63 undercarriage

[Mike S.]

Re: 63 undercarriage

Thanks, very much appreciated. Mike

[Michael F.]

Re: 63 undercarriage

rear spring: light grey

Hope this helps

63 rear spring was chassis black. Later yrs were grey.

[Michael G.]

Re: 63 undercarriage

Michael, the 63 JG says "original springs are 2 1/4" wide, painted flat light gray".

Black and white St Louis Chassis line pics seem to show the spring somewhat lighter than the rest of the uniformly black suspension. I got no deduct at the National on my 63 for light gray, so, while you may be right in your statement, I'd go with gray until the JG changes.

[Mike S.]

Re: 63 undercarriage

Thanks Mike, you've some nice rides

[Michael G.]

Re: 63 undercarriage

Thanks, Mike. What's the story on your 63?

[Joe R.]

Re: 63 undercarriage

63 rear spring was chassis black. Later yrs were grey.

Michael,

For sure the spring should have been painted black from above with the blackout which was a thin tar based protectant.

I have removed literally dozens of springs from mid year Corvettes and have yet to find any trace of light gray paint.

This light gray paint that some call Lonoclad?? or something like that could have been used later but for the life of me I have never seen it on a mid year Corvette.

Can someone with a little experience help me with this one. More experience that I have had in the last 50 years with these beasts! I would like to know the judging manual is correct for 63-64's or change it!

JR

[Timothy B.]

Re: 63 undercarriage

It's been discussed before about 63's, the correct way is to restore all the suspension conponents then mix some semi gloss black spray and paint everything on the chassis. Don't forget to bend over a bit and blindly spray the mufflers while looking at the clock on the wall and talking to your co-worker.

Most people don't want to do this but that looks like the factory procedure. I get a kick out of looking at cars with mitting on the mufflers etc. Look at pictures in another post showing the hood shield used for body blackout and how that was applied.

[Mike S.]

Re: 63 undercarriage

Am working on her now, was represented as a 340 hp was not, had an incorrect block, incorrect transmission. Based on the tach I am building her back as a 300 hp. Parts coming in from both coasts to make her right. Not much history with the car. Built July 23, 1963 and del to a dealer in Chicago. Mike

[Paul J.]

Re: 63 undercarriage

Michael,

For sure the spring should have been painted black from above with the blackout which was a thin tar based protectant.

I have removed literally dozens of springs from mid year Corvettes and have yet to find any trace of light gray paint.

This light gray paint that some call Lonoclad?? or something like that could have been used later but for the life of me I have never seen it on a mid year Corvette.

Can someone with a little experience help me with this one. More experience that I have had in the last 50 years with these beasts! I would like to know the judging manual is correct for 63-64's or change it!

JR

Joe...Ionoclad...no longer available.

https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthread.php?t=73420&highlight=Ionoclad

Paul

[Paul J.]

Re: 63 undercarriage

For sure the spring should have been painted black from above with the blackout which was a thin tar based protectant.
JR

Mike, Joe finally mentioned it. The members of this board use the terms "painted black", "chassis black", and "blackout" interchangeably. Watch out for this. They know what they mean, but it can be confusing if you don't. There are two different black coatings on the chassis in 63/64. One is black paint of differing types and the other is the asphalt based protectant that Joe mentions. There was a thread several years ago (I don't remember by who) that discussed the application of this material. In the thread are the words "black goo". I tried to find it for you but I can't. There are also some other threads in the archives that discuss this, but the "black goo" one is the most informative.

Paul

[Michael G.]

Re: 63 undercarriage

Mike, at this point, as you may have noticed from the suggestions you have already received , you are going to have to decide a between several choices:

1) am I going to restore my car to pass judging now, or, 2) do I want to make it like it really came out of the factory, then wait for the JG to accept that spin, or, 3) do I just want to make it last a long time, so I can drive it.

These are mutually exclusive goals, so if you would care to decide which of these is most important to you, we'll give you advice that matches that goal.

Good luck,

[Paul J.]

Re: 63 undercarriage

Mike, at this point, as you may have noticed from the suggestions you have already received , you are going to have to decide a between several choices:

1) am I going to restore my car to pass judging now, or, 2) do I want to make it like it really came out of the factory, then wait for the JG to accept that spin, or, 3) do I just want to make it last a long time, so I can drive it.

These are mutually exclusive goals, so if you would care to decide which of these is most important to you, we'll give you advice that matches that goal.

Good luck,

Mike,

Mike G. brings up a good point. If you're looking at the judging guidelines the black coating is supposed to be there, although most people just use paint. However, there are many Top Flight cars without this coating. They (like me) are satisfied with taking the deduction in order to have a car that looks better and is more presentable for future sale.

You have to make the decision. The past discussions, which are in the archives, were very helpful to me in making my decision.

Paul