1988 underside paint

[porschzilla]

Can someone tell me what colors are correct for the underside of my Porsche? My garage is not water tight and I cannot tell if the black is flat, gloss or semi.
The underside of my car is not rusted but very faded.

Thanks
Jack
1988 911 Carrera

[D911SC]

Mine is an 83 and I assume the factory process is the same. Underneath the car was sprayed with a flexible stone guard. When the body was painted overspray meant that the wheel wells ended up getting painted plus a small part underneath.

My undercoat is beige but grey (and maybe black) was also used. A good replacement is Wurth SKS stone guard which you can get in grey and black.

Add some pics and I might be able to help out. A good place to start is to degrease and pressure spray underneath - this will help you see better what is on there.

If you want to refinish it and keep it 'correct' then I doubt you'll be painting underneath, maybe instead just clean, prep and apply SKS. The choice to paintmight be based on the color of your car and how you want it to look underneath.

It's a big job though - I know because I am doing it at the moment.

[porschzilla]

I am also talking about the arms, half shafts, frame parts, etc. I know that the fuel tank was a tanish undercoating.

Thanks
Jack
1988 Carrera

[stormmaster]

I used rustoleom satin black on the underside and wheel wells of my 87.....it isnt concourse but then the rest of the car isnt either....I like it because it us durable and is easy to touch up.

[D911SC]

You'll find lots of threads on this topic. Are you planning on refinishing underneath (body and parts)?

In terms of suspension some parts are bare aluminium (ie. trailing arms and front cross member) and most likely can be blasted back to new. I am not sure how the half shafts were originally finished but I am using a satin finish when I recoat mine. If you are looking to finish anything think about longevity - something that chips easily will ruin all your hard work.

You'll get a wide variety of methods of how to refinish parts. Maybe list the parts you want to address and I am sure you'll get plenty of feedback to make a decision of how to go forward.

[Zeke]

I think the wheel well color can be best described as planned overspray. A-arms and sway bars were a little better than "chassis black." AL parts had coating. On early 911's it was Tactyl and that may be so for Carreras as well. Engine bays were black from about '73. Often one could see some body color thru the black. The very bottom of the cars were also black over the stone guard, or "schutz."