Z/28 Paint Application ??? - 76 76 Daytona Yellow
 

Getting my Daytona Yellow Z/28 ready for a trip to the body shop where it will soon undergo a complete rotisserie restoration. Knowing a fair bit about how the factory paint process I am still unclear on a few things that I would like to know more about? I am hoping to recreate a factory-style paint job and I do have a few application questions regarding cowl paint, stripe blackout in the front plenum, and underbody paint that I could use some help with? I could also use a refresh on trunk paint and the best products to use? That being said I will look for an old thread I recall on that subject. (Mike D'Angelo)

When the body and floor work is complete, I plan to have the entire underside epoxied/sealed in a grey primer. It will then receive a satin black finish blown onto most the lower floor pans in towards and back to the tunnel/s and a dusting of the rear frame rails up into the rear end tunnel & back towards the rear valance. The underside of the tank will be left with exposed sealer/primer, as will the majority of the forward trans tunnel area. When the firewall is ready for paint, it will be based in yellow at the same time as the jambs, rear wheel wells and cowl plenum being sprayed. It will then be followed in satin black with some of the lower front floor sections still having some exposed grey primer showing from the edges of the front seam in towards the tunnel. The idea is to then blow the firewall paint back into the tunnel area and recreate that spattered grey/black finish found on many factory survivors. Just to be sure, I thought I better ask the following random questions before attempting to do this right:

1.) What brand/type of satin black paint are many of you using on the firewall area and floor sections today? Last I recall a decent satin black finish was becoming very hard to find and was discontinued by some companies like Eastwood or SEM?

2.) Was the black blockout paint under/inside the cowl plenum a flat colored product or was it the same as the satin finish on the front firewall?

3.) With the dashtop being refinished, I could use a product suggestion for the suede like paint used on the top of the dash. Brand/Type or source for it?

I'm assuming the front sub-frame didn't go under the body until all of the bodies prep painting and floors were done? I'm somewhat curious because I have only ever witnessed that grey/black spatter along the front inner tow boards and centered in towards/up into the front tunnel area beyond the shifter hole. You can also find it blown back onto the floors, but mostly towards the edges of the tunnel. I have not seen this spatter effect under the points where the sub-frame would be located and that has me wondering if the subframe was already under the car when the firewall and lower section of the front tunnel were sprayed or blown back under the body?

With all of the floors and firewall done as close to factory as possible, the next focus will be on the final body prep with assembly of the front clip. Before doing so, I should ask:

4.) Are there any factory specific applications of primer/paint/color on the inner front fenders, front valances or the fender extensions that I should be aware of prior to assembly and final paint?

5.) I would also like to know the proper application of underhood paint on a Daytona yellow car such as the blow in or lead in area under the outer edges of the hood?

I'm assuming this area outside of the hood insulation is yellow while the middle of the cowl area is satin black. I'm just not sure if the underside of these edges were ghosted in yellow while the hood was cracked, or if those areas were painted solid yellow up to the edge of where the hood insulation would be? Such as sprayed with the hood lifted up?

6.) Assuming the underside ot the cowl tail-flap area was black, did the yellow get a hard taped edge under the year tail/flap, or was that area fogged with the flap area being taped off?

7.) Finally, I recall some pointers that M22Mike posted a few years ago on proper Shutz gun use and the correct application of Norwood spatter paint. I will re-read that section since I'd like to create the trunk spray as close to factory as possible. That being said, I'm sure I could use a few pointers or maybe a couple suggestions on the sourcing of those products?

When the body is finally painted, no drop cloths will be used under the car so that the factory style yellow overspray is found being dusted under the sides of the floor pans, the rear frame rails inside the wheel openings, and a dusting onto the trunk pan ridges. Not so much a deliberate attempt to hit any of it, but a nonprotected approach to stop any of it from being dusted while spraying the rockers and lower body lines.

If any of you paint experts have anything you'd like to suggest, I am your captive in this thread. My bodyman & painter is a well accomplished guy who's been a panel beater and custom painter going on 50 years now, but his experience in creating factory concourse applications is somewhat limited. That isn't to say he isn't capable, it just that he has to be led in these areas and the more I know, the better I can share the little details with him. I plan to be present and help him with all application concerns as well as being there to ensure the stripes are masked off correctly!

I appreciate any tips or pointers from the pro's etc. Thanks sYc

You & I have spoke about this in detail & it will be interesting to see what others have to say. I am only a few days away from putting paint on mine. The one thing I tell my painter is "don't try to duplicate overspray, but don't prevent it either". I will be watching the painters closely starting Thursday....Joe

Some pics of the yellow paint found under the firewall black and the original overspray found under the car today. There are some of the processes I am planning to recreate when it's painted in a couple months from now. I'm hoping I pull this off right as I want it being as close to factory as possible.

https://i.ibb.co/PD6QnrJ/IMG-1944.jpg
Yellow body color found under the black firewall paint.

https://i.ibb.co/tYK76Bw/IMG-1947.jpg
I always thought the black was atop body primer. Wrong!

https://i.ibb.co/fSH4m9j/IMG-1958.jpg
Yellow overspray on the trunk pan.

https://i.ibb.co/Js52yGd/IMG-1959.jpg
This blew in as far as the tank straps and cnter ridges.

https://i.ibb.co/t43zhRC/IMG-1963.jpg
Even the insides of the tank straps got dusted from the opposing sides.

https://i.ibb.co/FwK2Tcf/IMG-1965.jpg
Here you can see the wheel houses and rails were painted before being undercoated. They were also dusted after the fact.

https://i.ibb.co/R6cjgDg/IMG-1964.jpg
It looks like the diff tunnel even got a deliberate shot of color sprayed up inside the tunnel? Direct over grey primer it would appear.

As good as it gets:

https://www.yenko.net/forum/showthre...ighlight=grady

Thanks for the link William. I've read through Mikes thread on Grady's Copo build a few times, but missed that Mike had referenced the paints he used on the bottom of the car. Probably because I wasn't about to paint a car when I read through those pages, and was also too heavily focused on the pictures of Grady's car at the time. I'll look up those PPG numbers provided they are still being used today? So much has changed with PPG Satin Finishes & Clear Coats over the past few years.

Mark B. was also kind enough to send some great original photo's of factory yellow floor applications which further supports the use of predominantly grey finishes prior to yellow being applied. These all serve as great reference materials to painting and refinishing a car with a factory correct look.

Cheers...G

I sent the body shop that is doing my car pics from Grady's build to replicate. It very closely matched what I found when I hand-stripped the underside of my car.

You bet, and it's very much the way I found the underside of the Lemans Blue car when I peeled back the paint on the floors. Lots of grey existed in some spots, but I am also learning that different colored cars got different colored primer, and that yellow cars would appear to have much less black applied to the floors and rear frame rails than say a dark colored car. Learning a lot about the primers and floor paint, or the lack of in some cases.

I already copied Grady's info onto a printed booklet to deliver to my painter for reference. He agrees that using a black base with satin clear is the way to go on the floor and firewall. This should deliver a consistent satin finish. I'll just need to show him where to leave the grey finish and where to blow things back under the floor.

In either case, this is the way! (lol)

Back in the '80s, we did a ZL1 and a '67 Z/28. Did both undercarriages in satin black. No body color overspray, no primer. Common back then.

Sure has changed over the years.

I agree William. I've been involved in a couple of frame off restorations now, and never fussed about the floors until now. Always sprayed a satin black finish and never thought twice about it. Not until I started reading some of the detailed forum threads and crawled under a couple clean survivor cars did I know or learn what the actual factory finish processes were.

Some say knowledge is king, others will tell you it's a curse. I'm undecided as I'm still learning. (lol)

I used sikkens ralley black for my satin. Nice paint to spray. It might be under a different name now.
The only PPG stuff I could find, you had to mix up the flattener yourself from a chart they had. Spraying the already canned sikkens seemed easier for me to do myself.