Original 1965 AOS Built Hood Prop Mark

[Mark F.]

Re: Original 1965 AOS Built Hood Prop Mark

I have never met John Hinckley. I have searched my files and not found any reference to John and I am about 99% certain that he was never in the St. Louis or Ionia assembly plants. I spoke to hime one time by telephone and when I asked him a pointed question about a specific NCRS question he was evasive.

Engine compartment and under hood black paint was applied with a mechanical hood covering of adjacent color body surfaces as well as on top of the hood. I do not recall the masking material but doubt that it was cardboard as cardboard would become paint soaked quickly and transfer to the color surfaces as reused many times. I believe the masking was paper and tape.

The black out paint was applied just after final color bake and before moving to the Trim Line. I do not recall a "Black-Out Spray Booth". When the body exited the final paint bake oven, it was very hot and the route to the Trim Line was short. I believe the area where the black out paint was applied was over a down draft grated floor with no booth.

Hi Larry,

Hmmmm...interesting.

OK well, you're one of the few people alive who worked at both Plants almost all the way thru the C2 years !

I've read both of your books on C2s and I guess the question I still have is how did they (St. Louis Paint Shop) prop up the hood for underside blackout (apparently w/o using a broomstick) also w/o the ATWOOD hood support installed ? You'd think (at least I would based on OEM painting I've seen) those kinds of procedures would be fairly consistent between the two Plants in their respective Paint Shops.

Anyhow, mysteries abound and may remain unanswered forever Part of the fun w/ our hobby, eh ?.

PS - these are the links to John's presentations in the DoRD:

C2 Assembly Process	C2	C2 Assembly Process Part 1 - John Hinkley.pdf
C2 Assembly Process	C2	C2 Assembly Process Part 2
C2 Assembly Process	C2	C2 Assembly Process Part 3

[Patrick H.]

Re: Original 1965 AOS Built Hood Prop Mark

I have never met John Hinckley. I have searched my files and not found any reference to John and I am about 99% certain that he was never in the St. Louis or Ionia assembly plants. I spoke to hime one time by telephone and when I asked him a pointed question about a specific NCRS question he was evasive.

Knowing John for many years, I generally would not have ever thought of him as evasive. It's too bad you were not involved in our MI Chapter previously when John was very much involved.

Here is a link to more background on him:
https://www.corvettemuseum.org/john-hinckley/

[Ronald L.]

Re: Original 1965 AOS Built Hood Prop Mark

Very interesting

[Larry G.]

Re: Original 1965 AOS Built Hood Prop Mark

This appears to be an old discussion. However, I would like to add the following. Hood fits were always an issue on C2 Corvettes. Please understand, the bodies from Ionia were supplied by DowSmith, Inc.

All hoods came from the Molded Fiberglass Body Co. in Ashtabula, Ohio. Size was not an issue, all hoods fit for length and side to side. The fit problem came from a difference in the contour along the sides. We called crown. Correction came by spitting the bond joint between the Front Fender Panel Upper and the Front Fender Inner Panel in the middle of the hood opening and rebounding it to match the hood. Hood fit tolerance was .12 to .20 at the front and rear and .06 to .20 each side.`That makes the difference in hood length of up to .40 or 13/32 inches.

[Ronald L.]

Re: Original 1965 AOS Built Hood Prop Mark

Larry, so what you are saying is the hood was perfect, tolerance of zero and all the bodies got refit?

[James W.]

Re: Original 1965 AOS Built Hood Prop Mark

I've spent the last few evenings reviewing all of the unrestored, original, Bowtie, and Duntov '65 Corvettes that I photographed at either Bloomington Gold or NCRS Nat'l Conventions beginning in 2006 thought 2013 for use in the restoration of a '65 396 convertible. I did not find any photos documenting a 1965 St. Louis bodied car that shows the under hood prop mark during blackout. I've included one St. Louis built '65 396 that was a Duntov Award recipient built on May 14 (J14), VIN 1764x that was once owned by past NCRS President Roy Sinor. The owner at that time (2008) was very kind and allowed me to take pictures of anything I wanted.

James