Third generation (1975–1991) Ford Econoline van undercarriage(chassis) color?

[crowe-t]

Does anyone know what color the undercarriage/chassis of the third generation (1975–1991) Ford Econoline was from the factory?

Were the floors a primer color or body color?

Were the chassis rails black?

Edited January 29, 2018 by crowe-t

[1972coronet]

In my experiences , the underside of those E-Series vans' floors were a semi-gloss grey ( Testors' Gull Grey is quite close in shade and finish ** ) .

** = Remembering Tim Boyd's review / build of the then-new Monogram 1987 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe wherein he recommends that particular paint for the underside of the car .

[Sledsel]

John is correct, semi-gloss gray with some light color over spray. Chassis was semi-gloss black. Live near the Lorain assembly plant and would see the frames coming in by the train load

 

[espo]

Being of Unibody construction the underside would have minimal overspray. The painted Chassis joined the body further down the assembly line and should not have any overspray on it.  

[von Zipper]

22 minutes ago, espo said:

Being of Unibody construction the underside would have minimal overspray. The painted Chassis joined the body further down the assembly line and should not have any overspray on it.  

What ? The 3rd generation Econolines were built on as 'body on frame' construction  not unibody ,

 

[crowe-t]

Testors Gull Gray seems to be a bit on the Tan side.

Is the underside gray a primer or a pint they used?

[Casey]

Close enough to a van.

[crowe-t]

4 minutes ago, Casey said:

Close enough to a van.

The underside looks black.

[Casey]

6 minutes ago, crowe-t said:

The underside looks black.

I used that image mainly for the frame and suspension colors. The underside of the bed is heavily in the shadow, though.

By '75, vans would've received the full dip primer bath treatment (well, at least Dodge & Plymouth vans got the full depth dip), so at a minimum the underside of the body shell would be the color of the dip primer. It's likely a little overspray from the body shell painting process wrapped its way under the rockers and around/under the body, and the interior of the van would be fully painted, too. You have to keep in mind the height of a van, making reaching under the rocker panels not very likely, so there wouldn't be much overspray underneath.

Some looking at various Ford vehicle forums online, especially at those models which were built at the same time, and ideally, the same assembly plant(s) as where the vans were produced should give some better details of the primer color(s) which was (were) used.

[Eshaver]

2 hours ago, espo said:

Being of Unibody construction the underside would have minimal overspray. The painted Chassis joined the body further down the assembly line and should not have any overspray on it.  

The 3rd gen Econolines were the ONLY one's built with a real frame .....

[espo]

22 hours ago, von Zipper said:

What ? The 3rd generation Econolines were built on as 'body on frame' construction  not unibody ,

 

 

20 hours ago, Eshaver said:

The 3rd gen Econolines were the ONLY one's built with a real frame .....

I stand corrected. My knowledge of the Ford Econoline  is based more on previous models rather than direct knowledge of the current product.

[Rob Hall]

21 hours ago, Eshaver said:

The 3rd gen Econolines were the ONLY one's built with a real frame .....

The 4th gen  ('92-14) was body-on-frame also.   (pretty similar underneath to the 3rd gen from what I've read).