Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello,
I'm in Denver..I've had Max <1971 registered 2 dr Saloon> for about 5 years. He needs a good going through and that's what he's getting.
I have him stripped down just about to the bare bones.
As part of this process, I steam cleaned and degreased the underside..and found the original finish to be a sort of dull Silver. Neither black nor body color <Brown>. Once I clean up the questionable repairs, and install a few new ones, I will repaint the underside.

What would be appropriate for the underside. My inclination is a good paint such as Hammerite in Semi Gloss Black as protection...but then is it appropriate to leave that or should I spray body color <I'm going to do a full color change to Maroon B> over it?

Thanks for any and all input as I go through this and all the other processes on the way to ...I can't say Concours..but as close to it as I can get over here.

Peter

I don't think many paints take too well over Hammerite. They tend to wrinkle and lift.

In classic car shows (local ones anyway!) you don't see too many judges looking under the cars.

chickenjohn wrote:I don't think many paints take too well over Hammerite. They tend to wrinkle and lift.

In classic car shows (local ones anyway!) you don't see too many judges looking under the cars.

Hmmm..never tried to over coat Hammerite...didn't know it couldn't be done. See...I'm learning allready!

Here..in a true judging event..underside would be inspected for authenticity. The degree to which that was done would depend on the event. As said, though, I'm not going for a points winning car..just want to do what's original...well..better than original if original consisted of just a quick spray of body color :~)

The guys who do 99 point restorations on Muscle cars go so far as to reproduce assembly line chalk marks!

Peter

The guys who do 99 point restorations on Muscle cars go so far as to reproduce assembly line chalk marks!

now that's ridiculous....and sad

my chassis and underside is hand-painted in grey(the van is blue)...it's how I bought it and it looks ok. No underseal or textured goo hiding any nasties

Actually, in the Morris Minor Concours events in the UK the judges spend a LOT of the time examining the underside!

At the sunday afternoon type car events there is not harsh judging as it's not a Concours event!

Blunt, if you get pleasure out of the 99 point resto on a Muscle car then surely that's all that matters. It might not be everyone's 'cup of tea' but then again I'm sure Morris Minor ownership is not either!!

Blunt, if you get pleasure out of the 99 point resto on a Muscle car then surely that's all that matters. It might not be everyone's 'cup of tea' but then again I'm sure Morris Minor ownership is not either!!

point taken Cam, it's just that I like to drive mine, and I can't see how you could drive one of these cars without being freaked out at the thought of scratching the underbelly.
I like practical classics...and that means driving em in all winds and weathers...I don't want a museum peice...but that's just me, each to their own

Aye, I know what you mean. You would be scared to death of scratching the thing, but they don't drive them all the time do they? I would prefer (personally) a slightly less perfect car that I could drive, but there are many levels to concours competition and you can enter regularly driven cars as a lot of people do. Of course the grand masters level needs that something extra, so as you say, it's not really a 'practical classic'.

PeterCrowl wrote: What would be appropriate for the underside. My inclination is a good paint such as Hammerite in Semi Gloss Black as protection...

I personally don't consider Hammerite a good paint for this sort of thing. It's far too brittle, and will simply flake off any metal that has any flex (such as car bodywork). That's if it lasts that long, it's also brittle enough to chip quite nicely, handy for all those stones that bounce around under a car!

I have no idea about originality, but I use chassis black/ paint, about 30 quid a gallon and designed to do exactly what it says on the tin

Blunt wrote:

I like practical classics...and that means driving em in all winds and weathers...I don't want a museum peice...but that's just me, each to their own

Point taken Blunt, and in fact my wife Lesley, my youngest daughter and myself all use Morris Minors as everyday transport.

However I also feel I should point out that on this years MOT trip to France there were two Masters Class Concours cars. Museum pieces?

Aha - the very man! What was the factory finish on the underside?

Cam wrote:there are many levels to concours competition and you can enter regularly driven cars as a lot of people do.

Judge wrote:However I also feel I should point out that on this years MOT trip to France there were two Masters Class Concours cars.

See? and that's from the horse's mouth (no offence to you personally, Bill. ).

Packedup wrote:

PeterCrowl wrote: What would be appropriate for the underside. My inclination is a good paint such as Hammerite in Semi Gloss Black as protection...

I personally don't consider Hammerite a good paint for this sort of thing. It's far too brittle, and will simply flake off any metal that has any flex (such as car bodywork). That's if it lasts that long, it's also brittle enough to chip quite nicely, handy for all those stones that bounce around under a car!

I have no idea about originality, but I use chassis black/ paint, about 30 quid a gallon and designed to do exactly what it says on the tin

So, (apart from POR15) what is the best underbody protection? I was thinking of either red oxide followed by hammerite/waxoyl underbody paint or hammerite followed by hammerite/waxoyl underbody paint as I'm currently replacing the crossmember end / sill on my '63.

I have used the red oxide followed by hammerite/waxoyl underbody paint on the MG and a combination of the two on my 4 door.

Can you give us more info on this chassis black / paint for 30 quid a gallon? Suppliers, makers, etc.

bigginger wrote:Aha - the very man! What was the factory finish on the underside?

The actual factory finish was body colour.

However a good stone chip paint followed by body colour seems to work well. If using the car everyday, I personally would also cover this with Dinitrol or similar.

Thanks - interesting to know.

Cam wrote: So, (apart from POR15) what is the best underbody protection? I was thinking of either red oxide followed by hammerite/waxoyl underbody paint or hammerite followed by hammerite/waxoyl underbody paint as I'm currently replacing the crossmember end / sill on my '63.

Ahhhh, POR15.. If only I could find that locally, plenty of people swear by it.

Personally I've had absolutely no problems with red oxide followed by chassis black, and plenty of people use chassis black on bare metal and claim to have no probs. But I've tried Hammerite in the past and not liked it much, plus the pickup's chassis was done in it about three years ago, and hung up awaiting rebuild. In that space of time it's already flaking in places, and is so incredibly easy to chip if we drop a spanner on it I dread to think how it'd suvive on the road!

I have used the red oxide followed by hammerite/waxoyl underbody paint on the MG and a combination of the two on my 4 door.

Can you give us more info on this chassis black / paint for 30 quid a gallon? Suppliers, makers, etc.

I suppose in terms of stone chipping, waxoil and the like will help damp the impact, so the paint underneath survives. But I'm just not a fan of the stuff, as someone who used to be in "the trade" said to me the other week, Hammerite is brilliant for iron work like gates and railings, but that's about it. Chassis black (as I've always known it, others call it chassis paint) should be available from any trade type factors, and they should know straight away what you're on about. I'm no paint scientist, the best way I can describe it in use is "different". It seems softer, and even when fully dry it's still more elastic feeling than Hammerite (or any other enamally stuff). Can't remember the makers, if I remember (unlikely, sorry!) I'll dig out the can tomorrow and jot down the details. I do remember retail it's about 30 quid at the local Brown Brothers, so cheaper than Hammerite around here as well as better (IMO)

By the way, for some evidence on Hammerite, see if you can dig out a copy of PC from about 6 or 7 years ago. They did a test of the various paints around, and it didn't fare at all well!

Thanks for the info. Actually, that's why I like red oxide as it's softer than 'normal' paint and with the underbody stuff on top it seems like a good protectant.

I only used hammerite for my wheels...which shouldn't flex IMO

Cam wrote:Actually, in the Morris Minor Concours events in the UK the judges spend a LOT of the time examining the underside!

At the sunday afternoon type car events there is not harsh judging as it's not a Concours event!

-snip-

Yes, I've seen concours cars at car shows with mirrors uderneath so you can see that the underside of the car is as shiny as he top. But thats why I said local shows, as I've never seen a judge in Kent look underneath a car.

Yep, some shows host concours sections and some don't. Although I think it's mainly the regional rallies (MMOC) that do the concours.

First..thank you all for swift reply and spirited discussion :~)

As said, I'm not doing this with an eye to Best In Show..rather, as I presume most people, if I'm going to do something I prefer to do it in a correct manner. Sometimes the correct manner doesn't make sense...then I prefer to do what's best.
I'm inclined to apply paintable chip resistant undercoat, then a coat or two of body color. My worry is that moisture will get under the first layer..which happened with the existing underseal. If, however, the collective wisdom is that chip resistant undercoat won't tend to fail that's what I'll do.

Mind you I'm in Denver Colorado where it's quite dry. Even in Winter, we'll get a snowfall...within a day or two it's all gone and the roads are dry. I wouldn't be taking him out in that anyway..although I have and he's terrific in deep snow. Better that any of my other cars.

Peter
Who doesn't understand reproduction chalk marks either.