Firewall Forward Finishes and Markings- Part Deux

Tealmist Gray. Code 16; AKA Code L

 

Lots of good info
:gp:

 

my 72 stage 1 (Fremont ca. plant) was purchased of a guy in Colorado. when I took off front license plate I noticed yellow chalk marks on the chrome bumper the number was 1391. I assumed it was assembly line markings. because the previous owners could not wash off chalk because of plate being there all those years. but when I removed the reinforcement on the back side of bumper behind the license plate I cleaned it up good with soap & towel . the number stamped on the part was 39 on the opposite side was gm part number.

 

HeyJim, did you ever post a picture of the steering box? I have been searching and can't find it.

 

I have never seen gold ones. Here are mine. My 71's are the same.

 

Same here mine (70) are black as well but the car was heavily modified so no telling if correct. I was researching colors and finishes for my current restoration and came across this and the gold piqued my curiosity. I have had a couple 71's and never saw gold.

 

You have to bear in mind this thread was started 10 years ago. At the time, it was the best info available, and even Ken had a disclaimer on it. The ante has been upped since then. A lot more info has been accumulated. You know...people and judges now have certain expectations of these cars. Steven Ames has a...I think it's a 72 GS with less than 5K, original tires, etc. I climbed under it, under the rear...it was all black...the tailpipes had black on them, shocks, gas tank, etc. That's how they did them, but that's not what you see now. Sure...there were markings under the paint. It's just where we are now in this hobby. Not every car had visible marks and paint spots on it when it left the factory. What's on 1 car, might not me the same as another. The steering boxes or cover bolts may have come from different suppliers, and probably both are correct. Who knows?

 

All that information we have is what makes this fun when researching posts to figure out what parts looked like when they rolled off the factory floor.

 

On an '85 LeSabre, the a/c condenser should be flat black, correct?

 

egg shell BRO

 

Thanks!! That's actually what I was thinking but my fingers thought otherwise!

 

Does anyone happen to know what finish would have been applied to the pulley and fan on a 1970 GS455 alternator? I have seen some that look as if they are gold cadmium-plated, and I have seen others painted black. Did the finish vary among plants as a result of different parts suppliers?

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

Fan was galvanized , pulley silver cad/zinc .
You can't get galvanized plating however . You can clear zinc as an alternative on fan.
DL

 

Had my pulley clear zinc And had my fan (TIN)Ed looks very similar to galvanized. Here in Pittsburgh don't have to drive far for plating. There use to be an awesome place couple blocks west of the Steelers Stadium next to a Penitentiary. But it burned down. They did yellow cad. And you know to do it right . You have to use cyanide for that and it was not legal. I use to walk in this place in the summer to get parts done for my72 Stage1. And those chemicals in that place would take your breathe away. they would have crates of a Bolts, nuts and stuff for manufacturing. There must have been thousands in those crates

 

Thanks for the help, guys!

 

Lot's of good info in this thread on paint colors,chalk marks,etc.

I've got a question for you restoration/originality/paint dab guy's. Have you ever seen decals on top of the cowl of an A body?

I have a 14,800 mile original 69 Special that has little decals on top of the cowl by the cowl seal. This car was stored in a heated garage most of it's life, and rarely driven in any kind of wet weather. These decals would most likely have been picked off,washed off(either by rain or soapy water), or fell off of most cars within the first year of normal use I would think. I have never seen these on any car I've owned, and don't remember anyone ever talking about them or showing pics of them.
Car also has the "M" on the firewall for manual brakes.

 

Nice Tom, is it from Flint? Any paint codes behind the voltage regulator?

 

Here's a shot of my 1970 GS455 that shows some markings that became visible once I began preparing the firewall for a fresh coat of paint. The car was built in Fremont and has a burnished saddle interior with buckets (this may account for the "189" that is written there). I hope this helps someone with marking locations...they seem rather random, really.

 

I worked on the assembly line at the Framingham GMAD plant in 1972 - 1974.

This plant made Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Buick A body cars.

The black paint that was used on the bigger parts, like the chassis, was sprayed on as thin as possible just enough to provide minimum coverage.

The paint was GM, and came in 55 gallon drums.

The smaller stuff was dipped in a large tank, where 2-3" of paint was floating on top of water.

The parts were dipped and hung on racks to air dry - no primer or surface prep.

Most of the small parts had runs and drips because of this.

At 60 cars per hour, none of the cars got any TLC........