I'm looking for information, and pics, on how to properly detail a '71 Flint built GS rear. Questions that come immediately to mind: -Pumpkin cover bolt finish -I've read here that brake lines on a low mileage '72 Freemont car appeared to be painted black indicating painting post assembly, how about on a '71 Flint car? -What about the backing plates? Black? Same gloss level as rear? -Axle tubes are also black, correct? -Other fastener finishes? If anyone has detail pics of what they consider correct, that would be worth, well, 1,000 words! I cruised George N's site quickly and didn't see anything specific. I looked at pics Mr Lore posted last December and got a few ideas. I also reviewed some of the threads Len Gallo started and picked up a few things. Any of you guys have any details to add? Any tips on how to properly restore this area? Thanks in advance.
Here is a pic of the detailed rear for a 70 GS455 I built w/rear disc brakes. Axle removed from a low mileage 71 Skylark granny car, 75k. I duplicated what I found from the original rear. All the brake lines I have seen were original zinc plated w/light surface rust. Axle tubes and backing plates are semi-gloss. I sprayed the pumpkin cast iron gray and cleared it. Cover is semi-gloss as well as screws for pumpkin cover.
Hi George- Thanks for the reply and the picture. I'm posting below a pic I borrowed from one of Jim Lore's posts. It looks like he went with all black and natural finish fasteners for the pumpkin cover. This is quite a bit different than what you have. Any thoughts?
All the rear axles I have removed from granny cars here, had cast iron center sections. Tubes, backing plates, etc are painted black. I guess you can go with natural metal screws. I used the originals and they were painted black to prevent rust because of our 90-100% humidity.
Hi Guys, When I was restoring the rear in my 70 X I had talked to Duane about what color rears came from the factory. I believe he told me that they came through as natural or plain cast. This does kinda make sense since rears were probably stored in a rack or on pallets and why paint them? I have also owned some original very low mileage cars with black overspray or undercoating on them but not totally painted. Bill
Thanks George and Bill! :TU: I absolutely could not tell from mine what it should be, so I appreciate your input.
Ken, did you happen to come across any of the original factory paint markings for your car?? I plan on redoing my 71 Stage 1 one day and would like to put them back on... BTW, just opnion, but the all black with natural fasteners looks great. Nice contrast. You can buy the IDENTICAL bolts with the serrated washer head and all in grade 8 which comes with a gold cad finish. Might not be totally correct but does look awesome. Thanks Tim
Guys, The rear axles I have seen range in painting from almost completely black to being bare metal with only the rearward facing side painted black. The Idea was to have the rearward facing side painted black so it looked good on the lot before the car was sold. Some of the assembly manuals even list painting the rear black AFTER the rear was assembled on the chassis. I also have seen evidence of this on original shocks, were the rearward facing side had black paint sprayed on the bottom, that was obviously done after installation. I have never seen bright bolts on the rear cover, and even if they were installed that way, they would have been painted over once the rear was installed on the chassis. Duane
Well, that makes it easy Duane. I can handle various shades of black, cast iron and rust with overspray. LOL
