'67 AC Car Battery Access Panel Question

[Kirk M.]

I've asked a variation of this before but can't find the thread in the archives. I just re-installed the riveted "T" nuts to my battery access panel and got the correct bolts to mount. Simple question here - should the "T" nuts and heads on the bolts be painted black or left unpainted? If so, is it flat black or semi-gloss black? Thanks. Jerry?

[Craig O.]

Re: '67 AC Car Battery Access Panel Question

I believe painted block out black

[Joe R.]

Re: '67 AC Car Battery Access Panel Question

Hi Kirk:

I have researched this question and no one seems to be sure. The question is whether the battery panel was in place when the wheel well blackout and undercoat were applied.

I have both blackout paint and undercoat on my access panel and have never gotten a dedution for it after having the car judged four times. On the other hand, I think that in a previous discussion in the archives, someone posted a fairly convincing photo of a supposedly original access panel that had no blackout paint or undercoat on it.

I think this is an area where there is no consensus, and most judges will avoid making a deduction for something they are not sure about.

[James W.]

Re: '67 AC Car Battery Access Panel Question

I have an original '65 equipped with a/c and an other '65 with a 396, both cars have their battery access cover undercoated, including the "T" nuts. The bolts on the inner fender side on the a/c equipped car are natural in color.

I'm kind of hoping John Hinckley or Michael Hanson will chime in with some info on both the '65 and the '67 cars.


Regards,

James West

[John H.]

Re: '67 AC Car Battery Access Panel Question

James -

I never really paid any attention to that particular detail while I was at St. Louis - observation of known-original unmolested cars will provide the best "clues" to how that panel was processed. Wayne Womble may have something to add here.

[Jake D.]

Re: '67 AC Car Battery Access Panel Question

My 67 Air Roadster did have undercoating on that panel.
Hey Mike remember that car?

[Michael H.]

Re: '67 AC Car Battery Access Panel Question

My 67 Air Roadster did have undercoating on that panel.
Hey Mike remember that car?

Yup, sure do Jake. Sweet car. Another one I never should have sold.

I thought someone figured out that these panels were painted/undercoated one way at the A O Smith plant and a different way at the St Louis plant?
Was it that Smith coated the panel before it was installed and St Louis applied the coating after it was installed??

[Jake D.]

Re: '67 AC Car Battery Access Panel Question

My serial # 12662 was a St Louis car, built Mar 4. It was definately undercoated after the panel was installed.

[Michael H.]

Re: '67 AC Car Battery Access Panel Question

My serial # 12662 was a St Louis car, built Mar 4. It was definately undercoated after the panel was installed.

Were all, or some of, the attaching bolts in place when the engine compartment was painted black? (bare glass under the bolt)

I think Wayne Midkiff posted pic's of an original 65 that had no paint under the bolt heads (panel in place during undercoat/blackout) but someone else had pic's of one that did have paint under the bolt heads.

There was quite a discussion on this here a few months ago.

[Jake D.]

Re: '67 AC Car Battery Access Panel Question

As I remember, there was NO paint under the bolts. It appears that there was no pattern to the application of the undercoating. Some bolts were covered and some were not. The undercoating was applied in a random pattern. The outer edge towards the fender was completely void of undercoating. The edge toward the inner side was heavily coated, as if the wand spraying the undercoating was just stuck in there and given a quick squirt.

[Michael H.]

Re: '67 AC Car Battery Access Panel Question

As I remember, there was NO paint under the bolts. .

That's the way I remember these too Jake. At least on St Louis bodies. I don't know about Smith bodies though.

[Wayne M.]

Re: '67 AC Car Battery Access Panel Question

I think Wayne Midkiff posted pic's of an original 65 that had no paint under the bolt heads (panel in place during undercoat/blackout) but someone else had pic's of one that did have paint under the bolt heads.

That was on my late 396. Sounds like I'm going to have to pull panel on my early '65 C60, (also) St. Louis body, and report. Back then it was winter, and cold in the garage.

[Kirk M.]

Re: '67 AC Car Battery Access Panel Question

Well, I blacked out both the T-nuts in the wheel well and the bolt heads in the engine compartment assuming the panel would have been in place when the engine black out and wheel well undercoating occurred. Hope I was right, then again I can always remove the paint! Just as an aside question, was the wheel well undercoating that rubberized heavy stuff or something else? Don't ya just love all these nuances, heck this wouldn't be any fun if there weren't some unanswered questions still lying around!

One thing I learned this weekend. When "pinging" rivets do it in several small blows rather than one or two big ones. The big hits just seem to roll the whole rivet stem over on its side rather than flattening it out. Live and learn!

[Wayne W.]

Re: '67 AC Car Battery Access Panel Question

I've asked a variation of this before but can't find the thread in the archives. I just re-installed the riveted "T" nuts to my battery access panel and got the correct bolts to mount. Simple question here - should the "T" nuts and heads on the bolts be painted black or left unpainted? If so, is it flat black or semi-gloss black? Thanks. Jerry?

This one?

https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...49674&uid=3804

or https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...27518&uid=6720

[Wayne M.]

Re: '67 AC Car Battery Access Panel Question

Well, I blacked out both the T-nuts in the wheel well and the bolt heads in the engine compartment assuming the panel would have been in place when the engine black out and wheel well undercoating occurred.

Kirk, others -- well I took the battery panel off my early '65. Here's 3 pics of the inner fender, taken from the engine side, to show the state of the fiberglass under the bolt heads.

The first thumbnail is of the top outside bolt (you can see the A/C washer bag bracket). The second is down to the middle of the panel, outboard, near the vent gills (you can see the tire tread). The third is of the extreme bottom of the inboard panel hole. Position as taken from the steering box, pointing outboard.

I picked these 3 locations, as they'd be less subject to a "freshening" by spray bomb (that is, owners prior to 1980).

So, this is a sort of Rorschach test -- make of it what you may. IMO, the bolts were in place (hence the panel) when the interior engine compartment black-out was applied. OR .... as the bolts were tightened and loosened over the years, the paint was worn off; [take your pick].