I am trying to find out if the "black-out" of the engine compartment was done before or after the front wiring harness was installed. Also, is the black sealer around the connector plugs on the firewall original? My 67 had minor repairs over the years and someone has sprayed a little extra black in the compartment. I can't tell if the overspray on the harness is original. Is there an N.O.S. wiring harness available. The one I have is repairable but a new one would be a lot easier. While I'm on the previous subject, were the flaps for wheel wells put in before or after black-out. Thanks
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Re: 67 front wiring harness
Believe you'll find engine compartment black out was done differently based on source of body. If AO Smith built, car was painted and shipped to final line with black out done before installation of final line items (includes hood latch/release, Etc.) while St. Louis bodies that were assembled in the same factory as final assy had black out performed with some of the 'final line' items installed and masked....
In either case, wiring harness is presumed NOT to have been present during paint prep/black out process. Jump in and correct me guys if I'm missing some dotted 'i' and crossed 't' components here....
The 'black sealer' around various components is often refered to as 'dum dum'. It's essentially putty and asphalt based 'goo' depending on specifics of what & where. Some putty items (like sealant surrounding early mid-year, two screw clutch boots and later Shark era windshield wiper door mount plates/shims may have been in place prior to black out causing the grey putty to absorb both 'dum dum' (asphalt based spray sealant -- commonly seen as 'blobs' or 'runs' on fiberglass) as well as the black out paint itself (note: only one body/final assy configuration was active during Shark era, '68 and up so assy variations diminish in this period).
As far as factory 'extra' vs. non-factory repair goes, cars WERE pulled at random in the final assy factory for 'touch up' of this/that, so there's a grey area here causing visibility of who did what, when, where to blur....
Last, the 'flaps' for the wheel wells are routinely accepted to have been installed prior to black out and 'some degree' of black-out overspray extending onto the 'flap' and over staple fastener bodies is deemed correct/authentic. As far as how much black out, and what degree of coverage (how far into the surface of the 'flap'), this was a human factor issue dealing with individual painter, time of build, shift, Etc. What most judges look for is simply the presence of SOME blackout overspray and let the issue rest there. So, this is an area you can be 'creative' with and try to duplicate the 'union worker in a hurry to execute job completion and obey then current QA/QC write-up policy. Have fun! -
Re: 67 front wiring harness
Jack, thanks for the valuable info. I can now go back to work on my engine compartment. MikeComment
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