Does anyone know if GM was still using lacquer on C3s in 1976 or an acrylic type paint. I know my '78 had a water based paint on it but curious about the 1976 year and in what year did they switch over.
Thanks
Thanks
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Re: Type of paint used in 1976
My understanding is that all St. Louis built cars were painted with acrylic lacquer. GM never invested in a new St. Louis paint line as the plan to close the plant and move Corvette production had been in place for some time.
Base coat/clear coat was used at Bowling Green, and the Bowling Green plant never used lacquer.
The 1981 model year was the transistion to Bowling Green, so St. Louis '81s (VIN code S) are lacquer. Only a few thousand '81s were built at Bowling Green as production didn't start until June
Duke -
Re: Type of paint used in 1976
Every Corvette built in St louis used lacquer . No Corvettes used water base .Comment
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Re: Type of paint used in 1976
Thanks Duke and Bill.
What I recall from years ago when I had that new '78, I took it into a So Cal dealership for some paint touch up due to some junk falling out of a truck on the freeway. The shop manager said that this will be hard to get right since GM was using water based paint...blah..blah. Maybe they were on other cars, but as you guys have pointed out, the Corvettes were still lacquer.Comment
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Re: Type of paint used in 1976
Corvette was probably the last hold out for GM lacquer.
I think "water-based paint" refers to the primers used for BC/CC jobs. I'm pretty sure the color coat is petroleum solvent based, and the clear coat is a catalyzed urethane. The color coats are very thin - no more than one to two mils, and the clear coat is about 2 mils, so they have low emissions due to the small amount of material used per job. And if the clear coat is broken the color coat deteriorates very rapidly.
Some of the later Corvette lacquer jobs may have had a lacquer clear coat. The '78 Silver Anniversary comes to mind.
DukeComment
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Re: Type of paint used in 1976
Duke, I stand to be corrected, but I believe that some of the OEM's are using a water borne color under a solvent based clear. They are doing this to reduce the VOC'sDick WhittingtonComment
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Re: Type of paint used in 1976
Duke, Some other cars were lacquer much later than the Corvette. It must have been cheaper, because State of North Carolina fleet cars, specifically the Chevy Cavilier was done in Lacquer up into the 90s.Comment
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Re: Type of paint used in 1976
That could be. Both water solvent and petroleum solvent based color coats could be in use. I don't like the term "water born" because it makes it sound like cars are being painted with house paint. That's definitely not the case.
I talked to the Bowling Green paint shop manager at the LA Auto Show a few years ago and got the lowdown on the Corvette paint process, but I may have forgotten some of the details.
DukeComment
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Re: Type of paint used in 1976
I think that John Hinckley could give us the lowdown on this. I read a post he made on modern paints in the last few days. He is probably in BloomingtonDick WhittingtonComment
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(Message Deleted by Poster)
Message Deleted by PosterComment
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Re: Type of paint used in 1976
Your post is vague and inaccurate, but since this Board is about vintage Corvettes, and the subject of the thread is Corvette paint processes, I'll leave it at that.
DukeComment
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Re: Type of paint used in 1976
Virtually all modern assembly plant paint shops are using waterborne basecoat and 2-component solvent-based catalyzed clearcoat. The basecoat application is very tricky, as the spray booths must be controlled to +/- 1*F and +/- 1% humidity. Also required replacing miles and miles of paint circulating system pipes with stainless steel pipe, plus all the associated pumps, valves, and heat exchangers, for tens of millions of dollars. All to reduce booth and oven VOC's.
Nobody has yet come up with a waterborne clearcoat that works.
The GM truck plant in Shreveport, Louisiana has been using powder primer for almost twenty years.Comment
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