Re: [FWDLK] Two-tone factory painting process?

[kevin sausedo <kevinsausedo@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dave,
    My 56 Coronet Lancer is Chinese Rose & Garnett Metallic.  The Garnett
is quite worn, and displays the underlying layer of Rose in the roof area.
I can't say definitively that the hood and fenders are primed (only) beneath
the finish (both fenders and part of the hood are also Rose).  The part of
the hood that is painted Garnett (though just as worn) displays no hint as
to what may lie underneath.  There's no color differences, but the Garnett
seems to have a staying power in the hood area that it doesn't have in the
roof or saddle area.  If paint adheres to primer better than it does to
another finish, then I would suspect (as you do) that the hood and fenders
were primed (only) prior to finish.

Kevin
56 Coronet Lancer
62 Dart 440 Ragtop (413 Wedge)



> From: brian <xm2cars@xxxxxxx>
> Reply-To: brian <xm2cars@xxxxxxx>
> To: L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [FWDLK] Two-tone factory painting process?
> Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 00:44:46 -0800
>
> Dave,
>
> Cars used to be painted differently than they are now. I am not sure that
> the entire car received a different color under a second color for a two
> tone combination. Most were masked on line and painted with both colors.
> Usually, applying thin coats of a different color over another will result
> in a color shift and I wouldn't think they would have done that - not to
> mention wasting paint.
>
> When your DeSoto was built the body was painted separately and the front
> fenders and hood were painted separately. The problem that arose from this
> process was most noticeable on metallics because the fenders were hung at a
> different angle than the body and the guys with the spray guns would shoot
> side to side as they did on the bodies. Same thing for the hood. What
> happened was that the pigments would orient to the surface and dry at the
> angle of impact.
>
> When the cars were finally assembled and brought into daylight, slight miss
> matches were noticeable in color but with metallics it sometimes looked
> like
> a totally different color!  The fact that the paint itself wasn't mixed by
> computer formulae but instead by a master painter also contributed to color
> variation.
>
> In the late 50s changes were made improving the process and today most all
> of those problems have been eliminated.  Modern paint cells with robotized
> guns, exact paint formula mixing by computer and new paints have all
> helped.  All surfaces of a vehicle today are sprayed at the same angle of
> impact so that light will reflect the same and thus give you a consistent
> color.
>
> What you are now seeing is the effect of over 40 years of fading on
> surfaces
> that were exposed to the daylight at different angles as well as originally
> being applied at different angles. I see the same thing on my 57 Dodges and
> on most other original paint from the era.
>
> Brian
> D500s in MI
>
> Dave Stragand wrote:
>
> > Hi All,
> >
> > I'm trying to determine something on my DeSoto.
> >
> > If I understand correctly, the cabs of the cars on the assembly line
> > would be painted entirely in the lighter color first, then the darker
> > color would be sprayed over it.  Therefore, when the cab of the car met
> > the front fenders and hood, those components would be painted just the
> > darker color over primer, correct?  That is to say, they probably did
> > not paint the fenders to "match" the possible two-tone combinations.
> >
> > I'm asking because the front fenders and hood of my '59 have a slightly
> > different/duller/lighter color than the rest of the car.  The previous
> > and only owner swears that there was never any damage to the front (it
> > was tapped in the rear, but fixed with MoPar metal right at the dealer).
> >
> > Does anyone have any insight into this?
> >
> > -Dave


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