63 Driveline Finish Advice

[Howard Cox]

I'm restoring my 63 SWC Fuelie and need some advice on the natural finish components. I hope to have the car flight judged when it's finished and it may be as long as a year before the car is finished. After it's judged I want to keep it as "fresh" looking as possible.

Should I clear over or use cast blast (where appropriate) the natural finished components to stop surface rust? Any other suggestions?

What are the point deductions if I choose to use clear or cast blast?

Your input will be appreciated.

[Harry Sadlock]

Re: 63 Driveline Finish Advice

Howard, on 63 and 64 models, everything was painted black. Looks ugly but that's the way it was. I'll see if I can post a picture later today.

Harry

[Harry Sadlock]

Re: 63 Driveline Finish Advice

Nice isn't it!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tracy C.]

Re: 63 Driveline Finish Advice... Duke?

Great pic, but I didn't know the fuel tank was installed during the chassis black application. Anyone know if this carried through all of 63 & 64 or did it stop at some point?

Duke, Did your original tank have black overspray?

tc

[Harry Sadlock]

Re: 63 Driveline Finish Advice... Duke?

Also notice, no brake lines yet.

Harry

[Harry Sadlock]

Re: 63 Driveline Finish Advice... Duke?

Just got a bit of help in an email on the picture.

I'll pass it along:

That pic of the chassis blackout was on a pilot run car so a lot of what you see in the pic is totally different than actual production. For the pilot cars, they painted just about everything in sight but the fuel tank and some other components wouldn't have been hit.

The assembly procedure was a lot different for the pilot cars too. Brake/fuel lines would have been in place at the time of final blackout, along with the engine/transmission and drive/prop shafts.

This particular shot and operation was in the body paint booth, not on the actual chassis line where it would normally have been done. The regular chassis line would have been filled with 62 chassis at the time so they had to do the 63 pilot chassis blackout elsewhere.

[Tracy C.]

Re: 63 Driveline Finish Advice... Duke?

Very Helpful Harry. Give my regards to the "infophantom" (presume MH)

Glad to know he still still checks in on us..

tc

[Howard Cox]

Re: 63 Driveline Finish Advice

Then why do they mention the finish of the components in the judging manual as natural and point deduction if they are not correct. How can the judges tell if its blacked out? I'm confused!

[Tracy C.]

Re: 63 Driveline Finish Advice

Howard,

Don't be confused. Harry posted that the pic is a pilot line chassis. That means it is for one of the very first few 63's.

Production changed several things no longer practiced in the picture.

tc

[Rainer S.]

Re: 63 Driveline Finish Advice

I am also restoring a 63 SWC fuelie and completed the drive line over 1 1/2 years ago. Put the body back on and the car spend the last 1 1/2 years in my garage or at (2) painters.
Just got it back last week.
I left all respected items "natural",as per the JM.
To stop them from rusting right away, I sprayed the parts, which had been media blasted, with several coats of clear.
The parts still look fairly good, but I can see small amounts of rust seeping thru. I plan to leave them this way until the car is judged. If I feel brave, I may re-paint some of them black (in place),with the appropriate masking-off of the adjacent areas. This may be a problem with the clear, but don't know yet.
If I had to do it over again, I would paint some select components semi-gloss black and take the deduction.(such as front and rear spindle assy, driveshafts and axle housing, front stabilizer bar and steering gear housing and steering linkage). But I live in Michigan and the components, which are still OK right now, will surely rust, as soon as I start driving the car, which I will, as soon as it has been judged...
I will not do anything to the components, which are aluminum, I like the patina after they are exposed to moisture.
Others may have their suggestions, what to do to keep parts in "natural" condition using different methods...

Rainer

[Harry Sadlock]

Re: 63 Driveline Finish Advice

Here's a great pic of the completely unrestored Gary Cox 63 car differential/drive. Still a lot of chassis black on the entire diff housing and half shafts. And how about those "drips hanging off the frame at the top of the pic.

[Harry Sadlock]

Re: 63 Driveline Finish Advice

As I recall the blackout process was discontinued in 1965 as there was a concern about the disc brakes.

Now that we had a chance to look at the pictures, I like the 65 to 67 look. For my car I would use cast blast, clear, etc wherever I thought it would look good and take the point hit.

Harry