[Tom Weaver]

Hi guys, I was referred to post an add in this section of the tech site, hoping to get the "1969 factory correct" info regarding paint placement and colors. GM Pnt #s for the gray, etc. I'm trying to achieve a concourse restoration on a BB 4spd 69 Pace Car from the Norwood plant. The car is about to be sent off to the pnt shop up in Atlanta. I have noticed that the cars underside should be a dark gray primer looking appearance with the outer body color over-spray. How far into the bottom side was the paint spayed in a heavy solid matter before they quit spraying? Did they spray the inner rocker lip white or just from the outside. How about the rear wheel houses? Body color, gray or the black undercoat/sound deadener like material??? Now Finally, the fire wall. I know it has the firewall doesn't have a hard line masked off, but was hoping somebody had pics of an original untouched firewall and other area's discussed??? Any and all help is much appreciated.

 

[Jonesy]

I can tell you that the rear wells in my car were painted body color first and then sprayed with the sound deadener material after. This was an orig car. The firewall does have a line of separation about a 1/4 of an inch down from the edge. John Z explained the paint process at the plant in another post he answered. He said the machine the painted the car sprayed directly down on the car, the face of the firewall usually did not get sprayed, just the top of the cowl. I'm sure there are cars with a bit of overspray. I am doing mine with a fine line of separation as mentioned earlier. If you have books on Camaros, there are shots of original engine bays and you can see this.

 

[JohnZ]

Originally posted by Tom Weaver:
I have noticed that the cars underside should be a dark gray primer looking appearance with the outer body color over-spray. How far into the bottom side was the paint spayed in a heavy solid matter before they quit spraying? Did they spray the inner rocker lip white or just from the outside. How about the rear wheel houses? Body color, gray or the black undercoat/sound deadener like material???

The sides of the body were sprayed automatically by vertically-oscillating spray machines about 12" from the body surface; only the outer areas got paint. Only body color inboard of the rocker flange was overspray from the side-spray machines - the inboard side of the rocker flange was just primer. Rear wheelhouses got full primer, partial body color, then some black sound deadener.

 

[Tom Weaver]

Thank you very much!!! Do you have any pics to show exact details?

 

[KevinW]

JohnZ, this thread references the underside of an LA built car as black instead of gray primer.

http://www.camaros.net/cgi-bin/forum/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=004938

Does this sound plausible? I have one Norwood car and one Van Nuys car and if they were painted differently, I'd like to know.

My norwood car (oct 68 build) looks to have the original black (with some type of light specks) paint on the underside. While the LA car (june 69, strike car) I remember as being a gray. total opposite from what I'm reading.

So I'm really confused!

Also, I was at the Camaros at Carlise and they had a concours COPO up on the lift. The underside was light gray with color overspray (what you have said), but had black paint on the rear axle area and on the hump above the trans. I could understand the black above the rear (like the sprayed the rear black while it was on the car), but the trans area has me stumped, cause the trans is not black. Maybe that area was painted as part of the firewall operation.

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks, Kevin

 

[JohnZ]

I can't remember what color primers were used at each plant, but there was no attempt to get color on the underbody, and the color in the rear wheel wells was essentially overspray from the side-spray machines as they went by the wheel opening. The rear wheel wells got a shot of black sound deadener later, fairly sloppy application. Any black in the trans area was overspray from the dash panel blackout operation.

 

[Tom Weaver]

John,
do you know the correct color of Gray(application #)or a very comparable color one can purchase at the local paint shop? Am I reading this right, the rear end was sprayed Black while installed in the car?

 

[KevinW]

Tom, sorry, I did not take any pics of that (should have!)

Maybe someone else at the Camaros at Carlisle show. There was a blue (lemans?) COPO up on a 4 post lift in the building right behind the WCA tent.

Anybody take pics?

Kevin

 

[JohnZ]

Originally posted by Tom Weaver:
John,
do you know the correct color of Gray(application #)or a very comparable color one can purchase at the local paint shop? Am I reading this right, the rear end was sprayed Black while installed in the car?

If you're referring to the rear axle assembly ("rear end"), it was painted at the axle plant.

 

[KevinW]

Well, that shoots my theory. I don't know why that COPO was restored that way. It' kinda looked weird too.

 

[Tom Weaver]

I just talked with an acquaintance of mine in Sac that claims all his cars underside are a 60% semi flat. (keep in mind all his cars are LA built cars) So I'm guessing that the CA built cars were coated with a Black bottom side while the Norwood plant F-bodies were painted Gray. Does any body Have any TRUE survivor Cars that they can send pics of? Would really like to see a factory job....

 

[Mark C]

Here's how Fisher painted the under side of a 67 Camaro in the LA plant:

http://home.townisp.com/~markcanning/camaro/67%20LA%20SS_RS%20Undercarriage.jpg

I think this is a blue car, and the darker color is actually the blue finish coat overspray extending all the way to the trans tunnel. The floor primer is a light grey evident on the inner sides of the floor stiffeners, and inside the tunnel.

 

[Jonesy]

My 69 VanNuys car was exactly the same as the above picture in Mark's post. It was not black. I had slight overspray on the floorboard area.
Here's a pci of the inside of my floorboards which is what the outside looked like. I need to see if I can find a pic of the trunk pans when I took the gas tank out.. I think that may have been black.

Floor pans- inside

 

[Shtgnr]

I have an unrestored 68 LA car and the underside is Grey primer with white overspray. The wheelwells also have white overspray with the black undercoating/sound deadner sprayed on them. As for the Firewall, I did not see any evidence of a taped line, just the factory black, the white from the rest of the body, and in between the two is a primed area where the black paint was not completely sprayed to the top. If anyone would like pics of this, just drop me an email and I will try to get detailed ones and post them.
Bill

 

[Tom Weaver]

I scrubbed the bottom side of my car down with Ajax and a scrub brush today (thought this would be a safe and cleaner alternative to sandblasting) My floors turned out to be MINT and a gray colored with white overspray speckles almost every where. I'll send a picture to those that would like to see. My wheel wells were replaced due to 34 years of dirt and what ever accumulation.

 

[Unreal]

What's the production date and plant your car was produced?

 

[sandiegoz28]

Is it possible that underside primer colors changed during the production year? Did LA cars switched primer suppliers/source/specs somewhere between '68 to '69 from gray to black?

My 73K original miles, 04B LA-build, '69 Camaro, which never left the LA area and had only one re-paint, is clearly black underneath - with overspray in the noted areas. A buddy of mine who has a 04C LA build completely unrestored '69 is also black.

I've got pics I'd be happy to send - let me know.

 

[Tom Weaver]

Mine is a 03D Norwood build Z11. Unfortuantly it is now 150 miles north of me at the Body shop.

 

[Tom Weaver]

I hate to drag up old threads, but I'm quite sure somebody is at this stage of their restoration just as I am today. My car is currently being redone due to the guy in Atlanta was a BUTCHER!!! I have since went through two new computers and lost my documentation pictures. Mark C, and Jonesy, can you guys re-post some original paint wheel house pics and floor pics if you have them. Mark, same for your 67 factory Paint application. The thread posted can not be found.

Thanks,

 

[OAKLYSS]

Here is unrestored original paint firewall:

Floor pan with overspray, some fell off exposing black primer: