Underside of hood finish

[Biba69]

Is the thick undercoating original? I'd sure think not, but the lower flat section appears as if it had a decal on it at one time. I'm sure it is safe to assume that the alluminum sheets in the upper center are not original.

Anyone have a good photo of the underside as it should be?

As long as I'm asking for photos, does anyone have a sharp photo of (preferably with the engine removed) the engine bay's components in place? If the engine is in place but the ancillary parts show up, that would also be great.

Biba

[101/105guy]

I'm amazed that someone is paying you to work on his car.....

[Biba69]

101/105guy, you've never asked a question regarding any of your Alfa's? Just because someone is in the business of restoring Alfa's doesn't mean we know every last detail.

I strongly feel that many restorations go bad - which includes both professionals and do-it-yourselfers - is that they often just wing it when it comes to details and even the shape of the body itself.

One is foolish not to take advantage (and I mean that in a positive way) of the inormation on the Internet.

The first URL is of an early restoration of mine prior to easy access to the Internet. The second one, I asked a lot of questions.

I think perhaps you're confusing an Alfa repair shop - mostly mechanical work - to a full up restoration shop which delves into all of the parts of a car.

Biba
http://www.bibarestorations.com/BR69AlfaRedSpd.html
http://www.bibarestorations.com/BR60AlfaSpdVel.html

[yvesmontreal]

I do not have experience with the early Giulia 1600 GTs, but I've owned and maintained pretty much all of the >67 variations of the GTV up to my current 1974 2000. This car has never been tampered with (bought with original paint).

What I've seen on this car is black primer over steel, then a grey/beige plastic coating (gravel guard?) in the wheelhouses and underneath. My car was undercoated with a tar-base coating, but it's pretty obvious that this was applied after it was delivered - it's all over the mechanical bits, even the gearbox casing and calipers were coated with tar. There seems to be a coat of body color between the undercoating and the beige plastic. I've just scraped a small portion of the coating to check. The plastic coating is peeling off in many areas, leaving just the black primer... Memories of my earlier GTVs are not different, although I'm not sure about the gravel guard on pre-2000 cars.

All of the visible areas of the car are painted body color, including the inside if the hood, trunklid, trunk, engine compartment. Paint in the harder to reach spots can be pretty rough. The floors and the area under the rear seat are also body color, but spread rather thin.

There usually was a "lubricants" sticker inside the hood. On my 1974 it's in the upper right section. US spec cars (and I would guess 71 up) also had a "spark plug" sticker in the section under the one with the "lubricants" sticker.

Hope this helps.

I could take photos of the 74 if it's useful, the engine is in though. But if the car you are working on is pre-71, there are a number of differences.

[101/105guy]

I think that any client that is paying you by the hour would have the expectation that you would be able to figure out how to remove a door without asking on the BB......

[101/105guy]

And as a "restorer" specializing in Alfas, shouldn't you have access to original factory books and manuals to show how they were originally built ??

[papajam]

101/105guy,
You have expressed your opinion 3 times in this thread which, because of their content, is 3 times too many in MY opinion.

Biba,
The thick undercoating is indeed original on a few that I've seen and is painted body color. And, as previously mentioned, there is a lubricant sticker on the upper right corner.

[101/105guy]

Perhaps you don't like my tone, but the last two comments were in responce to Bibas statement that I misunderstood the difference between a restoration shop and a repair shop.

[Joseph M.]

I've always had the impression that this forum was meant to help each other and not criticize.

[Little Italian]

I think 101/105Guy was just trying to jerk Biba's chain.

Its' a nice chain too....

[Little Italian]

Speaking of "Underside of Hood Finish", Biba69 or anybody else....

Do you know of a clear undercoat I can use for the bottom of my Abarth. Some Paint Rep showed me a can of undercoat you put over a freshly painted "bottom of car" It was clear, high-build, and made a nice deep orange peal texture. It was kind of rubbery, clear plastic spray-on stuff and now I can't find it.

I was hoping to spray it on the bottom of the Abarth and maybe my GTV 1750 after its painted under there.

I was thinking of masking off defined areas under the hood and spraying it there for the texture effect and the sound deadening.
Its like chip-guard but clear!

Any help here?

Bud

[yvesmontreal]

I've found this:
SEM Products - Catalog - CHIP GUARD
I haven't used it personally but I've had great success with other SEM products; some professionals I know think highly of their product range.
But to avoid a color change, you'd be better off painting OVER the chip guard.

[Smithy]

This is the treatment I used for the underside of my hood. I made templates and cut roofing felt to hide the seam between the skin and reinforcement. I glued them in place with a single component automotive seam sealer. I like the look as opposed to a texture.

If you want to spray a texture type finish, I recommend a 2-component urethane spray-on bed liner. Upol's Raptor is great for this, because you can thin it to a texture you want. Make sure to use an epoxy primer under this finish for corrosion protection. It is also paintable.

(Sorry for the many edits. I'm just figuring out photobucket..)