Firewall Forward Finishes and Markings- Part Deux

I think the quick follow-up would be to say if you painted everything the exact same sheen- would be wrong. There's some general guidelines, but Dave makes a good point. What came into the factory on a particular day probably varied quite a bit. These were asssembly line cars, not show pieces.

 

Good input guys. Gonna go with semi-gloss on the frame; stick with satin for the core support, wheel houses, firewall.

One interesting fact about my car - firewall was painted body color as it is a special paint order car. That paint was so oxidized though after so many hot years that I hit it with satin black just because it looks so much better.

 

Strange brad, I have never heard of a car with body color firewall?

 

Yeah - pretty wild. Nor had I. And it is obviously original - grease pencil above the tunnel "spec."

 

I was reading about the "as cast" parts like tie rods spindles etc and was wondering about some of the frame off restos that we have seen lately.
I picked up a can of the Duplicolor DE-1651 Cast Coat Iron and the color seems to resemble a "as cast" dark grey color but some of the frame offs that I've been seeing the steering parts look almost silver.

 

There was a recent article in one of the rags about SlipPlate that's a graphite based products that made exhaust manifolds (after bead blast) look just like cast iron and supposedly had good durability.. I imagine it would work on other-as cast parts as well.

 

Steering parts should not be too silver. I was going to use the Slip plate stuff Ken mentioned as well. It would be great for master cylinder and steering box where brake fluid or grease ruins any paint quick. I used some primer on my master cylinder and residual brake fluid ruined it already.

 

This should be a sticky. :Brow:

 

Though I would drag this nice post back out of mothballs. Anyone knwo the correct color for the coild bracket 70-72? I have heard Zinc but I have a grease covered one that looks maybe liek silver cad? Anyone know for sure or have a good untouched one they could check?

 

As I recall it is the same mag phosphate, not zinc, coating as the hood hinges. I think JW has them done in the same batch.

 

Jim, I think the hood hinges are officially Gray Phosphate And zinc is more like the shiney hardware store buckets. My old bracket is more shiney than the hinges.

 

Sorry it is mag phosphate as I edited above.

 

Here are some old posts.

http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=130579&highlight=mag+phosphate

http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=58159&highlight=mag+phosphate

 

Thanks Jim. The research never ends.

 

Paint daubs and crayon marks were visual queues to show inspectors and line workers that certain operations and torque specs were done. The line moved at 65 cars per hour, so the process of visualization was used to save time and minimize rework.

At the Framingham plant in the 1972 time frame, these marks were used, along with a "body traveler" sheet that was used by inspectors to approve specific operations. Each inspector had a punch that used a unique mark.

Crayons were all colors: white, green, blue.

As sar as the paint hues on chassis and suspension, they came in with the minimum of black on them. the chassis fasteners were black oxide with just enough oil to prevent rust until it left the plant.....:Brow:

The amount of TLC given to these cars was as low as possible...."Quantity, not quality" was the motto.

 

Well said.

One other bit of trivia: just to give you some perspective about "65 per hour" - if you were standing on the flattrack when it started up it is fast enough to throw you off balance...

Naturally, that equates to (more than) one completed vehicle every minute.

FWIW -

K

 

If any of you are interested in urban legends and old wive's tales surrounding GM Assembly plants back in the day...

(...and have some time to kill...)

...we had quite a good thread going over on another site.

This was talking about Pontiac plants specifically but many of the situations would still apply.

K

http://forums.performanceyears.com/forums/showthread.php?t=556607

 

Paul, you worked at Framingfish right?

 

What is the correct color for a 1970 radiator??

Thanks,
Tom

 

I have a question about the wiper/washer motor finish. What is the factory finish on the canister that holds the motor? I suspect CAD silver plated, but am looking for confirmation. Also, is the little sticker on this cannister a date code or a part number or?

Thanks!