C2 Splash Shield Floor Pan Attachment Bracket Finish

[James W.]

I've searchedthe TDB archives and cannot find the answer to my question which is;

What color or finish should the splash shield attachment brackets be that are rivetedto the floor pan? This is for a St. Louis built 1965 Corvette body. Same goesfor the metal clip riveted to the passenger's side transmission tunnel thatsupports the speedo cable.

Thanks in advance.

James West

[Jim D.]

Re: C2 Splash Shield Floor Pan Attachment Bracket Finish

They were dipped in black primer. A.O. Smith cars were the same.

[John H.]

Re: C2 Splash Shield Floor Pan Attachment Bracket Finish

I've searchedthe TDB archives and cannot find the answer to my question which is;

What color or finish should the splash shield attachment brackets be that are rivetedto the floor pan? This is for a St. Louis built 1965 Corvette body. Same goesfor the metal clip riveted to the passenger's side transmission tunnel thatsupports the speedo cable.

Thanks in advance.

James West

James -

The splash shield brackets would have been flow-coat-primed black before being riveted to the underbody. The RH tunnel speedo cable clip was the same from '65-'67; it was black vinyl or plastic-coated.

[Alan D.]

Re: C2 Splash Shield Floor Pan Attachment Bracket Finish

Jim, a while back (unable to say when) believe we discussed the differences between the rt & lft brackets
There are differences, the lft has nuts welded on and angle is different, the step down seems to be different also.
Exactly what was determined to be different you will need to search for (I do not know)

[James W.]

Re: C2 Splash Shield Floor Pan Attachment Bracket Finish

Thanks everyone who replied. I have the correct original brackets for both sides that will e reinstalled on the car. I just needed to know the correct finish for a St. Louis built car body. I would assume since the AOS built car's underbody reinforcing plates were coated with the green primer the splash pan attachments would be the same green color... correct???

Thanks,

James West

[Scott S.]

Re: C2 Splash Shield Floor Pan Attachment Bracket Finish

The RH tunnel speedo cable clip was the same from '65-'67; it was black vinyl or plastic-coated.

John,

Were both of the primary firewall/trans tunnel clips (GM 3799990 and GM 3788712) supposed to be coated with black vinyl? I have seen the blueprint for GM 3799990 where it says to be dipped in black vinyl or optionally black neoprene, and all of my GM 3799990 clips match that description. But the GM 3788712 clips (UPC 12-A8, 12-A10, 12-C3 and M20-A4) on my Jan. '67 car are different. Each of these clips appears to be a bare metal clip. Some look like they might have been painted black, but I don't see any remnants of black vinyl on any of the GM 3788712 clips. All of mine look like the photo below from your CE article on the back-up light switch.

Should the GM 3788712 clips used in the transmission tunnel and the other locations on the firewall be dipped in black vinyl too?

Is there a way to apply a vinyl coating without removing the clips?

[John H.]

Re: C2 Splash Shield Floor Pan Attachment Bracket Finish

John,

Were both of the primary firewall/trans tunnel clips (GM 3799990 and GM 3788712) supposed to be coated with black vinyl? I have seen the blueprint for GM 3799990 where it says to be dipped in black vinyl or optionally black neoprene, and all of my GM 3799990 clips match that description. But the GM 3788712 clips (UPC 12-A8, 12-A10, 12-C3 and M20-A4) on my Jan. '67 car are different. Each of these clips appears to be a bare metal clip. Some look like they might have been painted black, but I don't see any remnants of black vinyl on any of the GM 3788712 clips. All of mine look like the photo below from your CE article on the back-up light switch.

Should the GM 3788712 clips used in the transmission tunnel and the other locations on the firewall be dipped in black vinyl too?

Is there a way to apply a vinyl coating without removing the clips?

Scott -

The #3788712 clip for the backup light switch pigtail on the driver's side of the tunnel (UPC 12, sheet C3, item #4) was used on all cars, and also clipped the speedo cable on 3-speeds and Powerglides; the same 712 clip was used on the passenger side of the tunnel on 4-speed cars for the speedo cable (section M20, sheet A4, item #5), and on the firewall, behind the pass. side cylinder head, for the 4-speed speedo cable (same sheet).

On my car, the the one on the passenger side of the tunnel still retains about half of its vinyl coating, and the one on the driver's side has none left, although both clips have rounded edges and appear to be configured similarly. With all the manually-drilled holes and clips riveted to the underbody, it wouldn't surprise me if some were mis-used.

[John H.]

Re: C2 Splash Shield Floor Pan Attachment Bracket Finish

Thanks everyone who replied. I have the correct original brackets for both sides that will e reinstalled on the car. I just needed to know the correct finish for a St. Louis built car body. I would assume since the AOS built car's underbody reinforcing plates were coated with the green primer the splash pan attachments would be the same green color... correct???

Thanks,

James West

James -

Those two brackets on my AOS car have been replaced at some point in the past, and are painted black, so I'm not sure what the original appearance was; I know that the forward seat track bolt reinforcement channels and the shifter opening reinforcement were originally green zinc chromate, but I'm not sure about the splash shield brackets on an AOS body. Wayne Womble probably knows.

[Alan D.]

Re: C2 Splash Shield Floor Pan Attachment Bracket Finish

Scott, here is one from a 64. The black is not grease, would appear to be the vinyl coating.
As for reproducing that I would use some liquid tap found in most electrical supply houses & HomeDepot

[James W.]

Re: C2 Splash Shield Floor Pan Attachment Bracket Finish

Alan,

Thanks for the picture. You must have read my mind or I read yours since I did just what you described in your post. I bought some of the vinyl dip and coated a portion of the passengers side clip.

Thanks,

James West

[Scott S.]

Re: C2 Splash Shield Floor Pan Attachment Bracket Finish

Scott -

The #3788712 clip for the backup light switch pigtail on the driver's side of the tunnel (UPC 12, sheet C3, item #4) was used on all cars, and also clipped the speedo cable on 3-speeds and Powerglides; the same 712 clip was used on the passenger side of the tunnel on 4-speed cars for the speedo cable (section M20, sheet A4, item #5), and on the firewall, behind the pass. side cylinder head, for the 4-speed speedo cable (same sheet).

On my car, the the one on the passenger side of the tunnel still retains about half of its vinyl coating, and the one on the driver's side has none left, although both clips have rounded edges and appear to be configured similarly. With all the manually-drilled holes and clips riveted to the underbody, it wouldn't surprise me if some were mis-used.

[Scott S.]

Re: C2 Splash Shield Floor Pan Attachment Bracket Finish

Alan,

Thanks for the picture. You must have read my mind or I read yours since I did just what you described in your post. I bought some of the vinyl dip and coated a portion of the passengers side clip.

Thanks,

James West

James,

Were you able to do this successfully while the clip was still attached to the car, or have you removed the clips?

[James W.]

Re: C2 Splash Shield Floor Pan Attachment Bracket Finish

Scott,

[Scott S.]

Re: C2 Splash Shield Floor Pan Attachment Bracket Finish

Scott, here is one from a 64. The black is not grease, would appear to be the vinyl coating.
As for reproducing that I would use some liquid tap found in most electrical supply houses & HomeDepot

Alan,

Thanks for the picture.

In the photos below, the two on the left are the GM 3799990 clips with vinyl coating, from the LH & RH parking lamp harness location (64 AIM, Section 12, Sheets A10 & 11, item 4) (65 AIM, UPC 12-A10 & 11, item 4) (67 AIM, UPC 12-A9 and A10, item 4).

The clip on the right in the photos below is not bent at all, appears to have the same configuration as when originally installed, it is the GM 3788712 clip that was hanging from the LH rain-gutter of the hood surround (67 AIM, UPC 12-A10, item 21) (note: the 64 AIM shows that this clip was 3799990 in '64, changed to clip 3788712 in '65, revision record AIM date 9-23-64). Whatever type of coating this 3788712 clip had originally, it's gone now. It has the outward bend at the tip with rounded corners like my other GM 3788712 clips, this one is just better preserved. I will try to put a thin coating of the liquid-tap product on a test clip to see how it turns out.

Sorry about the dark pictures, I took them with and without flash, but they all turned out dark. There is thick rubber or vinyl on the two LH clips, but the clip on the RH is bare metal with distinct edges.

[Scott S.]

Re: C2 Splash Shield Floor Pan Attachment Bracket Finish

Scott,

I did not remove the passenger’s side clip since the engine/trans are already in the car. I simply cleaned the clip and brush applied the coating, it looks acceptable. Having the clips removed would be the better way to go since you could "dip" the clip in the vinyl dip solution. I didn’t remove the clip because I couldn't get the clip back on since I did not have sufficient room to get a hammer in to mushroom the rivet. I installed a new repro vinyl dipped clip on the driver’s side for the back-up light wiring harness since I was able to mushroom the rivet with a small hammer.

James

James,

Thank you for the explanation. I was hoping not to have to remove all of the clips across the firewall, thinking that since they were installed before blackout anyway, I might get away with cleaning them all in place and brushing on some of the liquid vinyl for the several GM 3788712 clips that have lost their coating. Another bridge to cross, when I get to it


Also, I tried to find more information on the splash shield brackets, but didn't find anything definitive. John Hinckley's article on A.O. Smith bodies (part of the Assembly Process series he did for Corvette Enthusiast Magazine a few years ago) shows the green zinc-chromate on several of the underbody brackets, including the transmission "plate" on the underside of the trans. tunnel (65 AIM, 1Boltweld-B3, Item 6), but the photo is cut off before it gets to the splash shield brackets.

The underbody photos near the beginning of each model year chapter in Adams (pgs. 73 [missing splash shields & brackets], 200, 259, 324, 387) all appear to show black splash shield brackets, but the descriptions don't say whether they are A.O. Smith or St. Louis bodies.


Edit: we can probably rule out the '67 photo on p. 387 because it's an L71, so that should be a St. Louis body. The '66 photo on p. 324 shows (barely) the front reinforcement Asm. (in the '65 AIM they're listed on 1Boltweld-B2, item 10) for the the seats, and they are black, so that must be a St. Louis car too. They look dark on the '65 photo (p. 259), but can't tell for sure. I can just see the edge of the front seat reinforcement in the '64 photo (p. 200) and it's black, can't be sure about the '63 on p. 73 but I think it's dark (black) too.