1966 under body blackout

[Michael H.]

Re: 1966 under body blackout

Michael,
what about the drip trays under the hood?
I see what appears to be very light sanding marks and variation in the "Dimple" on original cars that may be the result of some sanding.
Thank you
H. a. N. D.

This trough, or gutter area, should show the actual texture of the fiberglass because the bare glass was never sanded prior to any prime or paint operations. The primer wasn't sanded either.
(I know some painters will argue that it had to be sanded for proper adhesion but that's not the case)

If you see some sand scratches, I would have to guess that these may have come from a prior repaint?

Also, the bond at the junction of the fender top and fender skirt should appear rough with grinder scars. It wasn't sanded or smoothed in any way.

I can't think of even one single area of any panel under the hood or in the engine compartment that was ever sanded. Hope this helps.

[Mike M.]

Re: 1966 under body blackout

Thank you, Michael
Regarding the process, were the cars then prepped and sanded with the doors, hood and deck lid closed?
H. a. N. D.

[Michael H.]

Re: 1966 under body blackout

Thank you, Michael
Regarding the process, were the cars then prepped and sanded with the doors, hood and deck lid closed?
H. a. N. D.

Yes, the complete body, including doors, hood etc. was assembled before any work was done on the panels. The first step after the body was one piece was the trip through the "body grind booth". Here the seams were ground (sanded) smooth and some panel fit problems were corrected. (not many though)

Next came first prime and bake. All surfaces that were to eventually receive color were primed at this point, including door jambs. After first prime/bake, most of the big panels were machine sanded, followed by second prime, bake and wet sand.

[Chuck S.]

Re: 1966 under body blackout

...As you can see, the blackout did not entirely cover the body color paint, and there is more evidence of this through the rest of the engine compartment...

Patrick, yours is showing an excellent example of blackout not reaching very far back into that hollow behind the inner fender...yours really stands out because of the yellow overspray. I didn't notice a lot of white overspray down that far on mine; mostly there was bare glass and some blackout overspray.

On my 70, blackout on the firewall extends down to just below the top of the transmission tunnel, and down to about where the firewall breaks back into the foot wells. Everybody's attitudes must have been in pretty good tune that day, Bill.

One interesting bit of info I've learned from this thread...C2 firewalls and inner fenders were primed with red oxide primer, but by the time the C3s came around (at least by 70), these areas were not primed except for incidental overspray; blackout was applied directly onto the bare fiberglass on my car. The underside of the hood on my 70, however, WAS PRIMED with red oxide primer, and then blacked out.

Rick, the overspray on your underbody is typical for overspray, but looks pretty bright to be red oxide to me...another possibility is if Bubba had ever done a repaint in "Resale Red". When a car has been repainted, it's hard to tell which overspray is factory, and which overspray Bubba applied over the top of everything...careful study is required, and sometimes that's futile. The good news is few commercial body shops use red oxide primer anymore, so if you see red oxide, it's pretty much has to be original these days.

[Rick S.]

Re: 1966 under body blackout

Chuck,
I don't think the car has been painted red at anytime. I am the 4th owner. First owner, a doctor, didn't do anything to the car. He sold the car to a fellow doctor who I believe had the car undercoated. The third owner was Gene Tucker from Macon, Ga whoe repainted the car in BC/CC Goodwood green. The car has a typo trim tag which I researched to prove it was a typo trim tag for judging purposes. Gene repainted the car with the body on as it still has the tape holding the body shims in place. There is no evidence of the car ever being red. Here is a period correct photo the original owner sent to me.