Original paint cars

[Tommy]

Recently I bought a 68 Nova that is from all accounts an original paint very low mileage car. The car has several irregular places in the paint in different areas. I was wondering about factory mistakes on these old cars and does anyone have any good pictures of 40 year old paint jobs. If I can get the camera to pick them up I will post some pics of my cars paint issues.


Tommy

[Woj]

Tommy,

I have several original paint cars and I'm still amazed at the imperfections in paint and body work. I don't believe the level of quality back then was the same as it is today; although they still look great. Also, not being the original owner, you never know what may or may not have been touched up in the past.

It is still obvious when a car has original paint and it is still interesting to me, even though they aren't anywhere close to perfect.

Enjoy your car. Post some pics if you can.

Phil Woj.

[Tommy]

Phil, here is a link to the car in the members area. I'll try to get some pics of the imperfections soon.


POKE HERE


Some of the things I have noticed are a simple run in a corner, a heavy area, and the right fender appears in different lights to be a different shade. I think the car has been retouched in a few places over the last 40 years but it really looks like most of the paint is original. The inside of the door by the striker is different than the rest of the car but there are no tape lines anywhere. I have even had the door sills off and only found fossilized insects...


Tommy

[Keith Tedford]

I bought our one silver Chevelle new. Even with that colour you could see the leaded roof seams from 20 feet away. Pits as well. I could probably do a "correct" restoration paint job for all that it would take. They sure weren't perfect. I worked six months in Oshawa on the "B" body line in a lead booth grinding lead joints. Quality always took a drop when a new guy came into the booth. It takes a while to get handy with a disc grinder. Same thing happened when a new guy went into a paint booth. Perfection took a while.

[WILMASBOYL78]

Tommy, factory flaws were very common. Our 70 Orange Cooler has plenty of them..runs, dirt in the paint and lots of over spray!! Who needs that slick, clear coat, 3 foot deep finish...give me some bumps and bruises any time

[csx289]

Hi Tommy,

Have you taken a paint gauge to the car? It is a pretty good way to determine what is original and what is not. Of course, this is not a substitute for a trained eye familiar with original paint from the era but it sure is a good way to get confirmation of what your gut tells you. I have owned literally dozens of original paint cars and if you take a gauge to yours feel free to email me the readings and I can help you decipher what is going on.

Here is a good place to get a good, basic paint gauge/meter for short money : http://www.wholesalepaintmeters.com/...FQcCswodr2zi6g

Colin

[ORIGLS6]

And even after they left the factory, things still happened.

Like brake fluid dripping from the car above it on the transporter!

[Tarrytown SS427s]

I have noticed on some original paint cars that the front clip is sometimes a slightly different shade than the doors and body. I think this is because the front clips were painted separately from the body and therefore the formulas and painter's hand varied a little bit between the different items.
Steve

[csx289]

Such as GM A Body cars, the tub would be painted at Fisher Body and the front clip at GM in some cases (such as 69 GTO's)

[L78M22Rag]

I've found that the hood and trunk typically fade differently than the adjacent fenders or quarters... I thought it might be due to a different guage of steel on those panels causing them to heat from the sun and fade differently? But you're right... could be because they were painted differently.