Re: Exterior and Underside paint colors

[Bill Watson <wwatson6@xxxxxxx>]

Chrysler went to enamel in 1939 (Plymouth switched in 1935, trucks earlier 
than that and LosAngeles for 1940) and Chrysler of Canada in 1946.   So your 
1964 Plymouth was done in acrylic enamel.   Some years of Imperial were done 
in lacquer in the late 1950's and into the 1960's.

Touch ups and partial panel repairs were generally done in lacquer as 
lacquer is softer and takes longer to harden.  Thus it can be sanded to 
eliminate minor errors in painting and still polish to a shine. As it is 
also slightly opaque, multiple thin layers of colour will give the final 
paint job depth, something that cannot be done with enamel.  Acryclic 
enamels use air to harden, so as soon as the paint leave the nozzle it is 
hardening which also makes it almost impossible to sand out errors.  Factory 
enamel jobs were generally one shot deals.

Today's cars are done in two layers - colour topped by a clear coat.  The 
colour coat has no shine to it and relies on the clear coat to supply that. 
Also, the clear coat does have a slight tint to it so the final result will 
not be quite what the bare colour shows.

Single shot jobs are now done with urethane which produces a shine just as 
enamel does - no top coat and no sanding or buffing needed.  However, it 
does dry with a wet look, in other words a shine that is shinier than back 
in 1964.

The body colour was applied to the roof, top, and sides of the body as well 
as the floor, cowl, under hood lid, underhood and trunk fenders, trunk 
walls, trunk floors, and trunk lid.  So, no black firewalls, cowls, etc. on 
Chryler Corporation vehicles in any year.   (Well, okay, there are a couple 
of exceptions around 1970).   Lighter coloured cars may have had the 
radiator crossmember painted a flat black and some plants painted the trunk 
floor with a spatter paint.   The Windsor plant generally did neither - cost 
money for something most owenrs wouldn't notice or care about.

You would find overspray in the wheelwells and anywhere else the painter 
overshot.  The factory did not worry about paint overspray on areas that the 
owner could not see while standing beside the car.  The undercarriage was 
not painted but did receive a grey colour coating to help prevent build up 
of rust.

Two tones were done by masking off the areas that were to be done.  You 
would find overspray in door jambs, hood and trunk openings,  and, if the 
lower section of the body was to be done, door sills.   If it looked good 
with everything closed, great.  Bit of overspray with a door open - no big 
deal.  Remember, too, bodies were painted right after the bodies were welded 
together and doors and lids hung.  No trim, no glass, no power train, no 
grilles or lights, no electrical pieces, no instrument panel or any interior 
trim.

Bill
Vancouver, BC



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Butch Edison" <waedison@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <1962to1965mopars@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "'Stevan Miner'" <miner@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, November 29, 2009 10:38 AM
Subject: Exterior and Underside paint colors


> My 64 red Sport Fury is going to get full body and paint this winter. I 
> bought the car a couple of years ago after one of our forum members, Steve 
> Miner, was kind enough to inspect the car for me. Thanks Steve.
>
> The body/paint guy I'll be using is an expert, but not necessarily in 
> Mopars. He'll be painting the exterior in the original Ruby Red color, but 
> he says I have some choices as far as the type of paint he'll use. Rather 
> than miscommunicate what he told me, I'd sure appreciate hearing from you 
> as to what my paint choices are and why you'd pick one type of paint over 
> another.
>
> Also, the underside of the car has undercoating on it. It looks like the 
> base metal is painted a dull red. Can anyone tell me what it should look 
> like without the undercoating? Was the complete underbody painted red? 
> Same red as the exterior? Were the areas where overspray would show up, 
> things like that?
>
> No where better to ask questions like this than right here.
>
> Thanks everyone. /Butch/ Ferndale, WA


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