Original finish on underbody of 260z 2+2?

[Andrew_L26]

Hi guys, just wondering what the original finish was on the underbody of a 77 260z 2+2. Mine is undergoing a rotisserie restoration and I want to get the underbody finish correct!

From the digging on my car it would seem as though the process would be: Primer>stone guard>whatever overspray from the painting of the body>bitchumen paint

Not sure if that's the way it was done from the factory as my car had had plenty of repairs in the past!

 

Cheers guys,

Andrew

Edited April 27, 2019 by Andrew_L26

[gilltech]

I have an unrestored early '74 260Z, NZ-new 2-seater. My findings are these FWIW: -

Primer: the entire body was painted in a light grey/slightly greenish primer, but only those areas easily accessible to the painter; inner cavities received minor overspray only & were otherwise left bare. (This from the days before manufacturers started dunking the body shells).

Top coat: red in this case, was only applied sparingly to visible finished areas; ie. remove any of the bolt-on panels and there are areas of grey primer behind with just a bit of red overspray.

The floor pans, drive tunnel & fuel tank areas are just grey primer, as is the interior of the shell.

The underside is well coated with an underseal & sound deadener product which I presume would have been dealer applied - very common in NZ in the day - as there is/was some overspray on to mechanical components. There's no 'texture' under the primer or under the red that I've found anywhere. Some of the underseal has flaked off over the years having dried out hence I know which areas got the red & which areas missed out.

Not long after buying the car in '84 I pumped all the cavities full of a rust proofing gunk, having had rust issues with a previous Datsun that was much newer. Having kept the car this long I am so glad I did as very little rust has emerged.

Personally, I think the factory was very stingy indeed judging by the minimal amount of paint applied & its application.

So when you come to repaint your car you can't help but do much better!

Edited April 27, 2019 by gilltech

[Andrew_L26]

3 hours ago, gilltech said:

I have an unrestored early '74 260Z, NZ-new 2-seater. My findings are these FWIW: -

Primer: the entire body was painted in a light grey/slightly greenish primer, but only those areas easily accessible to the painter; inner cavities received minor overspray only & were otherwise left bare. (This from the days before manufacturers started dunking the body shells).

Top coat: red in this case, was only applied sparingly to visible finished areas; ie. remove any of the bolt-on panels and there are areas of grey primer behind with just a bit of red overspray.

The floor pans, drive tunnel & fuel tank areas are just grey primer, as is the interior of the shell.

The underside is well coated with an underseal & sound deadener product which I presume would have been dealer applied - very common in NZ in the day - as there is/was some overspray on to mechanical components. There's no 'texture' under the primer or under the red that I've found anywhere. Some of the underseal has flaked off over the years having dried out hence I know which areas got the red & which areas missed out.

Not long after buying the car in '84 I pumped all the cavities full of a rust proofing gunk, having had rust issues with a previous Datsun that was much newer. Having kept the car this long I am so glad I did as very little rust has emerged.

Personally, I think the factory was very stingy indeed judging by the minimal amount of paint applied & its application.

So when you come to repaint your car you can't help but do much better!

Thanks mate! I'll be sure to get plenty of paint and cavity spray up underneath. 

After really digging into these old cars you realise that it's no surprise that they rust. Poor design with seams and drainage points, crap steel and the stingy application of paint/rust proofing!

Andrew

[AndBir]

Here is a pic of my 1/74 comp plate 260z 2 seater underbody