Undercoat or Paint underside of body

[fakesnake.com]

I am getting ready to pull the frame on one of my projects to do some welding work on the frame. I figured I would paint the underside of the body while I had it off the frame. I took it to the local shop and they recommended undercoating. Their opinion was paint will chip easily being suceptible to rocks. I have some of my friends saying to paint it as undercoating may not look that great over time.

Any opinions? It won't be a trailer queen or riddler mobile. I plan on driving it but it will be a nice custom ride when I'm done with it.

[vipercuda]

I am getting ready to pull the frame on one of my projects to do some welding work on the frame. I figured I would paint the underside of the body while I had it off the frame. I took it to the local shop and they recommended undercoating. Their opinion was paint will chip easily being suceptible to rocks. I have some of my friends saying to paint it as undercoating may not look that great over time.

Any opinions? It won't be a trailer queen or riddler mobile. I plan on driving it but it will be a nice custom ride when I'm done with it.

I would suggest Raptor Coating.. It is a sprayable bedliner material. It comes with its own gun to spray and looks great. It gets real hard and acts as a sound deadenor of sorts as well.. It is great stuff....

Mike
Time Machines

[fakesnake.com]

Thanks for the info. One of the shops I am talking to happens to be the same shop that did Bad Penny. They are only 5 minutes away from me.

[gearheadgarage]

We use a product called HippoLiner- sold at many automotive paint supply houses. We've tried many similar products, but this is the best: spray, drying time, durability.

It acts as a great sound & heat insulator, lasts VERY long, cleans easily, and provides an excellent contrast to a pinted frame, new lines, etc. Product is also tintable.

2 years after application, it only took 1 hour of cleaning and I got 18k miles of road grime off of the underside of my car & won 1st in class at the Sacramento Autorama.

Paint is pretty, but not as durable and not as user friendly.

[MarkM66]

I went through the same dilemma. Although it takes a lot more time, effort and money, in the end I decided to paint the bottom side.

I think the hood would be more susceptible to rock chips then the underside, and I’m not putting a textured coating on that. ;)

[clill]

I like painted floors better.

[Reckley]

I like painted floors better.

I agree. I think it looks cleaner.

[V8TV]

For cars that are going to be driven hard, especially in the rust belt, we use good ole' 3M Body Schutz. It's a low-build product, (not like a bedliner) and does not have "traction additives" like some of the bedliners do. When applied, you can still see spotwelds through it, to give you an idea of thickness. For cars in dry climates, I prefer paint.