70 undercarriage restoration colors/patterns

[J_Speegle]

Couple of examples - used Cougars this time

Example where the exterior and floor color were fairly close.
Red arrows - floor color
Yellow arrows - body color

Dark blue gray floor - dark blue exterior

And a contrasting color example

Dark gray undercarriage - white exterior

Pinch weld on floors does not hold up well (like any overspray) to aggressive cleaning

[yearby]

Here is another picture of my green cougar convertible, it is looking up from under the passenger side, notice the dolly pattern. It has wet look because I was washing with degreaser, I also have the torch light shinning up on the floor. I don’t see any shadow left by the dolly if the car was sprayed from the sides. Also if the car had been sprayed from the side the paint operator would have needed to get down on his back/side to spray the trans tunnel and the diff/rear axle tunnels. The car also seems to have very limited amount of the black sound absorbent material applied.

[yearby]

I think we need more discussion here, seems a bigger puzzle than first thought.
I will try and get more details of my cars given time.
Not sure I really wish to rub off the paint of my 70 convertible if it is original.

[J_Speegle]

Base looks very similar to the tone and tint shown in the second picture down in reply #6


Here is an April 70 Dearborn example where the exterior color (upper left in the picture) was similar to the floor color. It appears that exterior was lighter ( Mustangs) than yours

[yearby]

Base looks very similar to the tone and tint shown in the second picture down in reply #6

So are you saying that the underside colour of my convertible is just a coincidence that it is a similar colour to the main exterior colour???
Well, that sure is weird.

[BossElim69]

Built March 28 1969 Cougar 6,466 miles

[BossElim69]

Built March 28 1969 Cougar 6,466 miles

[0F94M]

Does anybody have detailed pictures of their undercarriage? I have tried to find the correct color scheme’s/patterns online but I get snowblind after a while of looking at nothing but mustangs. The car is currently on a rotisserie and has been cleaned/media blasted. I remember the color being a dark green/olive color in the tunnel area before being stripped. The exterior color was competition orange. Stupid me, I didn’t take photos of the paint and markings before! This is a 70 convertible xr7 428scj 4spd car if that make a difference and is a Dearborn built in april 1970. Thanks in advance!

Jon Jensen.

Jon, you might want to check the back side of anything that was bolted to the floor… like exhaust hangers, tie downs, park brake cable brackets etc. It’s possible that some of the original primer paint etc peeled off the floor and is stuck or transferred to the back side of these brackets etc which would give you a sample. It’s kind of a long shot but you might get lucky.
Jim

[70scj4spvert]

Thanks for the photos! Here is what I am working on, its a 70 scj 4 speed xr7 convertible.

[J_Speegle]

Base looks very similar to the tone and tint shown in the second picture down in reply #6

So are you saying that the underside colour of my convertible is just a coincidence that it is a similar colour to the main exterior colour???
Well, that sure is weird.

Yes it happened on both Mustangs and Cougars - same line and guys. They didn’t care which one they were painting and the premounted jets applying the paint to the floorboard really didn’t know the difference

BTW just about an equal number of Cougar examples as Mustang so that there would be (hopefully) no bias. But of course one would not know if it were a Mustang or Cougar if someone didn’t tell you or limit the pictures to only certain sections of the undercarriage


BossElim69 Thanks for sharing - very cool car and pictures

[70b302cat]

I also have been trying to determine the correct under side colours for the 1970 cougars, but I had come to the concussion that they where not as the 69 mustang chart above, but the exterior colour of the car was sprayed on the underside?

The three main examples I was looking at are David Wyrwas’s Dearborn Oct 13th 1969 built Boss 302 car, and my Dearborn Oct 15th 1969 built Boss 302 (both 1970 models) and my Dearborn 27th of May 1970 cougar convertible. In all three cars, none of them have had any underside restoration and all show the underside to be painted the same colour as the exterior.

I also have another 70 cougar in unrestored condition, not played with, I don’t know underneath colour or it production date, but if push came to shove that car could also be investigated, it still has a lot of it’s original chalk marking and even muflers.

Now getting back to your car 70scj4spvert, a 28th of April 1970 convertible, you say it was a Competition Orange car with a possible dark green/olive colour on the underside. Well that sort of stuffs up my theory and it also creates more questions. You see my 27th of May 1970 Cougar Convertible is the same colour underneath as the exterior, but it is a Medium Lime Metallic car (green if you like).

0F91G512239 while it is Competition Blue on the exterior the slop paint while blue is definitely darker and more grey as can be seen in this photo, where in front of the suspension is mostly slop and exterior color behind the suspension. The driver side, whoever was spraying the Comp Blue I guess did not feel like applying any.

The slop color is the same in the transmission tunnel and the inner floor and as shown above is definitely not Competition Blue.

Many sections recieved very little paint.

And here are the buck frame shadows.

Buck date 9/29/69 with a build date of 10/13/69

[CougaDan70]

I thought I’d add one from my 70 Hardtop(Ginger)
The slop gray has some metallic in it. It is close to the same on my Convertible, those Cougars were built a day apart. I have to make a comparison to my 428 Cougar, but I’m thinking it is close.
Funny thing is my 71 the slop gray is more gray and much lighter. But it is from late in the 71 production.

When were each of the pictured cars built?
Thanks

First picture is my 70 XR-7 hardtop, it was built on Nov 12,1969, the second picture is my 71 XR-7 that was built on July 26th, 1971. My Convertible XR-7 was built on Nov. 13th 1969 and my 428 Cougar was built on Sept 5, 1969.

That’s funny my car was built on the same day as Neil’s 428 i.e. on Sept. 5 1969… at Dearborn.
But that is useless for colors as undercarriage has been repainted all black.