Darrin gas tanks

[joefrazer]

Fuel tanks should be 'natural' color. They were installed after the chassis was assembled and painted black (axle, suspension, etc) but before the body was dropped.

[Terry T]

but wouldn't they be covered in undercoating since the Darrins were undercoated by the dealers as has been purported  for decades??

[darrin502]

Not sure why a fiberglass car needed undercoating maybe to stop stones coming off the tires and hitting the underside of the wheel wells causing cracks in the fiberglass or maybe sound deadening.
If the car was under coated then they would probably spray the gas tank.
I do know the rubber under the rear bumper keeps stones from coming off the tires and shooting around the back side of the bumper and hitting the paint.
Lee

[Terry T]

as I remember, and my memory fails sometimes, that an ex-chief judge, who used to drive trucks for KF, said that no Darrins were undercoated by the factory, they were undercoated by the dealers.  Subsequently, judging considered undercoating to be non-original and points subtracted accordingly.

anybody remember Ellis Rhodes??

[joefrazer]

Sure, Ellis was a good friend who restored quite a few Darrins.

[Terry T]

Sure, Ellis was a good friend who restored quite a few Darrins.

[Terry T]

Sure, Ellis was a good friend who restored quite a few Darrins.

I think he did 9 restorations

I believe that he had a least one that got a SENIOR GOLD in AACA judging
saying that..would you consider him an expert on the Darrins?

[pjkaiser]

I was told, I believe at a National, that the reason for the undercoating was to protect the fiberglass from absorbing water from the underside that would soak through and bubble the paint on the top of the body.   

As far as my gas tank, I will paint it to look as close as it looks non-painted. 

[MarkH]

As far as my gas tank, I will paint it to look as close as it looks non-painted.

Even though it's unlikely our cars will ever see the elements they used, to I've coated every piece except carbs & metal lines (cunifer)

With the variety of clear sheens (or lack of) for metal & paint it's a fairly unobtrusive way to preserve restoration work.

Eastwood makes a paint called Tank Tone just to duplicate natural tank color.

[joefrazer]

As told to me by Fred Walker many years ago, (yes, THE Fred Walker), the reason for undercoating was two fold...to eliminate water wicking its way into the body and as Phil mentioned, causing the paint to bubble, and also to help reduce drumming - where the body would resonate at speed. I've never experienced the latter...I'm too afraid to go that fast in my Darrin, but I can see the former being an issue.

Personally, no undercoating is just fine by me. I'll do my best to keep my Darrin dry!

[warren]

Thank you for the info. Now that I looked the second page of comment's I got the answer I needed.

[njpatera]

Yep...the underside of the fiberglass was left “raw” if you will. It will suck up moisture and the result is flaking and bubbling of the painted exterior side. There are some great fiberglass products now that you could actually “finish” the underside, but yet it wouldn’t be factory.

[njpatera]

Happy early Bday to me👊

[Terry T]

Yep...the underside of the fiberglass was left “raw” if you will. It will suck up moisture and the result is flaking and bubbling of the painted exterior side. There are some great fiberglass products now that you could actually “finish” the underside, but yet it wouldn’t be factory.

given that knowledge, and assuming that the experts in the '50's knew that, can one surmise that undercoating was "factory"?

let's not forget that this technology, and early builds, came from GLASPAR who knew something about fiberglass and water.

[Gordie]

Glasspar made boats long before they made car bodies and boats would be absorbing water all the  time that they were in it.  Were the boats treated with something to protect the boat from water damage?  Exposure to water would have been well known when fiberglass bodies were made.  There were lots of different plastic car bodies made both professionally and by home builders.  What kind of protection did the Corvettes have?  I believe that Bill Tritt of Glasspar had something to do with the development of the Corvettes also.  I have owned two different Glasspar cars and they did not have any undercoating underneath the bodies although most Glasspar cars were built from kits.