1965 Battery Access Panel

[John S.]

On a 1965 A.O. Smith L78 car, should the Battery Access Panel be painted semi-gloss black, just like the inner fender skirts and dust shields? Also, were the cadmium or zinc plated fasteners holding this panel installed after paint and are free of paint?

[Wayne W.]

Re: 1965 Battery Access Panel

You might want to check the archives on this one. You should find some good reading. You are probably going to get some differing opinions. My opinion is that the shield was painted, but done separately and undercoated separately. It had to be installed after body drop, because it gets in the way of the drop, so I think the bolts themselves are unpainted. Now the hardware is a different story. The rivited nuts are undercoated with the panel, that is, if it actually had undercoating, which was sometimes missing on AOS bodies, and it actually had rivets, which also seem to be missing on some bodies.

[John S.]

Re: 1965 Battery Access Panel

Wayne,

Thank you for your reply to my questions. I did a search of the archives and I'm now more confused than ever. Everyone agrees that the battery access panel is painted. There are definitely different opinions on whether the access panel bolts should be painted or not.

Thanks again.

John

[James W.]

Re: 1965 Battery Access Panel

John,

I have an unrestored 67k mile, 1965 built by A.O. Smith equipped with L79 and a/c. serial number 22,0xx. The first picture I've attached is a picture of the engine compartment showing the battery access panel. The bolts are cad plated and have never had any signes of being painted. This car has been in my family since 1975.

The second picture is of a unrestored 1965 with L78, 29,xxx miles, serial number 17,6xx. This is a St. Louis built car which also shows no signes of paint on the battery access panel fasteners.

The paint on the inside of the access panel matches the rest of the engine compartment paint.

Hope this helps.

James West
Omaha, NE.

[John S.]

Re: 1965 Battery Access Panel

James,

Thank you for your response and excellent supporting pictures.

John