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That Black Paint On The Unidbody Around The Radiator

By tashirosgt, July 17, 2006



I notice on my 89 and 90 Corolla that the frame of the car around the radiator is black. (For example the strip above the radiator at the front of the engine compartment.) I had always wondered if the factory painted the whole unibody black and then painted all parts of the car except the front another color? Or did the factory paint the unibody the final color of the car and go back and paint the part around the radiator black? Well, I've taken the engine out of a '90 Prizm and am trying to clean out and paint the engine compartment. When apply my final cleaning step of spraying brake cleaner, the black paint on the front of the car somewhat dissolves. It reveals that underneath the frame is tan, like the rest of the car. The black paint looks somewhat tarry after the brake cleaner hits it. I wonder if it supposed to be a special sealing coat? Could I buy such a coating if I wanted to re-coat this area?

It's tar. 15 years of driving on roads takes it toll. I have to clean tar off my mothers car every fall because it gets so bad..and will never come off without using solvent.

It would surpise me if it was tar from the road. (When I said "tar", I was thinking of the black spray-on waterproofing compounds that we use in southern NM to coat the reservoirs of evaporative air coolers. ) The front of the frame above the radiator isn't any more exposed to road debris that the other parts of the frame near it. On the bottom part of the frame around the radiator, you might get some road tar, but this is protected by the engine "under cover" and the bumper.

Bikeman982

I notice on my 89 and 90 Corolla that the frame of the car around the radiator is black. (For example the strip above the radiator at the front of the engine compartment.) I had always wondered if the factory painted the whole unibody black and then painted all parts of the car except the front another color? Or did the factory paint the unibody the final color of the car and go back and paint the part around the radiator black? Well, I've taken the engine out of a '90 Prizm and am trying to clean out and paint the engine compartment. When apply my final cleaning step of spraying brake cleaner, the black paint on the front of the car somewhat dissolves. It reveals that underneath the frame is tan, like the rest of the car. The black paint looks somewhat tarry after the brake cleaner hits it. I wonder if it supposed to be a special sealing coat? Could I buy such a coating if I wanted to re-coat this area?

When I had the engine/tranny out of my 1994 project car in my garage, I considered painting the engine compartment. It was all marked up and definitely dirty. I ended up just cleaning it off and put another engine in it. I still have to connect everything before it will run. I have seen immaculately clean engines and engine compartments and have wondered how people could possibly get it so detailed clean. I wonder if they use like model paints to fine coat it.

Is your 1990 Prizm a project car? Is it worth putting the time/effort and money into to fix up?

Are you planning on selling it, or keeping it for personal use when you are finished??

The Prizm will probably run again and I'll probably use it as an everyday car. (But I don't promise this!) I'm merely taking it apart and putting it back together in a leisurely fashion with no self imposed deadlines. I don't claim to know how to make a "show" car. The reason I clean things up and paint them is that when they are all grimey, I can't understand how things are put together. The good way to clean car parts is an interesting problem in itself. And after they are clean, it doesn't take much to spray paint them. If I ever get to the body, I'll leave the painting to a friend of mine who is an expert.

Bikeman982

The Prizm will probably run again and I'll probably use it as an everyday car. (But I don't promise this!) I'm merely taking it apart and putting it back together in a leisurely fashion with no self imposed deadlines. I don't claim to know how to make a "show" car. The reason I clean things up and paint them is that when they are all grimey, I can't understand how things are put together. The good way to clean car parts is an interesting problem in itself. And after they are clean, it doesn't take much to spray paint them. If I ever get to the body, I'll leave the painting to a friend of mine who is an expert.

I know exactly what you mean - I frequently clean as I dissassemble and assemble parts. It does take longer that way, but I don't usually go as far as repainting them. I would not take on painting an entire car myself - I leave that to more qualified people.

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