Engine over-spray re-re-revisited

[Steve Antonucci]

Hey everyone - I'm back on to this Tonawanda engine over-spray issue.

During one of our last debates over this topic, a fellow NCRS member offered
to send me a reprint of an article he had read covering some Tonawanda processes
as they pertained to painting of our illustrious big block engines.
While most of this article covers non-painting issues, it does mention a few
operations that I would like to share with everyone here.

First off, I'd like to thank Dr. Gary Cox for sending me this article. It's
friendships and kindness like this that make this board my favorite!!! There
are also so many others here that have helped me, and continue to help me
research & learn more about the Chevy big block engines as they existed back in
the day. My hat's off to all of you !

BTW, this article was in the: 1966 Corvette News magazine Volume 9 No. 5
I am not claiming any credit for this information. I just thought I would
post it here for all to see as I'm sure some have not seen this information
before. Here is a basic run-down of the assembly steps on BBC engines per
this article:

- After rough machining operations, block surfaces are broached, cylinders
honed, main & camshaft bores are line-bored.

- High pressure water cleaning and hot air drying of the blocks.

- Install camshaft

- Main bearings & crankshaft installation along with rough cap bolt tightening.
All cap bolts are then hand torqued.

- Timing gears & chain installation followed by hand torquing.

- Piston are installed, bearings & caps added, rod nuts are hand torqued.

- Flywheel & clutch are installed. Now, based on some of the pictures in this
article, the bell housing is also installed and appears to be unpainted.
BTW, the oil pan is not yet installed.

- Oil pump installation

- Oil pan installation ( all 20 pan bolts tightened at one time ).

- Assembled short block turned over to assemble heads.

- Cylinder head water coolant passages were filled with shaving cream
( yes, that's what it mentions ). This was evidently done to keep stray
core sand particles from falling into the assembled engine. I'll have to
try this one - one day. And no, the brand of shaving cream wasn't mentioned.
Remember the old Noxema Shaving Cream commercials with the blonde? My money
goes with Noxema - HA HA.

- Cylinder head bolts are hand touqued.

- Initial valve clearance set with feeler gauges.

- Manifolds, water pump, and temperature sending unit installed.
High pressure testing of cooling system is then performed.

- Engines then go to the testing area ( less carburetor(s) and engine
accessories ). Water & oil are added. A temporary exhaust system is
attached. Liquid petroleum gas in pumped into the intake manifold. Also,
a temporary starter is used to crank the engine.

- Once the engine passes this inspection phase, it goes off to painting.
REMEMBER PAINTING?

- Preformed masks are placed on the engine to shield all components that
shouldn't be painted. With a wall of water behind and beneath the engines,
they are sprayed with a quick-drying enamel paint.

OK - What is this wall of water all about? Anybody! Buehler!

So, we have a somewhat better idea of what is assembled on the engines at the time of painting.
There's tons more to figure out. But a few things are evident. The engines are suspended
from an overhead hoist via a plate on the intake - carburetor mounting flange. One picture in particular shows the
painting process and the exhaust manifolds appear to be in place. This is a
small picture, but a valuable one for reference. BTW, this picture shows
painted valve covers, so I am guessing either 1965 & 1966 Tonawanda assembly
footage. Would those practices have held true through 1969 and possibly later?

One item I still have not gotten a firm answer on is the incorporation of the
BB engine lift hooks in 1969. Were they used to suspend the engines during
painting, or was the plate on the carburetor mounting flange still used?

Can anyone give me a contact reference for Corvette News magazine? I am hoping
they are still in business today. They must have some file photos we can get
our hooks into.

Lastly, one photo shows a fork-lift truck accessing a nine engine rack of BBC
engines at the Tonawanda plant. I'd love to have just one of those racks!

One other thing to add. I hope posting this information does not infringe on
anyones copy rights, etc.. My intention is to help all of us, not hurt anyone.
I hope that is enough said.

Steve

[Michael H.]

Re: Engine over-spray re-re-revisited

Steve,

I tried to get the original photos from both Corvette News and GM photographic about 30 years ago without success. That doesn't mean they don't exist somewhere though. I wanted to have proof that the exhaust manifolds were in place when the engine was painted. That IS a great picture.

I was also trying to duplicate/fabricate the small mask that was placed over most of the by-pass hose at the water pump.

Interesting writeup. Thanks....

[Kevin M.]

Re: Engine over-spray re-re-revisited

Water curtain was used for over spray I think. Cleaner than a spray booth and then probably strained the paint off the water. Hope you find those pictures.

Kevin

[Steve Antonucci]

Re: Engine over-spray re-re-revisited

I also tried to contact GM about file photos. Maybe the NCRS can help as
a body of people vs. just me or a few others. I will keep you all posted.

Steve

[Verne Frantz]

Re: Engine over-spray re-re-revisited

Steve,
The contract for the body of photos I have access to was granted on an individual basis for one seminar presentation, without the backing of any organization. I would hope that you could engage a similar contract. I would think that your intended use of those photos would be the deciding factor in landing a contract. My use was non-profit and non-publication, which may have made the agreement much easier to obtain.

Good luck.
Verne

[Steve Antonucci]

Re: Engine over-spray re-re-revisited

Verne & others,

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I contacted GM in an effort to gain access to historical photos for research purposes. I just recieved an email back from GM and it clearly indicates that they will allow limited access to file photos for "research" purposes.

My sincere thanks go out to Verne Frantz for his assistance in getting me to the appropriate parties within GM to asist in this endeavor.

This is a portion of GM's response:

"Hello Steve,

I received your request--yes, I'm still here to help! I will be happy to assist you with obtaining images of the assembly process.

Each request made to the Archive receives review by appropriate sources within GM. Yours was reviewed, and approved for me to proceed, with research and fulfillment fees."

This is the email I sent to GM concerning this research project:

Good evening,

My name is Steve Antonucci. I am a member of the NCRS ( National Corvette Restorers Society ) as well as a member of several other well known GM performance car forums.

Many of us are dedicated to the restoration of our GM performance cars from the "historical accuracy" point of view. For those of us in the restoration hobby, there can never be too much accurate, factual information to call upon for reference.

There have been numerous heated debates regarding what was correct "back in the day" as this pertains to the way GM ( Chevrolet ) applied component finishes to our cars. Recently, a topic was brought up regarding the correct painting process used by GM on big block engines assembled at the Tonawanda plant. Someone mentioned seeing an image showing an assembly line and that this image clearly showed that the information we were all working from may have been incorrect. After all, we are talking about cars that were manufactured 35 or more years ago.

The purpose for this correspondence is simply to ask if there is any way to gain access to historical images GM has in its archives. Many of us want to return our cars to their correct, former glory. We are after all talking about a piece of American history. These cars deserve to be brought back to their original glory. They truly represent a place in time that never will be again.

The image I referred to simply showed an engine assembled in its chassis awaiting assembly with the body. The image clearly showed that the engines exhaust manifolds were painted the same orange color as the block, cylinder heads, etc.. This was in stark contrast to the information we refer to in a biblical sense.

It then became somewhat obvious to many of us that GM must have tons of these types of images ( pictures ) in their archives. While we strive very hard to get our cars correct as originally manufactured, photos may exist that would shed serious light on what was original.

I would respectfully ask if their is any way to gain access to file photos for historical reference purposes.

Please consider this an honest and serious request.

Thank you for your time,

Stephen C. Antonucci

OK, I'll have to learn more about the fees and let you all know. Might I be
so presumptuous as to ask if any others would be available to assist me in
this research task? If fees are involved, I am more than happy to do my part.
Would any other members be willing to share any costs? Please don't ask me
for a budget yet. I have a lot more to do on this, but I just wanted to throw
some chum into the water.

I'll be back in-touch !

Steve