a rubberized paint with rubber chunks mixed in which gives it enough thickness to absorb rock dings. Another possible option might be a brushable hammertone paint. Either one will collect dirt in the recesses over time and get dull, so there is no perfect solution, but one other option is to use something like Eastwood's Glyptal paint which contains silicon flakes that layer and form a protective barrier and can be coated with any other paint. It doesn't have as much thickness but it adheres well and can be painted with the same paint as the rest of the body. I've used it on small areas with good success.

Jim

When using bedliner products, do they go right over a base of epoxy primer or do you paint first, then put the bedliner coat on?

Same with Eastwood's Glyptal Jim?

Rob

Rob, I think you could do either. Lee Miller applied his over primer, most truck beds are done over the original paint and get good adhesion when properly preped.

Monstaliner just came out with some new colors this week. I've used it on my Kubota and it's held up wonderfully. I'd hope I never treat the BV8 as bad as Big Orange.

NCtim