A Few C-3 Judging Question

[Edward J.]

My 72 Car Is Coupe Base Motor, The Judging Manuel Says That Oil Fill Cap ( The Rubber Push In Type) Should Be Painted, My Appears To Be The Orignal To Car. With Part No. On Under Side, It Shows No Paint, I Looked At Patrick H. Pic.s His Has No Paint, But Was I Was A Oj At Marlbrough Meet And Saw An Orignal 3k Base Eng. Car With Painted Caps, By The Way This Car Had Two Left Side Valve Covers On It From Factory So It Had Two Oil Caps Both Painted, It Was Deemed Original As The Pass Side Cover Has A Suffix Code Label Attached To Pass Side.(it Did Show Its Age)
My Next Question Is On Door Handle Recess, When Did The Satin Silver Painted Recess Start With C-3?

[Kurt G.]

Re: A Few C-3 Judging Question

Had an original '72 base motor in '72 and now have an untouched Gold Certified car, and the oil cap is as black today as it was when it left St. Louis.

[Reba W.]

Re: A Few C-3 Judging Question

From Mechanical Section of the JG

Some 1971 and 1972 454 engines have been seen with unpainted rubber oil caps, while others are painted.

[Alan S.]

Re: A Few C-3 Judging Question

Hi Ed,
I'm curious about your last question. What handle and recess are you asking about?
Thanks Very Much.
Regards,
Alan

[Harmon C.]

Re: A Few C-3 Judging Question

I would like to see pictures of original rubber OIL caps. I'm interested in the font of the letters not the paint.

[Chuck S.]

Re: A Few C-3 Judging Question

Hi Ed,
I'm curious about your last question. What handle and recess are you asking about?...

He's talking about the area under the door handle flapper lever; i.e. that part of the door handle you see when the handle is depressed.

I've noticed that on some handles the area appears painted silver, and others appear to be simply chrome plated (maybe the early versions?). The process for plating the recess would be tricky...mostly those appear lightly plated or worn through.

Rumination: For what it's worth, I owned a 72 Impala with 400 ci small block; the rubber oil fill cap, much to my annoyance, was painted engine orange. Since that engine came from the same plant as the Corvette engines, we probably can conclude that they used the rubber oil plug to fill the hole during paint, and the engines left Flint with a painted oil fill plug...either that, or you once had orange overspray on your rocker arms (a small joke; unlikely they would allow the contamination).

As to whether the engines left the St Louis assembly plant with painted oil plugs is another matter. Remember the engines had to be filled with oil, and the plugs, as I remember, were notoriously hard to remove and reinstall. If in hurried removal, the stubborn painted plug ended up on the plant floor, I doubt they would have reused it. They likely had a nearby bin of replacement plugs (unpainted) just for that purpose. This same scenario could have played out at the engine plant if the engines were hot tested. But, this is all speculation on history in order fill in the blanks.

On the other hand...If the owner of a new Corvette didn't like the tacky look of paint flaking off the rubber oil fill cap, they might have gone down to their Chevy dealer and bought a new black one. Bottom line: If you can trace the oil fill cap as being originally unpainted back to the original owner, then bow up and refuse to change it...it'll probably cost you a point or two. Otherwise, paint it orange with the engine to make it how it was supposed to be...and keep a judging point or two.

[Edward J.]

Re: A Few C-3 Judging Question

Alan, I Was Talking About The Outside Handle As Chuck Said, I Was A Oj At Marlbourgh Reg. Meet, And It Seemed That There Was A Question Of When The Inner Recess Of The Outside Handle Was Painted The Satin Silver.

[Terry M.]

Re: A Few C-3 Judging Question

I thought the paint was a sign of a leter service replacement or reproduction, but I don't usually judge exterior and I didn't sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night.

[Chuck S.]

Re: A Few C-3 Judging Question

I thought the paint was a sign of a leter service replacement or reproduction, but I don't usually judge exterior and I didn't sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night.

I have considered that might be the case as well, Terry. Unfortunately, I've not spent a lot of time analyzing the door handles because I've had bigger restoration concerns. Ultimately, it will a problem to be worked...I doubt they plate very well, and reproductions, like all reproductions, blow.

[Kenneth T.]

Re: A Few C-3 Judging Question

I would like to see pictures of original rubber OIL caps. I'm interested in the font of the letters not the paint.

Lyle,

Here are two pictures. The cap on the left is an original. You can clearly see the font and outer ring are rounded on the original. The repop is slightly larger in diameter and depth. There is some orange paint on the bottom of the plug, maybe just friction rub off.


Ken

[Terry M.]

Re: A Few C-3 Judging Question

I would think some acetone (before door handle installation) and a little elbow grease would remove the paint, but I have no experinece in this area.

[Edward J.]

Re: A Few C-3 Judging Question

Terry, my 72 coupe had the paint inside, but I removed paint already what years, what years are correct for the paint inside dooor handles? at some time they started production with painted handles, my handles where GM replacedments when I painted car

[Harmon C.]

Re: A Few C-3 Judging Question

Lyle,

Here are two pictures. The cap on the left is an original. You can clearly see the font and outer ring are rounded on the original. The repop is slightly larger in diameter and depth. There is some orange paint on the bottom of the plug, maybe just friction rub off.


Ken

Thank You.
The wording in the manual that says block letters then later says thicker had me wishing their was a picture.

[Jean C.]

Re: A Few C-3 Judging Question

Edward,
I finally have to ask the question. Why do the majority of your posts have every word begin with a capital letter? Is this something that your computer does or is it user induced? Sure makes your postings difficult to read. Just wondering.
Thanks,