Under Body, Floor & Engine Bay Colors

[911AUS]

Thanks for the input so far. The car in question is a January 71.

I seem to recall that the body color could be seen under the rear parcel shelf insulation.....

Any further examples/input would be most appreciated!

[edmayo]

There is much detailed documentation, but as a general rule the body was painted overall without masking (not feasible in production) on SWB cars and thru 69, black was then painted over in engine bay, trunk , undersides, interior, cowl vent, door edges and hinges. In 70, 71 they stopped blacking out trunk, except for Karmann made cars which continued that practice. In 73 they stopped blacking out the engine bay and most of the underside, fenders were generally left in body color. It seems over the years they kept saving money by eliminating unnecessary steps is my guess. There are much more detailed threads, but this is a close summary.

[StephenAcworth]

That’s a great summary, Ed!

There is much detailed documentation, but as a general rule the body was painted overall without masking (not feasible in production) on SWB cars and thru 69, black was then painted over in engine bay, trunk , undersides, interior, cowl vent, door edges and hinges. In 70, 71 they stopped blacking out trunk, except for Karmann made cars which continued that practice. In 73 they stopped blacking out the engine bay and most of the underside, fenders were generally left in body color. It seems over the years they kept saving money by eliminating unnecessary steps is my guess. There are much more detailed threads, but this is a close summary.

[71gold]

Here are a few from my 12/70 dated 71
Feel free to PM me as I have plenty of photos.

[Simonjjb]

There is much detailed documentation, but as a general rule the body was painted overall without masking (not feasible in production) on SWB cars and thru 69, black was then painted over in engine bay, trunk , undersides, interior, cowl vent, door edges and hinges. In 70, 71 they stopped blacking out trunk, except for Karmann made cars which continued that practice. In 73 they stopped blacking out the engine bay and most of the underside, fenders were generally left in body color. It seems over the years they kept saving money by eliminating unnecessary steps is my guess. There are much more detailed threads, but this is a close summary.

Thanks Ed

My car is a 1971...
Just to clarify, are you saying underside was painted black on a 1971? Mine is greyish
Also, when you say hinges were black, which ones? Mine all seem normal body color
Finally, all my inside should be black? including rear shelf, rear seats etc?

[nickb4]

For those of you with a '71 check the link on post 7 of this thread for many detailed pics ofJohn's original paint '71E. Should answer all of your questions
http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...Original-Paint

71gold: nice pics of the original black (faded) over body color

[edmayo]

Thanks Ed

My car is a 1971...
Just to clarify, are you saying underside was painted black on a 1971? Mine is greyish
Also, when you say hinges were black, which ones? Mine all seem normal body color
Finally, all my inside should be black? including rear shelf, rear seats etc?

Yes, the undercoat was grayish and mostly only painted black where you could see it while looking at the car from the side. From 70 onwards hinges were left in body color, not painted black afterwards as they had been. On Karmann built cars front hinges were still black. Not sure about engine lid hinges on the Karmann cars.

[Simonjjb]

Yes, the undercoat was grayish and mostly only painted black where you could see it while looking at the car from the side. From 70 onwards hinges were left in body color, not painted black afterwards as they had been. On Karmann built cars front hinges were still black. Not sure about engine lid hinges on the Karmann cars.

So in summary for a 1971..

Front Truck - Body color - but no gloss
UnderBody - Grayish with some black at edges
Hinges - Body Color
Engine bay - Black
Inside door edges - Black
Outside battery boxes/front cowls - black
Cowl vent - Black

[71gold]

I would gently disagree on the inside door edges and outside battery boxes as black see photos .
The battery box has varying density of exterior color based on angle of the paint spray.
As you can see very light on top and more dense on sides .
Also see thenody color on the door edge and along the top of the longitudinal.
Would like to see some other photos posted as well

[71gold]

As Ed has stated they did not mask ...so they sprayed the rear shelf and continued down the side of the body paint the 1/4 window area and continued along the door jamb and longitudinal including the side of the dash.
Then painted the black over body color for the dash area