Should I paint the underside of my bug fenders body color?

[DB]

Greetings,

I have recently purchased a '64 Sea Blue beetle for a summer ride. The beetle was taken apart for paint 20 years ago by the PO and sanded down. It is a super nice original car that will be left in stock condition and put back together after paint. The car will be a super nice driver when complete, but the intent is not for a show car - I have too many others for that purpose.

My question is should I "black out" under the fenders and body wheel well areas, or should I paint the area body color? The fenders have no rust and look to have an old dealer undercoating - very thin application. Under this undercoating is the original Sea Blue paint, but this cannot be seen since it is under the undercoating. It would be a pain / costly to remove all this this, but I know the stock situation would be body color only. Since I am primarily a bus guy, I would like the opinion from bug owners on what is considered acceptable and looks good for a driver versus a show car. If I sold the car with blacked out wheel wells would this hurt the value of the car, or would you think I am a dope for not painting them body color when I have a chance to correct this detail? Thanks once more for your time and input to my question. I am sure to have a few more questions as I try to complete this project.

Kind Regards,
DB

[KTPhil]

As a buyer I would wonder what you were covering up with black paint.

[Derek Cobb]

I hate undercoating on old VW's cause 98.6% of the time it's used to hide stuff....bad stuff. It's also miserable to remove and just plain ugly. Cars with nice shiney paint under the fenders make me smile.

I would pay more for a car with no undercoating.

[DM409]

Dealer applied undercoating was very common on new VW's and it shouldn't hurt the value at all on a nice driver quality car. I'd go with undercoating on a car that is to be driven, but painted on a show car.
If by "black out" you are referring to black paint instead of undercoating, then I'd agree with KTPhil.

[DB]

Hi All,

Thanks for the feedback! Yes, "blacked out" would be black paint on top of the undercoat. The undercoat is very light and obviously isn't hiding anything. I am not sure if the undercoating could easily be sanded / DA'd (dual action) off or not. I think you have to chemically remove / soften it and turn it back into goo for removal. Any suggestions on easy removal? It is also on the body as well - which in that area is not flat or simple to clean-up.
Another option is I could do nothing and just paint the top side of the fenders. I wasn't sure in the bug world if keeping the OG paint under the undercoating is preferred to stripping them clean or not. If I strip them clean and repaint the underside, do you guys recommend putting a light stoneguard finish under the paint to reduce stone chips etc?

Regards,
DB

[Russ Wolfe]

Dealer applied undercoating now days is covering the rust.
This car supposedly only had 15,000 miles on it. See the rust under the undercoat.

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[Keith]

Oven cleaner removes undercoating and doesn't hurt original paint. I've used it before and the results were amazing. Just go to your Dollar store and buy the cheap "Heavy duty" oven cleaner.
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Formerly known in the forums as "OVALTEEN"

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[DB]

Thanks Ovalteen for the oven cleaner suggestion! I will try that out! This bug is really nice and is not hiding any rust like the posted picture above shows. I will try to take some pictures and post them showing the undercoating.

Cheers!
DB

[paxilill]

I would undercoat them myself, if it’s a driver. It's not like VW fenders are very complicated and can hide a lot of damage from any suspecting educated buyers down the road.

[c.davis419]

Also, if your fenders are freshly painted and not undercoated, when driving at higher speeds your tires can kick up rocks that can dent them or crack the fresh paint. Ask me how I know about this
_________________
1967 beetle
1974 Thing

[MURZI]

[DB]

Hi C.Davis,

Thanks for sharing your experience, and I am sorry about your paint job! Your situation is exactly why I am asking this question. The purist in me would like to paint the underside of the fenders and wheel well area. But the practical side of me says does anyone really care or does this really matter? A number of bug owners I have talked to have told me to leave it and black it out. If I painted the fenders body color on the underside I would apply a light stone guard under the paint to avoid your situation and road chips. Since the bug will be left at stock height you can still see a lot of fender wheel well area under there - I don't want it to look stupid if it is painted black. Luckily the contrast between Sea Blue and Black is not that big compared to a lighter color. I would still like a few more view points on body color paint only versus leaving the existing undercoat on and "freshen it up" with a coat of black paint. Thanks all for any input on this topic!

Kind Regards,
DB

[Maimas13]

you could always rhino coat the underisde of the fenders, this may be a little priceyer but it will definately protect the paint on top and it looks really cool, plus you could match/paint over the coating to make it really sick
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MAIMAS... read it backwards

(.o\ ! /o.) 62 chopped, dropped, cal looked, oval grafted, 57 styled, ragtop with polk audio sound system, driven daily by an 18 year old

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[65ruby]

Check out my gallery... I just painted my 65 and was thinking about also putting color under the fenders,but after many discusions with my painter, as stated above, the rocks he said will "STAR" the paint
So we did strip all the old coating off the 1/4 panels and put color on them.
Then we removed the fenders and undercoated them only.So now IF you were to look under the fenders(you must get on all fours to see it) you will see the color on the 1/4's but the fenders have a black undercoating.
Standing from a distance you can only see the painted part of the 1/4 panels.
Scott

[Agave58]

If the car came with undercoating from the dealer, and is not going to be a show car then leave it. You might as well take advantage of the fact that the underside will fair better with the undercoating then regular paint.


Terry

1958 Beetle
Harrison

[67 Florida Deluxe]

Interesting... not one of the VWs I own or have owned have had this supposedly "common" dealer undercoating. The are all body colored. And none of them have dents from rocks, either... interesting...
_________________
-Kent (BaT "daleallen")

OG member of the '67 Posse

A few of my toys, past and present
'56 Oval, '66 KG Conv't, '67 21-Window, '67 Bug, '79 SuperVert, '55 Pre-A Continental

[Agave58]

I was wondering if undercoating was pushed by dealers in states that used salt for the roads? My 58 has no undercoating, and was sold new in New York?


Terry

1958 Beetle
Harrison

[BUGTHUG]

Line-X, makes a great undercoating and they have differnt colors, they might be able to match any color.
A few years back, the owner of a line-X showed me a test they did, where they took two concrete blocks, painted one with line-X and left the other natural. They droped both blocks from 15feet onto the parking lot, the un-coated block shattered, and the coated one did't. They were starting to use this stuff for military aps.
It is strong stuff, and will probably out last the car Its similar to the rhino stuff, you might check it out as an option.
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1963 15 window bus
1966 VW bug
1966 21 window micro bus
1969 Dune Buggy
1965 VW bug
1974 VW bug
1972 Kelmark, VW drive line
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[ocdbeetle]

[67 Florida Deluxe]