Detail Pics of the bottom of the car

[Dwills]

Several years ago when I was actively working my restoration there was a gentleman on here that has restored the bottom of his car very meticulously and had uncovered the original finishes.  There was somwhere that he had catalogued  these pics.  I am getting back to working on my car and was looking back trying to find them and I can not.  Does anyone remember where these might be?

Thanks in advance
Doug

[5th T/A]

I can recall several members that have done a nice job on their undercarriage. I consider myself one of them. I purchased a very clean low mileage 1980 TA that was completely undercoated. What started as an engine upgrade grew to a bigger project, I have always liked a car with a clean underneath and got tired of getting tar all over me when I would work on it. Here is a link to my post. http://www.transamcountry.com/community/index.php?topic=83455.0

I used a paint removal heat gun to soften the undercoating with paint stirring sticks cut at a 45-degree angle as a scraper to get the majority of the undercoating removed. I then used mineral spirits on brushes and rags to get down to the original finish. I won't kid you it was a labor-intensive process. Now that it is said and done, I am glad i did it. If I were to do it over again, I would have done the brush/rag cleaning part outside on my driveway apron and used gasoline instead of mineral spirits because it is a much more aggressive solvent. BUT I would never used an explosive solvent like gasoline indoors,, it is much to dangerous.

[Dwills]

So very nice work on the detailing and yea it is not a very enticing job.  I had started it several years ago and have not gone back to it since I was not thrilled about doing it.  I am finally forcing myself to get back to it.  So it looks like you have a greyish primer as the base I was looking for details about the red oxide stuff as that is what I have.  More specifically it is the difference in colors front frame rails are black but what about the rear frame rails and seat mounting reinforcements,  I believe they are all red oxide but I was hoping for some images to confirm this.  There was  someone with some very detailed pics a few years back I thought I had copied down but I can't find them.

Thanks again for responding

Doug

[5th T/A]

Doug, I believe for many years the underneath was a red primer. What year is your car?

Many, many years ago I purchased my 1973, 1975 and 1978 TA's all brand new. I know for a fact the 73 was just red primer and I believe the 75 was also red primer. I don't recall on my 78, the 1980 was black, but as you can see form the pictures, much of it was covered in the body color white with overspray.

Likely some one at TAC knows when they changed from red primer to body color overspray. I will see what I can come up with.

[Dwills]

Car is a 77 and is has the red oxide, although it is a more brown

[Wallington]

1979 was when the primer when from red to black. And as stated, the red oxide changed colour over the years, different batches, different factories. It was the dip, not a spray.

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=858437

[roadking77]

I think all of the rear stuff would be red oxide. The shell was dipped in primer then sent off for assembly. The firewall colour should be sprayed down into the bottom of the car. The underneath at the sides should have some overspray from when the top was painted. I look at low mile examples that are for sale to see any detail that may be there. FWIW, the underside of these cars were a mess! There were a lot of unfinished surfaces that rusted quickly, not to mention if they were undercoated then everything was sprayed. On my 79 I left all of the bare finishes as factory and coated them with 'Shark Hide'. Its supposed to preserve the metal. Larry (5th ta) has about the nicest trans am underside (sorry that sounds kinda funny  ) I have seen. A great example. My car is an early 77 build with red oxide. Not sure when they switched but I know 79 is black primer.
I will reiterate my post re: SPI, but I had a piece of metal that the paint shop colour matched perfectly for the bottom. It was paint so I primered the bottom then painted the 'red oxide' followed by a clear coat of flat for a 'factory appearance'. It looks a bit orange in the pics, but is actually a cross between a red and brown. I will post a pic.

[roadking77]

2021-03-17_05-07-37 by Kerry Grubb, on Flickr
2021-03-17_05-07-21 by Kerry Grubb, on Flickr