'67 GS 400 pinstripe confusion

Discussion in 'Color is everything!' started by Chi-Town67, Jan 21, 2013.

  1. Chi-Town67

    Chi-Town67 Gold Level Contributor

    Does anyone know the proper dimensions and scheme for the pinstripes on the 67 GS's? I'm confused. If you look at the photos of two supposedly original cars you'll see 2 different schemes and stripe spacing. The infamous Black 9K 67 has the thicker stripe on the bottom and the space between the stripes is closer than on the Gold 67 that's on ebay right now. The Gold one also has the thicker stripe on the top, just the opposite of the Black car.:Do No: The stripes on the Gold car is how I remember them from back in the day. Which way is correct?
     

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  2. bill lagna

    bill lagna Well-Known Member

    There is an original 67 GS conv (68k miles) on ebay that shows the wind on top .
    As I remember, my 67 GS I bought new had the wide on top . I don't remember the width.
    I wish I had it today, ran 13.80's with slicks in 67 !
    Bil
     
  3. mrolds69

    mrolds69 "The Cure"

    Well, they were hand painted + varied. I have a pic of originals, I'll look for it.
     
  4. mrolds69

    mrolds69 "The Cure"

    Here's a pic...
     

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  5. mrolds69

    mrolds69 "The Cure"

    Here's another. I've never seen a 67 paint template, but I have seen a 66 and it's on here somewhere with the dimensions. I'll look for it.
     

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  6. Chi-Town67

    Chi-Town67 Gold Level Contributor

    Frank, thanks for the pics. I remember seeing those photos before. It's still a mystery to me why the Black 9K car has the stripes upside down compared to all the other photos i've seen. Also, the spacing is closer. Maybe it was due to the cars being made in different plants.:Do No:
     
  7. SportWagonGS

    SportWagonGS Moderator

    that black 9k car has been repainted, no way factory paint can be made to look that good, I've been painting a long time and cut my teeth on lacquer paint and to get a finish like that on a black car you would have 8-10 coats rubbed out between them. Also whats up with the rocker trim on it, never seen that on a 67....just smells fishy to me
     
  8. Chi-Town67

    Chi-Town67 Gold Level Contributor

    You really think a car with that kind of mileage that's been babied it's whole life has been repainted? I doubt it. But back to original topic. Anyone else know the answer?
     
  9. mrolds69

    mrolds69 "The Cure"

    Hey Nick, oh yeah...it could have been painted, some people lie, and it's changed hands several times now. I looked at a 72 HO with 9K which is 5 years newer, babied, and the paint was all cracked. I pulled up a pinstripe chart for you that same day and posted it. It's a 66 pinstripe chart, but I think they are the same. Has all the dimensions on it. Look for it.
     
  10. SportWagonGS

    SportWagonGS Moderator

    Yes, yes I do, the quality of the factory lacquer paint back then would have a hard time surviving 45 years without crazing and checking even in climate control and was also never to the quality on that car.
    To the subject at hand and to add further confusion, the stripes on my 67 were both the same width and they were still under the repaint the DPO gave the car, just painted right over them!
     
  11. BUQUICK

    BUQUICK I'm your huckleberry.

    Kurt, The paint on the 9k mile black '67 GS400 is original lacquer. The photos you see posted above that were taken from the Internet ad for the car make the paint look much smoother than it is in person. I personally inspected that car very closely when the owner brought it to the GS Nats. He let me crawl all over, under, an inside the car to snap a couple hundred close-up detail photos of the car. I could see no indications of a repaint. In person the car has the normal orange peel you would expect from a '67 model GM car. I'm attaching a photo that shows the orange peel. The rocker trim was added by a previous owner. It is indeed a true 9k mile car.

    Nick,
    I've always thought that the '67 stripes were the same as the '66 stripes, which are shown in this old thread http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.p...pe-confusion&p=2142141&highlight=#post2142141 . This shows wide stripe on top. I've got some more photos of original paint '67 GS400s and I'll see if I can dig up a few and post them soon. Since the stripes on the black car are also original, a case can be made that either is correct, but having the wide stripe on the top is likely how most of the originals were built and will likely cause the fewest questions from the '67 GS "experts" that you'll encounter.
     

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  12. SportWagonGS

    SportWagonGS Moderator

    Gary,
    Now that is a pic that tells a real story! I have no problem accepting that as original paint, I also like that it appears that the stripes were applied with a "beugler" pinstriping tool which makes sense for production line work
     
  13. Chi-Town67

    Chi-Town67 Gold Level Contributor

    Wow! That close-up shot sure does make them stripes look pretty ugly.Seems like the the tool was just skipping along.
    Thanks for posting that pic Gary.
     
  14. mrolds69

    mrolds69 "The Cure"

    Yup, good pic...thanks! Even in those original pics I posted, some look like the stripes were the same width. That's weird, 'cuz if they used a tool, you need to change the wheel(s) for the stripe width.
     
  15. Chi-Town67

    Chi-Town67 Gold Level Contributor

    And it still doesn't explain why the Black cars strips are upside down compared to all the rest we've seen.:Do No:
     
  16. BUQUICK

    BUQUICK I'm your huckleberry.

    Yeah, it is a 10 footer. Up close it is a typical GM lacquer paint. I'm fairly certain that a Beugler pinstripe tool, or something very similar, was used.


    My dad bought a Beugler pinstriping tool to do the pinstripes on a few of the cars he has restored. It's not as easy to do as it would seem. It's basically a roller wheel and as you see it can be ugly if not done properly. The most tricky pinstripes he had to do were the three circular pinstripes on the wheels of a '41 Buick. He made a mount to hold the pinstripe tool and then spun the wheel while mounted on a spindle in a vise.


    Not exactly sure what they used on the Buicks, but the Beugler pinstripe tool has replacable wheels to determine the width, or number of stripes it does. So if you install a double wheel it does them both at the same time. A '67 GTO has a double pinstripe very similar to a '67 GS (one stripe slightly wider than the other) and when my dad restored my mother's car he was able to just install the double wheel and do them on one roll.

    I've got a photo of the stripe being applied to the side of a '65 GTO at the assembly plant. I'll scan the photo tonight and post it because it would have likely been the same process used to do the Buick stripes.

    Also, here is a scan of another '67 GS400 road test. It isn't very visible in this scan but in the original it's obvious that the top stripe is thicker than the bottom stripe.
     

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  17. BUQUICK

    BUQUICK I'm your huckleberry.

    If the wheel of the pinstripe tool can be installed either way (like in the Beugler tool), it would be pretty easy to do it the opposite of the intended way. After doing one side of the car, it would just be easier to do the other side to match rather than trying to remove the paint from the first side. It isn't a critical item so they probably just sent the car on its way. I'd bet that it happened many times.
     
  18. GS44667

    GS44667 Worlds First Stage1 Conv

    These are original 66's.

    DSC01564.jpg
     
  19. mrolds69

    mrolds69 "The Cure"

    Oh...now I see...2 wheels, I know this 1 wide 1 narrow. The striper goes out for ac liquid lunch, flips the tool over (it's round) presto upside down stripes. It's weird that some cars have 2 even stripes when the chart clearly shows 1 wider stripe.
     
  20. BUQUICK

    BUQUICK I'm your huckleberry.

    Nick,
    I hope you don't mind if get just a little off track here but I thought you all might find this interesting. This is a photo of a '65 GTO getting its single pinstripe applied at the factory. This photo is published in the book "THE AMERICAN AUTO FACTORY" by Byron Olsen and Joseph Cabadas (2002), which is a really nice book full of really cool old photos inside car factories.

    The caption printed with this photo states: "A painter uses a handheld applicator steadied by an elaborate guide fixture held against the fender by air pressure, to stripe a 1965 Pontiac GTO. National Automotive History Collection" I would suspect that a very similar process would have been used on our '67s.
     

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