1968 Camaro undercarriage?

[crowe-t]

Since a 1968 Camaro has a unibody back half would the rear chassis rails be painted the color of the floors(i.e. - primer with body color overspray) since they are part of the floors?  

I believe Chevrolet used red oxide and dark gray primer on the undercarriage.  Can anyone confirm this?

Edited October 3, 2019 by crowe-t

[tbill]

I can tell you that in my experience with 2nd gen Camaro’s the ones built in the Ohio plant got red oxide primer , and on other classic GM cars I’ve owned, seems like all the cars built in the ‘eastern’ regions got red oxide primer as well.

[crowe-t]

25 minutes ago, tbill said:

I can tell you that in my experience with 2nd gen Camaro’s the ones built in the Ohio plant got red oxide primer , and on other classic GM cars I’ve owned, seems like all the cars built in the ‘eastern’ regions got red oxide primer as well.

What color were the rear chassis rails?  

[tbill]

As the rear rails are part of the floor sheet metal, they would be red oxide as well. The leaf springs were black.

[crowe-t]

49 minutes ago, tbill said:

As the rear rails are part of the floor sheet metal, they would be red oxide as well. The leaf springs were black.

Did the rear inner wheel wells have black undercoating or were they the red oxide primer?

[crowe-t]

I found this site in the link below:

https://www.chevydiy.com/how-to-paint-your-chevy-camaro-restoration-guide/

Here's a quote from this Camaro Restoration guide in the link with a picture.  Is the gray they are referring to primer?  It looks like semi-gloss black paint is in the transmission tunnel.  The rear frame rails are misted with body color. 

Depending on what you are looking for a finished product, you can paint the underside of your car all one color or you can paint it semi-gloss black and gray with body- colored overspray on the sides to replicate the factory finish. The 1967, 1968, and 1969 models all had different finishes. (Photo courtesy Brian Henderson)

Edited October 3, 2019 by crowe-t

[tbill]

As to the wheel wells, I don’t remember, seems they were black, possibly under coated. 

From that pic, I’d say the gray was primer, but that’s a guess on my part.

[espo]

I bought a '69 Camaro from the original owners around 1976 or 1977. They had bought it new when they lived in Los Vegas NV. At the time of purchase we were both living in Santa Maria Ca. The car had always been in a dry climate and never undercoated. The under carriage was mostly gray as I recall with very little overspray except in the area of the right rear quarter panel that was replaced because of an accident. This particular car had a chrome molding that ran between the front and rear wheel opening just below the door. The area below that molding was painted a semi gloss black with almost no overspray showing. The rear wheel wells were painted with an undercoating type finish and the front wheel wells were the same OEM type semi gloss black that Chevrolet used at that time on their inner front fenders with no undercoating type treatment on this particular car. I don't know for sure what Chevrolet did on cars going to other parts of the country, but most of the cars I remember were treated in the same way and my thought is that it may have had to do with where they were shipping the car for sale. The eastern and northern parts of the country it would have made since for them to add additional rust protection in general and they did offer an option of undercoating from the factory, but most dealers would order their inventory untreated and then sell undercoating as additional mark up and profit. One thing to remember from that era was that the old adage of "never buy a car built on a Friday" held truer than you might think.  The quality control of that time was far more hit and miss than we see today. In the end you're looking at a machine built 50 years ago and the finishes weren't consistent back then. So I'd build it the way it  looks best to you and call it a day. 

[Deuces]

I've had 3 '69s and all those were like a dark grey underneath with black wheel wells...