[FWDLK] Black Paint in the Trunk..The continuing saga...

[Marv Raguse <MJRAGUSE@xxxxxxx>]

The Equasheen process

Much discussion has occurred over the past few months on the process used
for trunk interior colors as well as hood inners.  Dave Stragand first
provided me his understanding based on a conversation with an ex Chrysler
employee.  Apparently Dave learned that old paint was saved and salvaged by
mixing  various colors together and using it for inner panel painting.  I
have to admit that at the time I was very skeptical of this method since it
seem to be too variable to ever be agreed upon by either Manufacturing or
Engineering.   Remember that I work to standards today and even trying to imagine
the way things might have been, caused me to doubt it.
Well, I called Mr. Ray Schaeffer who worked in the paint department of
Chrysler for 40 years(I must add as manager of the department for many of those years) and asked him to describe the process for painting
the inside panels of the Plymouths at Lynch Road Assembly.  He said he could recall 1955 and 1956 only but we can assume that 57 was the same.
Apparently a reclamation process existed that would capture the paint left
in residue in the water.  This was conducted not only at the assembly plant
but also at the Prototype Paint Facility at Highland Park.  The reclaimed
paint pigment would exist in a semi solid mass.  It would be processed in a
steel ball mill or grinding operation with the occasional addition of solvent. The results would be of various colors but they would add black to
ensure it was a dark shade.  This paint was called Equasheen according to
Ray but he can't recall the exact spelling so we spelled it phonetically.
The man who ground and prepared this Equasheen was Jack Greig.
Ray also mentioned that speckled water base paint was also used.  I think
this might have been later; perhaps for 1959

The application of this Equasheen to the cars occurred from one of 4 pits
with a painter doing the under side of the vehicle and then climbing out to
do the trunk on the next vehicle.  Apparently they would alternate in this
fashion. Ray remembers the one time he stopped the line over a quality
issue with how it was being applied. Being quite young at the time he
incurred the wrath of the foreman who threatened him with his job but Ray
stood his ground and eventually retired.

Incidently,,my 57 Fury is most definitely original and it is an appropriate gray tone.

Marv Raguse