Under hood painting on a '74

[Cary Lewis]

In April there was a discussion on this board about painting the underside of the hood on a '74, from that I learned where to paint and what paint to use but failed to answer the following questions:
1. Are the female hood latches painted while on the car or off? If off what color would they and their bolts need to be?
2. Should the support be removed or taped and painted around?
3. The under side of the grill for the cowl induction, should it be painted only on the bottom of the fins or should it remain all body color?
Thanks in advance for any help that you may provide.
Cary Lewis

[Tom R.]

Re: Under hood painting on a '74

I can response to #2 without doubt that the hood support was not installed until after blackout and therefore paint should be underneath those hood and fender support surfaces. The support is removed. Factory workers used a broom stick to support the hood.

In the same respect hood latches were in place during paint operation followed by blackout. One would expect to see body paint color at the outside edges with blackout toward the inside. A mask sat in the hood gutter and also protected the fenders. Masks were never an exact fit so the spray pattern was not an precise line but rather a pattern of overspray until it reached the cowls where it became a sharp color/blackout transition line.

I would suggested find a document original car and study its blackout pattern...