Finish on spindle support

[Chris E.]

I lost a point at Regionals for not having black spindle supports.

Here is a picture of the part.



Here is a picture of my chassis.



The comment on the judging sheet said that the spindle support should be black, except for the machined areas.

I'm assuming that the machined areas that are being referred to are the parts where the strut rod bolts up to. Are there any other areas that should be left unpainted?

Said another way, the part that drops down to the strut rod connection point should be black, right?

[Ronald L.]

Re: Finish on spindle support

Were the u-joint seals originally blue?

[Chris E.]

Re: Finish on spindle support

Nope. They weren't, but they are now.

[Joe L.]

Re: Finish on spindle support

I lost a point at Regionals for not having black spindle supports.

Here is a picture of the part.



Here is a picture of my chassis.



The comment on the judging sheet said that the spindle support should be black, except for the machined areas.

I'm assuming that the machined areas that are being referred to are the parts where the strut rod bolts up to. Are there any other areas that should be left unpainted?

Said another way, the part that drops down to the strut rod connection point should be black, right?

Chris------


I'm not sure about 1967. Earlier C2's, at least, had painted spindle supports. C3 spindle supports were unpainted (1968-74 were exactly the same support and trailing arm assembly as 65-67).

One of our members active on this board might be able to help here. I think Jerry Fucillo has a pair of original 1967 trailing arm assemblies from his car stored away. Is there any evidence of paint on the spindle supports, Jerry?

[Andy C.]

Re: Finish on spindle support

Hello; I believe that the rear spindle housings on 63 and 64 corvettes were black as the traling arms were painted as an assembly. When they went to disc brakes, I believe that the spindle housings were raw metal along with the struts, rear end, half shafts,etc. Restoring the chassis parts on C2 is not easy. Good luck, Andy

[Gary B.]

Finish on spindle support; black on '66&'67 according to TIM&JG

Scott,

The TIM&JG for both '66 and '67 states that the spindle supports should be painted black (S-G, I think), except for surfaces machined post-painting, e.g., the fore and aft bolting surfaces where the strut rod attaches.

Jerry Fuccillo judged chassis on three '67s last Saturday at a chapter meet and 2 of the 3 cars lost points for unpainted or wrong (e.g., cast-blast) color of the spindle supports.

Gary

[Gerard F.]

Re: Finish on spindle support

Chris------


I'm not sure about 1967. Earlier C2's, at least, had painted spindle supports. C3 spindle supports were unpainted (1968-74 were exactly the same support and trailing arm assembly as 65-67).

One of our members active on this board might be able to help here. I think Jerry Fucillo has a pair of original 1967 trailing arm assemblies from his car stored away. Is there any evidence of paint on the spindle supports, Jerry?

Joe, Chris,

Here's a picture of the spindle support from my 67 which had a failed wheel bearing on the left side:



It is really all rust but you can see some remnants of black paint.

Especially here:



Note the number on the spindle support and casting date, 3820843N and E 10 7, which I assume is May 10, 1967. This would be right for my late June 67. You can also see the correct number on the dust shield, 3864067-L.

Although the right rear is in a box in the garage, the spindle is still in place attached to the trailing arm, so I can't read the numbers.

Question, Joe, the left spindle support looks symmetrical, would that mean that they used the same part number on the right, or is there a left and right.

Darn, it looks like I'm going to have to get under the car and paint my new trailing arm assembly spindle supports which came unpainted. Especially after Gary and I gigged others for having them unpainted, I couldn't live with myself after following the Judging Guide.

[John H.]

Re: Finish on spindle support

the left spindle support looks symmetrical, would that mean that they used the same part number on the right, or is there a left and right.

Jerry -

The spindle supports are specific left and right-hand parts.

[Gary B.]

Spindle supports; same casting # for L&R; different part #s

Jerry,

The L&R side spindle supports have the same casting number, 3820643, but the part numbers are different; 3820643 for the left side, 3820644 for the right side.

Gary

[Joe L.]

Re: Finish on spindle support

Joe, Chris,

Here's a picture of the spindle support from my 67 which had a failed wheel bearing on the left side:



It is really all rust but you can see some remnants of black paint.

Especially here:



Note the number on the spindle support and casting date, 3820843N and E 10 7, which I assume is May 10, 1967. This would be right for my late June 67. You can also see the correct number on the dust shield, 3864067-L.

Although the right rear is in a box in the garage, the spindle is still in place attached to the trailing arm, so I can't read the numbers.

Question, Joe, the left spindle support looks symmetrical, would that mean that they used the same part number on the right, or is there a left and right.

Darn, it looks like I'm going to have to get under the car and paint my new trailing arm assembly spindle supports which came unpainted. Especially after Gary and I gigged others for having them unpainted, I couldn't live with myself after following the Judging Guide.

Jerry------


The spindle supports were both of the same casting. The difference was in the finish machining. The only difference was the orientation of the "D" shaped hole on one side of the fork.

I don't think that this spindle support was ever painted. For one thing, the machined area surrounding the hole would not have been painted but, even if it had been painted, it would have been painted over it's entire surface, including the area under the shaft which clearly shows as bare metal in the photo. So, what might look like paint is actually just very dark-colored rust.

The rust on the rest of the support looks to me just like the way I would expect the formation of rust on an originally bare cast iron casting. Usually, if a casting was ever painted, even though it might rust through the paint, there will be some areas where the paint will clearly show.

[Dick W.]

Re: Finish on spindle support

I have to believe that what some are calling black paint is actually the results of being machined/heat treated and have been attached to another surface that protected it from corrosion. Like Joe, no machined surfaces that were to be attached to another componet, were ever painted.

[Joe R.]

Re: Finish on spindle support

I have to believe that what some are calling black paint is actually the results of being machined/heat treated and have been attached to another surface that protected it from corrosion. Like Joe, no machined surfaces that were to be attached to another componet, were ever painted.

Dick,

Just to clarify, are you saying that the mating surfaces of two machined parts would not be painted but the rest of the two parts could be painted?

Joe

[Dick W.]

Re: Finish on spindle support

In this particular case there was not any paint, on at least any of the many midyear and '68-'72 cars we restored. But to answer your question, yes components could be painted but all the mating surfaces were natural. Paint would not be a very good clamping surface and would have a tendancy to allow the parts to loosen up.

I believe the correct finish on the supports would be similar to the strut rods, a "blue/grey" finish, as cast.

[Gary B.]

Finish on spindle support; '66 TIM&JG has new language

I just checked the newest edition of the '66 TIM&JG and where previous editions said the spindle supports were painted semi-gloss black, the new edition now says the spindle support "has a black finish", but there is no longer any mention of being painted. So, my guess is that Dick has hit the nail on the head, that the black is really the as-forged appearance and there was no paint. The TIM&JG for '67 may still have the old semi-gloss black paint language. At least the version of the '67 JG I used during judging last Saturday did.

Gary

[Joe L.]

Re: Finish on spindle support; '66 TIM&JG has new language

I just checked the newest edition of the '66 TIM&JG and where previous editions said the spindle supports were painted semi-gloss black, the new edition now says the spindle support "has a black finish", but there is no longer any mention of being painted. So, my guess is that Dick has hit the nail on the head, that the black is really the as-forged appearance and there was no paint. The TIM&JG for '67 may still have the old semi-gloss black paint language. At least the version of the '67 JG I used during judging last Saturday did.

Gary

Gary, et al------


The spindle supports are not a forged piece. They are a nodular cast iron piece. They have an "as-cast" appearance and rust relatively quickly. I have quite a few NOS supports, some that date back to the early 70's or before. NONE are painted or appear anything other than natural cast iron.