When was a car actually Painted???

[Paul C.]

When during assembly of the car was it painted. Where would you normally see overspray on the car? Thanks

[Jack H.]

Re: When was a car actually Painted???

Car was painted during the body sub-assy process. When QA was acceptable, the body moved from the sub-assy line(s) (for mid-year cars there were two body shops; one in St. Louis and the other at AO Smith in Ionia, Michigan) to the final assy line to meet up with its rolling chassis.

You'll see overspray in various areas for BOTH exterior color and black out with the degree varying depending on where built/when built. Giving a 'precise' answer is tricky due to these variances and this is an aspect of restoration that's basically 'art' versus science. This requires restorers to execute due diligence in studying the descriptive text of the Judging Guide for their year car as well as go look at either original cars or restored cars that have been judged sucessfully which are, indeed, similar in time/origin to the target car...

[Alan S.]

Re: When was a car actually Painted???

Hi Paul,
I've been reading that a surprising number of cars received sprayed 'touch-up', after black-out. Apparently the new for 71, VAPOR REFLOW GUN, didn't heal all paint issues. Thus, we may see over-spray on places we wouldn't normally expect any. O.K. what's 'normal'?
Regards,
Alan

[John H.]

Re: When was a car actually Painted???

Basically, if you see any body color overspray on any part of the chassis on an original car, the car was paint-repaired. Almost ALL Corvettes went through Final Paint Repair at least once, and masking off the chassis adjacent to a repair wasn't a priority. The Vapor Reflow Gun was only useful in reducing localized orange-peel.

[Paul C.]

Re: When was a car actually Painted???

Would you see over spray on for example the head lamp actuators and hoses. I am trying to figure out if the car was repainted. How about the wiper motor linkage? Bumpers? What is normal?

[Chuck S.]

Re: When was a car actually Painted???

Would you see over spray on for example the head lamp actuators and hoses. I am trying to figure out if the car was repainted. How about the wiper motor linkage? Bumpers? What is normal?

I'm betting your car has been repainted...an earlier repaint in original acrylic lacquer is no big deal unless you wanted to Bowtie.

Check the front and rear plenum grilles; if it's been repainted, they may have painted the grilles in place, and the screw heads will be painted body color...the screw heads should be black. You may also see body color overspray down in the plenums below the grilles...the plenum walls should be blacked out.

Check the wiper door molding where the bead should have been left natural stainless...if the bead was masked, you may find a paint break line at the bottom of the bead (and chipping if they didn't prep well).

Also check the spare tire tub...if it's been repainted, the tub will probably have body color overspray...should be natural black fiberglass with no body color overspray. There may be some black overspray from the blackout process.

[Alan S.]

Re: When was a car actually Painted???

Hi Paul,
Since you're in Illinois I'd think it would be quite easy to contact some knowledgeable/interested members, local to you, to take a look at your paint with you and give you opinions about what they see. People are always excited about seeing a car that may have original paint.
Regards,
Alan

PS: When I see over-spray I try to remember that the factory was 'stingy' and quick with paint. So even the overspray was very 'hit and miss'. The overspray from a repaint with poor papering and taping seems to have over-spray that is much heavier and intense since so many cars were repainted with the 'more paint is better' intent.