1941 Chevrolet undercarriage

[Todd Maxwell]

What would the under side of the body been painted when new.  I know my BelAirs were Red Oxide.  Was it black paint in 41? After 80 years I can find no remnants of the original.

 

 

[pont35cpe]

I don`t think they were painted, bare metal, could be wrong.

[Todd Maxwell]

You could be right.  I don't see any sign of anything but rust.  It has been 80 years.  I am going to use a rust encapulator.  My fuel tank is out and it is an opportunity to paint that while I can.   That will be black.  I could top coat it with a red if it was originally primed in that color, but why waste the effort if it was either bare or black originally.

[TAKerry]

Were the bodies dip painted at that time?

[John348]

What about looking at a shop manual at photos, even though they are black and white I am sure from the contrast you can tell if they are painted, or just primed with body color overspray on the floors. How about contacting the AACA Library? I am sure they can help

[Dave39MD]

I would try asking here;

 

https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/forums/3/1/1937-1941.html

 

Dave

[kgreen]

I can confirm that Fisher painted the Buick underside black.  That isn't the strongest argument for Chevy bodies, but is a starting point.

[John348]

7 hours ago, kgreen said:

I can confirm that Fisher painted the Buick underside black.  That isn't the strongest argument for Chevy bodies, but is a starting point.

Maybe it is, could it be a black primer?

[kgreen]

10 hours ago, John348 said:

Maybe it is, could it be a black primer?

Again, I have to reiterate that my experience is with a 1940 Buick.  The steel underside of the body as well as the frame was painted black.  One source that I found was Bill Anderson who is a Cadillac/Buick guy, stated in his book Restoration Facts, 1941 Buick (https://andersonautomotiveenterprises.com/publications/booksandcds.htm), stated that the underside of the car as well as the frame and chassis components was painted with a poor quality paint.  I could not deduce that it was a primer specifically from his reference.  The millage of the coating on one car that I had, that had also been undercoated, was very thin.  The inner rocker surfaces and a small amount of the adjacent floor surface had overspray of body color.  

 

I'm afraid I can't be more helpful, particularly on a Chevy on which I have no experience.

[John348]

14 hours ago, kgreen said:

Again, I have to reiterate that my experience is with a 1940 Buick.  The steel underside of the body as well as the frame was painted black.  One source that I found was Bill Anderson who is a Cadillac/Buick guy, stated in his book Restoration Facts, 1941 Buick (https://andersonautomotiveenterprises.com/publications/booksandcds.htm), stated that the underside of the car as well as the frame and chassis components was painted with a poor quality paint.  I could not deduce that it was a primer specifically from his reference.  The millage of the coating on one car that I had, that had also been undercoated, was very thin.  The inner rocker surfaces and a small amount of the adjacent floor surface had overspray of body color.  

 

I'm afraid I can't be more helpful, particularly on a Chevy on which I have no experience.

There seems to be a lot of production commonalty with the Fisher Body processes shared across the divisions. The panels were stamped and shipped in to the body assembly plants so it was highly doubtful that they would be bare metal

Edited December 9, 2021 by John348 (see edit history)