Undercarriage Refresh

[HealeyRick]

That's a nice looking undercarriage and I suspect it wasn't a local CT car to start with. Either that, or it was taken off the road in winter. Looks like there's more red oxide primer showing than surface rust. I'd probably neutralize the rust and just paint over what's there.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Some (many? all?) OEW/black 100M chassis--most of the Ms were OEW/black--chassis' were painted black from the scuttle forward. I believe our M was painted like this, as the engine compartment was black, and I now wish we'd done it that way for the reasons mentioned.

 

[matt-pz]

There's an unbelievable amount of dirt thanks to leaks. I've been scraping the dirt off with a putty knife then cleaning off with brake cleaner. It's a huge mess, but I think it will look great when I'm done.

Should I do a final pass with soapy water before painting? And no it's not an original CT car : )

 

[steveg]

This worked well for me when I redid my engine compartment last summer:
Spray with kerosene, work with bristle brush. Spray with Scrubbing Bubbles. Wash off with pressure washer. Repeat as necessary.

Kerosene seems to have the ability to leach the grease and oil out of old crud, leaving water-soluble dirt in its place.

 

[RAC68]

Hi Matt,

I trust you will be doing your cleaning when it gets a little warmer and after the snow storms move up the cost this week. Although I have used Kerosene as Steve suggests and not tried Steve's Scrubbing Bubbles chaser, I did use Dawn Dish Detergent to follow any chosen Gas-type heavy gunk cutter to assure the paint would stick ... everywhere. The main thing I have found is to have everything dry before spraying paint.

Good Luck,
Ray(64BJ8P1)​

 

[sparkelbry]

All the advice and recommendations are well taken . . . but I think what ever the process or color may be, the final outcome needs to look fresh, clean and neat. No over sprays, drips drags or rust. The dominant background may be (white, black, blue, pink . . . or you name it) it's the details that count !