Mufflers-Black?

[Mike M.]

I see something about the bottoms of the mufflers (these on a '65) being a black color. I guess they did this at the factory when the cars were new? I am putting new mufflers on my car. Should they be painted (mitted?) black? Thanks

[Michael M.]

Re: Mufflers-Black?

Mike, if its in the Judging Manual and your going to have your car judged the mufflers should be black.

[D S.]

Re: Mufflers-Black?

The entire mufflers or just the underside where it's visible?

[Scott S.]

Re: Mufflers-Black?

I see something about the bottoms of the mufflers (these on a '65) being a black color. I guess they did this at the factory when the cars were new? I am putting new mufflers on my car. Should they be painted (mitted?) black? Thanks

Mike,

I have read many times here in the archives that the "mitting" process described in the Judging Guides never happened.

[Russ S.]

Re: Mufflers-Black?

The entire mufflers or just the underside where it's visible?

Just the underside with a portion of the rear muffler end cap. They were done with the chassis up-side down and so could have runs that when up-right and installed on the car would run up and toward the rear of the muffler.

[Scott S.]

Re: Mufflers-Black?

Just the underside with a portion of the rear muffler end cap. Mitted

Russ,

Maybe I'm not understanding what the "mitting" process actually looks like. It was my understanding that a brushed-on (pic below) appearance or an appearance like someone put on oven-mitts and rubbed wet paint around was an error in the older judging guides (p. 152 in the 65JG, p. 141 in the 67JG). The more recently published 1966 JG appears to have corrected this, with no mention of "mitting" (p. 178).

Noland Adams' shows a 1966 coupe body drop on p. 318, with the bar used to draw in the rear exhaust mufflers toward the center, to allow the body to come down. They look completely blacked-out on the back, outboard side and bottom, can't tell about the top and inboard side, but the picture is too far away to see any detail from "mitting".

I haven't done mine yet, so I would like to understand this better (before doing it if possible, instead of after)

[Joe L.]

Re: Mufflers-Black?

Russ,

Maybe I'm not understanding what the "mitting" process actually looks like. It was my understanding that a brushed-on (pic below) appearance or an appearance like someone put on oven-mitts and rubbed wet paint around was an error in the older judging guides (p. 152 in the 65JG, p. 141 in the 67JG). The more recently published 1966 JG appears to have corrected this, with no mention of "mitting" (p. 178).

Noland Adams' shows a 1966 coupe body drop on p. 318, with the bar used to draw in the rear exhaust mufflers toward the center, to allow the body to come down. They look completely blacked-out on the back, outboard side and bottom, can't tell about the top and inboard side, but the picture is too far away to see any detail from "mitting".


I haven't done mine yet, so I would like to understand this better (before doing it if possible, instead of after)

Scott------


The only thing that mitts were used for at St. Louis was hand protection. They were not used for the application of any paint or other coating.

Also, I have NEVER seen a factory-installed muffler with a painting pattern like the one you pictured.

[Scott S.]

Re: Mufflers-Black?

Scott------


The only thing that mitts were used for at St. Louis was hand protection. They were not used for the application of any paint or other coating.

Also, I have NEVER seen a factory-installed muffler with a painting pattern like the one you pictured.

Joe,

It doesn't look very good, does it?

That picture is from a Top Flight '67 L79 w/C60 convertible that was in the car corral at Carlisle last year. I suspect they were trying to adhere to the comments made in the 1967 JG.

[Russ S.]

Re: Mufflers-Black?

Very frustating! I have for years heard and been told by master judges that they were mitted so I mitted my new mufflers just last night only to find out on here today that that process apparently was never done!! How can a belief like that fly for years and years and all of a sudden it is a no go? Just venting. Thanks to all for the correct info.

[John H.]

Re: Mufflers-Black?

Just the underside with a portion of the rear muffler end cap. They were done with the chassis up-side down and so could have runs that when up-right and installed on the car would run up and toward the rear of the muffler.

Russ -

Actually, the chassis blackout operation was done with the fully-assembled chassis right-side-up, in the last station on the Chassis Line, right before Body Drop, using airless spray guns fed from drums with Johnstone pumps.

There was never any "mitting" process - that fairy tale was invented many years ago by someone who had never been in an assembly plant, and "mitting" subsequently became an almost unassailable "fact" when it found its way into a JG; I've worked to erase it from everyone's memory for the last twelve years - it never happened.

[Scott S.]

Re: Mufflers-Black?

Very frustating! I have for years heard and been told by master judges that they were mitted so I mitted my new mufflers just last night only to find out on here today that that process apparently was never done!! How can a belief like that fly for years and years and all of a sudden it is a no go? Just venting. Thanks to all for the correct info.

I know exactly what you mean, Russ. I have found a number of items discussed here in the TDB archives that show where the Judging Guides are incorrect, but it seems that the process for correcting the JGs is not so easy.

It might be a good idea to start a Thread about known errors in the JG's, with a separate Thread for each model year.

[John H.]

Re: Mufflers-Black?

Mike,

I have read many times here in the archives that the "mitting" process described in the Judging Guides never happened.

Scott -

That's correct, and the reference to "mitting" will NOT appear in the new 5th Edition of the '67 JG when it's published.

[Jody B.]

Re: Mufflers-Black?

This look has been complimented during judging events.

JB

[Gene M.]

Re: Mufflers-Black?

Is not the intention to cover the bottom side of the muffler black so it is not a dominate viewing under the car looking from the rear?

If this is true the photo shown in previous posting does not accomplish goal.

[Paul D.]

Re: Mufflers-Black?

In the above photos it appears (to me) that the mufflers were blacked out on the TOP side, leaving the bottoms that are more easily seen natural. I thought the purpose of black out was to disguise the shiny mufflers and lighter colored fiberglass from view. On most of the C3 cars I saw new (76-82), the mufflers appeared to have been sprayed from the bottom. Was top side blackout common or typical on C2 cars? Chip.