spare tire carrier paint 1971

[Jeff M.]

What kind of finish is on the spare tire carrier. According to the judging manual, the center V shaped reinforcement is semi gloss black with the rivits natural, it says nothing of the rest of the carrier other than it is not completly painted. My rear carrier has what looks and feels like undercoating all over it. It is a nightmare tring to get it all off. Did the muffler blackout also cover this carrier or has someone undercoated it. Should i just paint it with flat black paint and the V painted semigloss and be done with it or undercoat it. The inside of the carrier has no paint on it at all.

[Robert C.]

Re: spare tire carrier paint 1971

Probably by your discription someone has undercoated it. I would remove the cover and use whatever to get rid of the undercoat. There are many products available that will soften the undercoat where you won't have to mess up the fiberglass sanding it off. After its gone,down to the bare glass, repaint the rear 2/3rds of the cover with black-out semi-gloss black. You can cleen off the rivits with a cardboard mask( small punched holes in cardboard) and a copper wire brush or Moto-tool wire brush. The inside should be natural grey fiber. There maybe a Rockwell label imbeded in the fiber with a date code (week/yr). Some have these labels, some don't. Don't worry if yours doesn't. These dates are not judged. Bob


Texas Chapter NCRS

[Jack H.]

Right on!

Bob's hit the nail here.... Original spare tire carrier was only painted on the metal reinforcement bars -- rest was natural fiberglass and muffler black out did NOT extend onto tire carrier. My carrier clearly has an embedded Rockwell label that corresponds with other embedded labels here/there around various body parts with 10-17th week of '71 dating.

[Terry M.]

Re: spare tire carrier paint 1971

Jeff,

The fiberglass portion of the spare tire carrier is, for the most part, bare fiberglass. Sometimes there is a little (emphasis on little) overspray of muffler black out on the sides of the carrier (near the mufflers), but not all cars had this and those that do generally have very little.

Be sure your carrier is dark gray plastic. More recent replacements are light grey, and that may be why it is coated.

Terry

[Tom B.]

Re: Removing undercoating

Jeff,

A solvent in spray cans, like carb cleaner will soften hardened undercoating. If you use it, spray it on and let it soak in for several minutes, working in small areas at a time. Also, be sure you're in a well ventilated area. TBarr #24014

[Joe L.]

Re: spare tire carrier paint 1971

Terry, et al------

I can vouch for the fact that there was very little black-out overspray on the spare tire tub of my 1969. Just a VERY small amount on either side by the mufflers. In fact, it "bugged" me for years, but I never removed it. Not to preserve "originality", though. It was just one of those little things that I never got around to. And, after nearly 31 years, I probably won't.