Front Fenders - Paint question (1 Viewer)

[231Designs]

Hi there -

I've got aftermarket front fenders from CCOT and am having them painted along with the rest of my tub. The body is painted and the top of the fenders have been painted - and we are getting ready to handle the underside of the fenders.

Originally I was planning on having them painted to match the body - as was in my original scope and plan with the shop - but now the shop is telling me that with all the bracketry underneath they won't be able to get a 'clean' paintjob and that it will get chipped up and look s***ty after not that long on the road. They are pushing for undercoating - to effectively black out that area so it disappears when viewing the vehicle since it would blend with the black frame rails etc.

What are your thoughts on this?

I've gone with Judson Green - and am very happy with how their shade mixed up.

 

[Wasatch Jay]

Toyota managed to do a decent job of painting the underside of the fenders, as have a whole lot of paint shops. I don't understand why your's can't seem to do what so many others have accomplished?

 

[231Designs]

Toyota managed to do a decent job of painting the underside of the fenders, as have a whole lot of paint shops. I don't understand why your's can't seem to do what so many others have accomplished?

This is where my thoughts are currently residing. The shop has a great reputation and I've had other paint work done there with excellent results - but this if the first time they're working on my FJ40 and they haven't done too many of them. I think that they're simply 'over it' and wanting a cheaper/faster way to the finish line.

For those that have had their inner fenders painted (vs. undercoated) - how as it held up?

Thanks for any/all feedback/advice.

 

[pb4ugo]

Stk is all one color. I painted my OEM stk fenders all red. I've only put about 4300 miles on them and they seem to be fine. They are not chipping or anything, I do have to scrub them to get the dirt off. If they do become unsightly you can always paint them black in the future.

 

[Pierps]

They can paint them just fine. It'll be hard for them to get consistent orange peel given weird angles, but who cares... it's under the rig and will be covered in road grime soon.

The prep is a pain... lots of nooks and crannies to scuff if it has e-coat on it. But they need to scuff regardless of the finish.

As for my opinion, I prefer black inside the fender wells. It causes the inside of the fenders to kind of disappear visually. Less of an issue on darker colors though.

 

[Pierps]

Also, I have no experience with the aftermarket fenders, but I have read many reports over the years of poor fitment, requiring people to cut spot welds and re-weld/etc.

So I hope you had the shop test fit them (including the front grille, aprons, and hood) before getting to paint. It would be a big bummer to discover fitment issues later.

 

[dmaddox]

What @Pierps said - verify fitment and then yes, as I just painted mine, the angles are very strange/difficult - particularly under the front lip - but my .02 is to stick with green.

 

[kerplunk]

I *think* I'd prefer body color...

Mine are black. Someone along the chain of previous owners painted the whole bottom of mine black, with really poor prep, and it's all chipped up with red (the body color) showing through.

That part of the "underside" is really so visible though, it's not like it's "just disappearing" like on a lot of other vehicles. And having the body color contrast with the frame probably has a certain look, but I've honestly not stared at anyone else's long enough to admire that... So I dunno, maybe?

I am confused why black would be less work for them? They still have to prep, primer, etc., and then wait for the body color and set and mask and use something else on part of it rather than just shoot it all at once? I guess if they have runs, peel, other issues it's a total mess to fix and easy to just shoot some undercoating?

 

[Paul_A]

If they can't do a decent and clean green paint coat what makes them think they can do a better job with undercoating? Usually the rust starts in the nooks and crannies that they can't treat well with either paint or undercoat. It still has to be thoroughly prepped and primed to prevent rust and I'm not sure the black coating the fenders come in is really primer or just a protective shipping coating. In the end aren't you paying them to do what you request? Maybe they didn't properly estimate the job but it's your money and you're in charge. My .02.

 

[Pierps]

I suspect it's just that undercoating or bedliner is less sensitive to gun distance/angles/speed. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I'd guess they're worried they just won't get a consistent texture. It's definitely more work to have to mask and back mask. Much less effort to paint all at once. I'm sure they know that

 

[zerotreedelta]

I went "OEM style" and painted my fender wells. They're Cygnus white so they show the dirt/slop, but it cleans up just fine so far with no real chipping. I did blast the black coating of and put epoxy primer on the bare steel though, for what it's worth. Black seems like an odd play either way - as that's pretty atypical for FJ40s (and other Jeeps of the era too).

Definitely agree on fitment of the aftermarket fenders...one of mine was ok, the other one was assembled by Ray Charles on a Friday and needed a fair bit of massaging to get things to line up.

 

[brooklyn]

I would go for painting as it will be much easier to repaint when needed. I have repainted the underside of my fenders a few times with rustoleum tinted to match my body color - I work the paint into the support brackets as best I can.

Works great for me — I do cut the rustoleum with some mineral spirits to make it easier to work with.

 

[Pierps]

for what it's worth, here's my rig with black raptor liner in the fender wells. I like it. I prefer to not really notice the inside of the fender wells, but clearly I'm in the minority here. Obviously not factory, but it has a chevy small block, so originality isn't a huge concern for me.

 

[Greek Cruiserhead]

Pierps said: "...clearly I'm in the minority here".​

A comment from a majority member: not original, for sure, great paint/restoration job though!
Guess the V8 conversion works great too...

 

[sogncab]

I'm planning on body color urea coating. Chip resistance, hopefully some corrosion protection because of that, and sound deadening.

 

[45Dougal]

I guess it depends what type of paint you have on the top and how chip resistant it would be on the bottom.
The finish underneath isn't so important IMHO. How about colour matching some polyurethane (raptor) to make it a bit tougher?

 

[MOTOV8R]

This is the underside of one of my stock fenders (‘79). Depending on what type of roads you drive on, it will get chipped up. I already refinished the passenger fender and went with black and when it gets chipped up from gravel roads I will spray it with some more black.

 

[cruiserkev]

I did the same thing as Pierps and also like it. My inner fender paint was in terrible shape and almost appeared sand blasted in some areas. Lined the inside of the tub and under all the fenders with basic black and it has held up well for many years while providing a small amount of sound deadening and chip protection. It can get discolored from driving down dusty roads but a little fluid film makes it look new and shiny again.

 

[wimberosa]

Anyone ever try to powder-coat that area in a close-match color? That rib and the rust it can harbor on the underside is definitely sub-optimal.

 

[Chungas Revenge]

I did the same thing as Pierps and also like it. My inner fender paint was in terrible shape and almost appeared sand blasted in some areas. Lined the inside of the tub and under all the fenders with basic black and it has held up well for many years while providing a small amount of sound deadening and chip protection. It can get discolored from driving down dusty roads but a little fluid film makes it look new and shiny again.

Did you use Raptor???