Ignition Shield Brackets '69 L71

[John M.]

The 69 judging manual calls for the shield box brackets to be engine orange. When I bought the car the brackets were semi gloss black so I painted them. I just received the 68-82 Vette Views which says all big block brackets were black. Which is correct? Thanks

[Ed]

Re: Ignition Shield Brackets '69 L71

John, I too have been confused on this issue, as my L-68 car was missing all the shields, etc. when I acquired it. When I ordered repro. brackets, they arrived wearing a coat of gloss black paint. Per the judging manual, I painted them orange.

In addition to the judging manual as a reference, two years ago I took underhood pictures of several '69 big block survivor cars at Bloomington....all shield brackets were engine orange. '69 Judges....can you confirm this is "correct"??

Ed

[Everett Ogilvie]

Re: Ignition Shield Brackets '69 L71

My unrestored, 2 owner '69 L89 has orange brackets, in sad shape alas, but original I believe.

[Jack H.]

Re: Ignition Shield Brackets '69 L71

Finding correct originals (drilled with captive weld nut for both upper/lower dist shield bolts) is tough. Most will be orange but I suspect presense of paint follows the engine itself.

Nobody was into 'make work' then. If intake manifold was steel and painted orange, brackets were on when 'quicky' paint was applied. If intake was cast aluminum and left natural, odds are REAL GOOD they guys didn't mask the aluminum just to get a spritz of orange on the shield brackets!

Dick/Reba Whittington ought to be able to nail this jelly to the tree for us. Above is my 2 cents for what it's worth.... Shows thought process of how it could be both ways (orange and/or natural supplier color).

[Chester]

Re: Ignition Shield Brackets '69 L71

My 68 L36 are orange.

[steve styllis]

Re: Ignition Shield Brackets '69 L71

My unrestored 69 L89's brackets are orange.

Steve

[Joe L.]

Re: Ignition Shield Brackets '69 L71

John-----

As far as I know, these brackets were painted engine color for both small and big block engines. Generally, the brackets available from GM, in SERVICE, are dip-painted semi-gloss black. Not all, though. Some are bare metal and are usually somewhat rusty "out of the box".

[Dick W.]

Re: Ignition Shield Brackets '69 L71

John, all the original cars that we viewed had orange brackets. This is what we based the manual on. I personally have never seen a Bow Tie quality car that did not have orange brackets.

The black brackets are probably either GM service replacements or current reproduction. We spent over 10 years in the parts business, before retiring, and all of the "new" brackets were black.

I hope that this clears up your confusion. We realize that the manuals are not perfect in all areas, but this is one item I feel very confident about.

[Patrick H.]

Re: Ignition Shield Brackets '69 L71 - Brushed?

The 70-72 manual says that for small blocks (I know, a different factory), the ignition shield brackets were brush painted, and that original cars had been noticed with poorly applied paint containing brush marks. Any truth to this on big blocks too? As noted by another, I have a hard time believing that they would mask them to paint them.

Just a thought.

[Jack H.]

Re: Ignition Shield Brackets '69 L71 - Brushed?

Originals I've seen in parts piles (hard to tell specific year/appln) were downright 'ratty' in terms of paint consistency. Blobs, runs, misses, Etc.