Correct color for '68 underbody

[hotrod68]

I've almost got the front-end back under my '68 . Next comes removing the rear axle and painting the floorboards before putting the gas and brake lines back on, then sliding the 12-bolt into place so I can begin major re-assembly  . I've heard the car came with black primer on the underside, red primer, semi-gloss paint..etc. I've also read that there could have been body-color overspray on whatever color might have been there after painting. I've already stripped the underside and it's primed in red, which was the factory sealer color which had black over it. What's correct to go back with? I'd sure appreciate any feedback. 

[rich69rs]

JohnZ's comments in the following two links and his CRG Report on the Camaro Assembly Process give some insight.

http://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=58a107c84614cea292403ebb3fe86767&topic=83.0

http://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=58a107c84614cea292403ebb3fe86767&topic=105.msg7476#msg7476

Also, note William's comment in the following link:

http://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=58a107c84614cea292403ebb3fe86767&topic=105.0

And although it does not directly address body color, the following is a current thread which is relevant to where you are in the restoration process.

http://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=58a107c84614cea292403ebb3fe86767&topic=1319.0

Richard

[lakeholme]

Hotrod,

Do take a look at William's comments in the thread that Richard mentions.  I think William hit the nail right on the head!  That nice, uniform black underbody is "show car stuff". But do make sure you catch William's 2nd post in that thread and JohnZ's comments.  It's equally hard to make resto. painting look "original".

I spent four hours the other day with the guy who does a lot of the historic preservation certifications for AACA.  I learned (among a lot of things) that underbody restoration is an art unto itself.

Sounds like you're about ready to get your car back together and on the road.  As you know, Thanksgiving day turned out to be a great day for cruising here in NC!

[hotrod68]

Thanks a bunch for the links, Rich! They were incredibly helpful and informative. At this point I don't really know what I'm going to do!   chuckle   Yer right, Phil--it may be more than I want to get into since the car isn't numbers-matching. Still, the curiosity of it is alluring. I'm shooting for having the car finished by this time next year--it's completely disassembled. I do have the front subframe back under it and the sheetmetal mocked-up, but everything else is bare. This thing started out as I'll rebuild the engine and throw a fresh coat of paint on it, but the deeper I got into working on it, the more I found needed to be done, until it was a completely stripped hull! Thanks for all the support.

[rich69rs]

I know how that tune plays.  Back in '95, one fine Saturday afternoon, I thought I'd fix a wiring harness problem in the front end light harness on my '66 Chevelle.  Next thing I knew, as I kept peeling the onion back as one thing led to another, the front end was in pieces, the engine was up on the engine stand with the tranny on the ground beside it.  Wound up working on that ride off and on until I finished it in the fall of 2001.  Gave me the inspiration to do the Camaro, which to date, has been 85% gone through on the mechanical side.  Body and paint will have to wait until the youngest graduates from college - at least 4yrs down the road.  But, in the meantime, we'll just keep up with the CRG posts and learn more and more about these fine rides.