[10secbird]

What kind of paint is compatible to spray over the factory paints (68 Firebird) that were used on the floorboards? I am going to be painting both the top and bottom sides of the floorboard along with the firewall. I am concerned about using a paint that will cause lifting or some other ill effect when sprayed over the existing factory paint. The undersides of my floorboards are rust-free and the paint is adhering well and in good shape. There seems to be a mixture of colors on the bottom side that includes a flat dark greenish color, some primer gray over-spray, body color over-spray and I wanted to repaint it so it would be a single color. What is the correct factory color paint used on the floorboards for the top and bottom sides. I was thinking that since the paint on the underside is in good shape that it would be a waste of time and effort to take it down to the metal but don’t know what type of paint (lacquer, enamel, etc) is compatible over the factory paint.

[Ron Landis]

The "correct" factory finish is probably close to what you have now....some primer....some body color overspray. If you want neat...use a semi-gloss black. Don't laugh, but on a quick detail as opposed to a frame-off, it's hard to beat Krylon. I know of a Judge that received "Gold" at the GTO Nat's with an admitted spray bomb undercarriage. Don't ask me how. Anyway, it can be made to look neat and touch-up is a breeze. This is only if your car is a driver. Show cars and trailer queens ar going the "as it left the factory" route, which brings us back to primer and overspray. BTW...I'd media blast or at least wire brush the undercarriage first. Spray rear axle and frame with gloss, floors with semi, it will produce an attractive contrast and the illusion that the car was off the frame. Attention to detail is the trick.

[10secbird]

Thanks Jegstek - So just paint over the factory paint? What kind of paint is safe over the factory stuff? I have some Eastwood Chassis Black....is that OK? Does anyone know if the factory paint on the floorboard is lacquer or enamel? How can I tell...is there a test to determine lacquer or enamel

My frame is off - I had to replace the front foot well sections of the floorboard so I forgot to mention that in addition to the other colors I have the black paint that came on the replacement panels along with the lap-welds. I am not going for the trailer queen scene but it will not be an everyday driver either.

I found that just massaging the underside with a solvent soaked towel removed the years of oil/dirt mixture quite handily without disturbing the paint. I was surprised that the grime came off so easily, I guess because it is not heat-baked grime like you find on engines and transmissions.

In the picture you can see where I stopped cleaning just about where the rear seat sits. I plan on cleaning the whole underside of the car that way but want to get the front sub-frame on and front end rolling before I tackle the rear portion and trunk floor replacement.

Check out my homepage website. I've been reluctant to share it with you guys, (bandwidth limitation) but here it is. It is just for fun, reminiscing about old times and provides an outlet for my Pontiac passion. It also helps with the Firebird project by providing a place for resources and to-do lists and parts needed/wish lists. It also provides for learning and experimenting with HTML, Java script etc, which I am new to. http://home.earthlink.net/~lzsite3/index.html