1971 - 1978(or even later year)... Dodge van undercarriage(chassis) color?

[crowe-t]

Does anyone know what color(or how) the undercarriage/chassis of the 1971 - 1978, or even later Dodge(Tradesman/Ram) vans were from the factory?

Were the underside(chassis side) of the floors a primer color or body color?  Possibly body color faded onto primer or full body color???

Were the chassis rails black?

I found this attached picture online.  It almost looks like the whole bottom is body color but hard to tell.

These Dodge vans are unibody with a separate bolt-on front K-member to carry the front suspension, steering, and engine.  There are two full length open U-channels welded to the floor pan but not a true frame.

The K-member looks black but the rest of the underside looks like it's either full or partial body color. 

 

Edited December 2, 2018 by crowe-t

[SfanGoch]

If it was a van sold in NYS, or other areas with snowy winters, it would've been black from the anti-corrosion undercoating sprayed to protect against road salts.

[Luc Janssens]

2 hours ago, crowe-t said:

Does anyone know what color(or how) the undercarriage/chassis of the 1971 - 1978, or even later Dodge(Tradesman/Ram) vans were from the factory?

Were the underside(chassis side) of the floors a primer color or body color?  Possibly body color faded onto primer or full body color???

Were the chassis rails black?

I found this attached picture online.  It almost looks like the whole bottom is body color but hard to tell.

These Dodge vans are unibody with a separate bolt-on front K-member to carry the front suspension, steering, and engine.  There are two full length open U-channels welded to the floor pan but not a true frame.

The K-member looks black but the rest of the underside looks like it's either full or partial body color. 

 

Pic seems from the mid to late '90s..

 

[gtx6970]

grey primer with body color along the rocker panels

[crowe-t]

4 hours ago, Luc Janssens said:

Pic seems from the mid to late '90s..

 

It's the only picture I could find showing any of the undercarriage.

[crowe-t]

3 hours ago, gtx6970 said:

grey primer with body color along the rocker panels

The body color is misted onto the primer?

[Oldmopars]

I used to work on these all the time, it would have been body color. Unlike cars, these had a solid color all the way that covered the frame rails and under body. I worked at a Dodge dealer in the 80's as a oil change guy, spent a lot of time looking at the bottoms of 80's Mopars.

[crowe-t]

1 hour ago, Oldmopars said:

I used to work on these all the time, it would have been body color. Unlike cars, these had a solid color all the way that covered the frame rails and under body. I worked at a Dodge dealer in the 80's as a oil change guy, spent a lot of time looking at the bottoms of 80's Mopars.

There was no fade of the body color onto the primer?  The underside(floors and frame rails) was all solid body color?

Edited December 3, 2018 by crowe-t

[Repstock]

Does this help?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1975-Dodge-Ram-Van/143035607483?hash=item214d9629bb:g:760AAOSwV3hb9Y7I:rk:5:pf:0&vxp=mtr

Scroll down, lots of pictures.

 

 

Edited December 3, 2018 by Repstock

[Casey]

4 hours ago, crowe-t said:

There was no fade of the body color onto the primer?  The underside(floors and frame rails) was all solid body color?

Though the image you posted shows a much newer van, the process didn't change much since '71. Remember, the entire interior of vans is painted body color, and the exterior was much the same as other Mopars. Some overspray would've wrapped under the rocker panels, but the rockers on B-vans are 10" deep/tall, so it would be much more difficult for that overspray to reach the underside of the floorpan. As shown on the white van above, the engine compartment, wheel houses, firewall, etc all would've received body color paint. The main areas which didn't directly receive paint are the underside of the cargo floor area.

Also, not all vans were primed with grey primer-- some were primed with black. '71-'77 vans were built at at least two plants (Pillette Rd in Canada and in CA, IIRC), so not all plants used the exact same colors.

tl/dr: body color all over, 'cept for the backside of the rocker panels and underside of the floor in the cargo area.

 

You can also go here and see plenty of reference material: http://moparbvans.proboards.com/

Edited December 3, 2018 by Casey

[crowe-t]

34 minutes ago, Repstock said:

Does this help?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1975-Dodge-Ram-Van/143035607483?hash=item214d9629bb:g:760AAOSwV3hb9Y7I:rk:5:pf:0&vxp=mtr

Scroll down, lots of pictures.

 

 

I'll have to look at these a little closer but the underside is rusty and black looking.

[crowe-t]

3 hours ago, Casey said:

Thought the image you posted shows a much newer van, the process didn't change much since '71. Remember, the entire interior of vans is painted body color, and the exterior was much the same as other Mopars. Some overspray would've wrapped under the rocker panels, but the rockers on B-vans are 10" deep/tall, so it would be much more difficult for that overspray to reach the underside of the floorpan. As shown on the white van above, the engine compartment, wheel houses, firewall, etc all would've received body color paint. The main areas which didn't directly receive paint are the underside of the cargo floor area.

Also, not all vans were primed with grey primer-- some were primed with black. '71-'77 vans were built at at least two plants (Pillette Rd in Canada and in CA, IIRC), so not all plants used the exact same colors.

tl/dr: body color all over, 'cept for the backside of the rocker panels and underside of the floor in the cargo area.

 

You can also go here and see plenty of reference material: http://moparbvans.proboards.com/

I just joined the Mopar B Vans forum.  

Oldmopars(Scott) said he worked at a Dodge dealer in the 80's and unlike cars they had a solid body color that covered the frame rails and under body.

I originally thought it would be overspray of the body color but Scott worked at a dealer and would know.

[Rob Hall]

23 minutes ago, crowe-t said:

I just joined the Mopar B Vans forum.  

Oldmopars(Scott) said he worked at a Dodge dealer in the 80's and unlike cars they had a solid body color that covered the frame rails and under body.

I originally thought it would be overspray of the body color but Scott worked at a dealer and would know.

That makes sense, the B-series van was a 'uniframe' design---not body bolted on a frame, but a frame welded to the floorpan.  So the whole body/frame was probably painted at once.

Edited December 3, 2018 by Rob Hall

[Tom Geiger]

4 hours ago, Repstock said:

Does this help?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1975-Dodge-Ram-Van/143035607483?hash=item214d9629bb:g:760AAOSwV3hb9Y7I:rk:5:pf:0&vxp=mtr

Scroll down, lots of pictures.

 

 

Interesting van. For the wear on the interior that one could have 173,000 miles on it instead of 73,000.  I used to van pool in vans very similar to this one.  I was one of the drivers, lured by free trips.  The long wheel base extended length ones like this were popular with carpet installers since they could load it with rolls and shut the rear doors.  

And they rusted like no tomorrow!  I had a 1978 Sportsman 300 in New Jersey.  I bought it very used to use on a home renovation.  The rockers were very rusty. The tall left side one was replaced with a piece of aluminum siding on mine. 

[Casey]

39 minutes ago, crowe-t said:

Oldmopars(Scott) said he worked at a Dodge dealer in the 80's and unlike cars they had a solid body color that covered the frame rails and under body.

I originally thought it would be overspray of the body color but Scott worked at a dealer and would know.

OK, well then maybe this and the other vans I have personally crawled under were the exception, and none of them had the underside of the floor painted in the cargo area, like this one. You can see the fuel tank J-bolt at the extreme left, the undercoating overspray which made it between the fuel tank and rear valence panel, and at the top of the image, the lighter body colored overspray. This floor area is above the fuel tank, and was well protected from the elements:  

 

I agreed that most of the body was covered with the color coat, just not all in my experience looking over, in, and under close to 100 '71-'77 Dodge and Plymouth B-vans.

[Oldmopars]

On 12/3/2018 at 3:30 PM, Casey said:

OK, well then maybe this and the other vans I have personally crawled under were the exception, and none of them had the underside of the floor painted in the cargo area, like this one. You can see the fuel tank J-bolt at the extreme left, the undercoating overspray which made it between the fuel tank and rear valence panel, and at the top of the image, the lighter body colored overspray. This floor area is above the fuel tank, and was well protected from the elements:  

 

I agreed that most of the body was covered with the color coat, just not all in my experience looking over, in, and under close to 100 '71-'77 Dodge and Plymouth B-vans.

As it was stated, vans rolled off 2 different lines, and my memory is just that, a memory. I recall the floors being painted on the bottom, but the vans ran for 20+ years and could have changed.

I suppose the only way to know for sure would be to find a factory picture of one and see what it shows.

[Oldmopars]

Like I said, I could be wrong. These are the best pictures I can find and they only show the area that could be painted through the engine compartment. Hard to say if it was painted beyond that. So, I would go with primer and overspray unless you can find better pictures. Keep in mind I have been under 1000's of cars/trucks over the years and could very easily be remembering Chevy's, Ford's or even Toyota's.

[crowe-t]

Casey and Scott,  thanks for the 'inside' info. LOL  I'll most likely play it safe and go with primer and overspray.  It seems to make the most sense.  A fully painted underside might look like a 'custom' paint job anyway.  Everyone, myself included, is used to seeing the bottoms of cars with body color overspray on the primer.  

[gtx6970]

On 12/2/2018 at 9:56 PM, crowe-t said:

The body color is misted onto the primer?

I started work at the local dodge dealer about 1986 or so.

Best I remember they were a light grey primer or similar but with a satin finish ( some kind of gelcoat maybe )

[crowe-t]

38 minutes ago, gtx6970 said:

I started work at the local dodge dealer about 1986 or so.

Best I remember they were a light grey primer or similar but with a satin finish ( some kind of gelcoat maybe )

Was there any of the body color misted on or just all primer?

[gtx6970]

Something like this