frame paint colors

[Marc W.]

I was looking at a 57 Corvette on e-bay today.What are all the different color paint marks someone at the factory made on different underbody parts? What do they all mean?
Thanks

[Joe L.]

Re: frame paint colors

Marc-----

Basically, they are all assembly line information. They are a more-or-less crude way of marking the car so that the right equipment can be installed on the car or provide other information to assemblers to assist in the build-up of the vehicle. Vehicle assembly in the old days wasn't nearly as sophisticated as it is today with computers and bar code identification of components. Crayons and chalk marks were the "norm".

Sometimes, paint or dye marks on COMPONENTS represent inspection marks confirming certain aspects of the part's manufacture. These marks are emplaced at the point of manufacture of said components and not at the vehicle assembly plant.