Rubbed my first panel down today. I can see this being a long old process! Taking it all back to bare metal and starting from scratch. It's amazed me how once you put a light coat of etch primer on you see the slight bumps and imperfections that will require filler

Still a work in progress but it's getting there and at least it's all the same colour. The ocd in me is saying keep going until it's perfect but the practical me is thinking it's the floor and you are going to cover it with underseal so who will know?
Damian

That looks very similar to mine a few months ago. It's great when you start seeing it all look nice & neat

You are setting the bench mark Sean of which I am following. Hope to get it all finished and seam sealed today and then apply the underseal next weekend!

A little bit more progress

Looking good Damian.
How many tins did you use? I think I used about 5.

Only used 1 at the moment Sean which has put a light coat on both floor pans. Got Soudal anti gravel which you put on with a Schutz gun via the compressor. Like the look of it, not too thick and gunky, and dries rock hard. Can be overpainted if we decide to go down that route. Got another 1ltr tin left and just ordered another 2. £15 for 2 tins which I thought was really cheap compared to others.

Yeah that's not a bad price. I did use 5 tins but also painted over for additional protection and looks nice.
If you are not painting it then make sure it is all well coated as the road water & salt will get the rust starting very quickly.

I can personally recommend Dinitol 4941 for a final coat. I've used this several times on Land Rovers that got a lot more abuse than a normal road car, and it's very good at protecting and lasts really well.

2L would be more than enough to cover the whole underside of a 500 and you can use the Schultz gun too.

cheers, Steve

One of the decisions I am pondering with at the moment is whether to paint the underneath the same colour as the car. Of course it's up to me but I thought I'd ask opinions on here. I can see pro's and con's for both sides. I think we have changed our minds on the colour now from baby blue to antique white and I think it will be too much white. The underseal I have used is a nice texture and is going on nice and neat, a lot better than the messy original stuff.
Opinions/views please?
Damian

Paint it!....


It all depends on if you want it as an everyday driver?
If so, plenty of sealer and stone chip will be suffice. Painted finish wont last too long with all the abuse it gets on the good old British roads


If you want it for a sunny day car or max return then go for the painted finish.

I'm at pretty much the same stage - I used a black bitumen based aerosol underbody spray sealant on the engine bay and front underbody prior to applying 6 litres of white MIPA Stone Chip (@ £6/litre tin inc p&p) with a Schutz gun. I worked on the 'you can't have too much underseal protection' principle. The black bitumen bled very slightly through the MIPA which turned it very slightly off-white. I also found the stonechip to be easily marked so I applied an overcoat of white cellulose RFU paint to give a surface that will hopefully stop mud from sticking too easily. It seems to have taken very well albeit not to the highest standards possible since it was a bit experimental for my spraying technique.
I'm returning the colour to it's original Avorio Antico 234 from it's current Piper Giallo so I thought that a white underside would be fine given that you cant really see much of it anyway.

I'm edging towards painting but doing it myself with aerosols. The suspension parts that I have got looking like new will stand out better against a light background. I figure it's not worth paying to get the bottom sprayed when it's just over a rough underseal. I can then fit all the suspension parts so the shell can be wheeled into the spray shop rather than going in on a trolley/rotator

The suspension parts that I have got looking like new will stand out better against a light background

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I agree that the suspension looks much smarter against the light floor.

dunnah01 said:

I agree that the suspension looks much smarter against the light floor.

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. You lot are mad! It does look good though. But I hope you get to spend more time sitting on the top side of the floor ASAP.

Paolo66 said:

Heres the finished leaf spring in all its glory. Could have bought a new one but prefer the challenge of restoring the old

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Cheers, I forgot to take a photo of mine and needed to check how it bolted together. Had to trim both clamps down as they were too wide for the plastic sleeves.

Cleaning up all the welds and filling where needed. Will put up a couple of before photos and then post the after ones when I'm happy with the finish. Really enjoying the satisfaction of this phase of the restoration.

A couple of after photos for roof and rear right wing. A little bit more filling on wheel arch and sill repair required. Paint was still drying when photos were taken and it needs flatting back but slowly getting there

Attach photos you idiot!

Great job Damian, it's a messy job filling, and can be quite tedious but it's a great feeling when you apply a coat of primer and see all the right contours.
Only you will know what lies beneath the surface. Just take your time to finish the filler properly before attacking with the primer.
I usually wait until the primer dries then you can wipe a small bit of filler into any pin holes. Just don't apply too much otherwise you will end up damaging all the hard work you have done.
It won't be long now until you are nearly ready for painting. What colour were you going for?