Stonechip coating on '68 van

[don58van]

I am about to do a authentic restoration on a '68 Austin Minor van.
Can anyone tell me:
1) if that model left the factory with a stonechip coating underneath?
2) if so, what areas were covered?
3) if so, was there body-coloured paint over the stone-chip?

As far as I can see with my very original but tired example, it looks like it had stone-chip under the front guards applied on top of the body-coloured paint and no body-coloured paint on top. As for the under-cabin area, I'm not sure.

TIA
Don

[ManyMinors]

I'd say that there was no stonechip coating on a Minor Van - OR car for that matter. My own 1967 Minor 1000 has just plain steel with some oversprayed body colour paint over the primer. No stonechip or underseal or anything of that sort. These were cheap cars. Not really built to last

[myoldjalopy]

"Not really built to last" Amazing then how many have lasted! Especially compared to other cars of similar vintage.

[les]

The pickup I owned had a type of stonechip finish under the paint on the cab floors, which I reproduced on restoration. I’m pretty sure this was originally there.

IMG_2066.jpeg (2.48 MiB) Viewed 6860 times

[don58van]

Thanks for the replies.

The pickup I owned had a type of stonechip finish under the paint on the cab floors, which I reproduced on restoration. I’m pretty sure this was originally there.

This is certainly the case with my van.

D

[ManyMinors]

The question was "did they leave the factory with a stonechip coating underneath?"
I agree that a coating was used inside the cab, but I don't consider that to be "underneath" Hence my answer .

[philipkearney]

My understanding was that cars certainly, most likely vans too, did not have any stonechip or underseal direct from the factory. I have seen quite a few original sales invoices, from a range of dealers, where an underbody coating was applied by the dealer and charged separately on the sales invoice.

Would the stone chip on the inner floor pans be for noise/vibration reduction ?

[don58van]

Would the stone chip on the inner floor pans be for noise/vibration reduction ?

I think so. It would be an anti-drumming measure.

On my van, the bituminous coat on the cabin floor was under the final paint coat (same on other Minors I have owned) but there was stone chip coating OVER the original paint underneath. This suggests that the stone chip was after the factory. I just wanted to check with the experts on here because I want to do an authentic restoration.
Thanks for your input.
Don