A couple of questions on paint in the engine bay. I have a 54‘ 3100 that I’ll be painting soon. What was the original sheen for the black paint on the inner fenders, hood panel, etc? A flat or semi? I have some gloss I could use but I feel like it might be to shiny. I was going to just use a single stage for the black pieces. Thoughts?
Also in trying to save some money on paint, as I’m doing a base coat clear coat on the body and the ppg I want to use is expensive, I’ve thought about painting the underside of the hood black, single stage, instead of the body color. Any thoughts good or bad with doing that? The firewall I’m keeping it the body color of the truck.
I used Rustoleum semi-gloss black on the inner fenders, etc. It can be sprayed right out of the can and isn't that expensive.
From the factory the underside of the hood wasn't painted. Mine had just black primer, with some orange overspray in a few spots. I'm probably going to paint the underside of mine with the same semi-gloss black.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
Thanks for the thoughts on the underside of the hood. Got me thinking and I remember the original blue color but there wasn’t full coverage. Like overspray. And there was black with some surface rust. In doing some further searching I did come across this older post and it does sound like all they had was a black primer of sorts. I didn’t see any crayon marks on mine. I would’ve noticed that. I found one on the cover to where the deluxe heater motor would’ve come thru on the firewall. Along with a set of keys on the backside of the cover. Sneaky spot to put a spare. I’m not doing a total factory correct restoration but I am trying to keep the spirit of it as much as I can. So the black would actually be correct. Thanks again.
Be sure not to mask the underside of the hood when you spray the body color so you get that factory overspray look.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
I used spi epoxy primer on inner fenders, frame, under hood. I wasn’t really trying to hit an exact match on sheen but I feel like it looks pretty close.
I painted the frame 3 years ago and haven't noticed that but will see I guess. But if I ever paint another vehicle again, I probably will not use SPI. I found it difficult to spray, never could figure out how to not get it to crater. And the cult like following turns me off.
Many light coats and the cratering goes away. I was using Tamco and liked the non-induction period for their product. I'm now using Orion Automotive Finishes and am liking what it does for me. Better than the other two.
I did get better at doing light coats but I painted my whole truck piece by piece and never 100% stopped the cratering. I’m sure the issue is more with my technique. My issue is where to buy paint/primer. Are you able to get the Orion online? Or you found it local? None of the stores around me sell epoxy primer. I ended up using spi primers and Sherwin Williams paint.
Both will sell and ship to California. I'd stick with Orion, though. There are issues with some of the Tamco primers lately and customer service has dropped off a little.
