question about paint layers

[CHEV66JB]

I am in the process of stripping the paint from my '59 trunk lid, and have the following layers:

1. light light blue, almost white
2. thick black layer
3. thick red layer (maybe 2) underneath

The #2 layer is thick and looks more like a tar-like filler than paint. From what I can tell on the red, it could be primer or paint.

Anyone have any idea what the original paint prep layouts were for these cars? Was there a primer put on before paint for fiberglass? Just curious.

Thanks,

CHEV66JB

 

[65TripleBlack]

I can say with certainty that midyear Vettes were primed with red oxide, and I have no reason to believe that 1959 cars were prepped any differently. Far as I know, the characteristics of acrylic lacquer are the same as nitrocellulose lacquer. Look on the insides of your doors, and you will probably see red oxide primer.

I don't know what the black layer is. Someplace on the inside of your trunk (I think on the inside of the rear bulkhead) you might find the remnants of a grease pencil marking. If you are lucky enough to find it, it will tell you the original color of the car!

Joe

 

[CHEV66JB]

Re:

Hi Joe,

Thanks for the information- As for the grease pencil mark, there is none on the trunk, but it's in the trunk compartment itself! I've attached the pic for your enjoyment.

Regards,

CHEV66JB

 

[65TripleBlack]

Great! You lucky son of a gun, you've got an Inca Silver car. Are you gonna paint the coves "Plum Crazy", or "Cadillac Nassau Blue"?

Joe

 

[Tom Bryant]

My car has red oxide on the fiberglas then a light grey sealer then the original black. Could be that they used a light sealer on dark cars and a dark sealer on lighter colors.

Tom

 

[Ron Miller]

Don't know if this will be of any interest, but here's the paint process used by GM in 1965. I suspect that it was similar in earlier years with laquer paint. JohnZ might know if the earlier process differed from this.:cool

Go to: http://www.corvette.net/paint-4.htm

rlm

 

[JohnZ]

That's a good link - the Corvette process was similar to that used on steel bodies, except the bake schedule for steel bodies had the primer baked at 390 degrees, and the final re-flow bake was at 325 degrees; the Corvette fiberglass couldn't tolerate bake temperatures that high. That's why the Corvette process included a final oil-sanding and polishing to bring up the gloss; the higher final re-flow oven bake temperature on steel-bodied cars eliminated the need for any polishing.

 

[Tom Bryant]

Thanks Ron.That is very informative. The body shop at the Chevy dealer where my wife works has had a paint oven in use since the 50's to duplicate the factory baked on finishes. It would be a hassle trucking things back and forth but the results might be worth it. Especially if I do laquer.

Tom

 

[Ron Miller]

Welcome!:cool

 

[427]

FYI: I made the webpage referenced (http://www.corvette.net/paint-4.htm) back in the mid 90's with info gathered from the FREE Restoration Package distributed from GM. Rob has some info if you desire a package for your own Vette ... Just follow this link:
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/infosearch/index.php?cmd=area

Ciao,
Jack