Trim Tag Attachment

[Joe C.]

When was the trim tag rivetted to the dash brace for AO Smith bodied midyears? Noland's book seems to have a conflict. At one point in the first chapter, he states that the tag was attached in the trim shop, toward the end of assembly. Further on in the first chapter, there is pictured a 1965 big block body entering the paint booth. The caption reads :"the trim tag is barely visible on the "z bar". Which is correct? Were there different procedures for Smith and St Louis bodies?
Thanks in advance for any clarification.

Joe

[John H.]

Re: Trim Tag Attachment

Joe -

My '67 A.O. Smith convertible (body built May 24th) has no paint of any kind on the trim tag, and plenty behind it; appears to have been attached after paint.

[Joe C.]

Re: Trim Tag Attachment

John:

That makes sense, and I am thinking that that ought to be the consensus. If the "Z brace" was lightly shot with interior color paint, then paint would be evident on the face of the tag if the tag were installed prior to interior assembly(except if it was masked).

There is one problem with this---the trim tag on my '65 Smith roadster has the nice, ugly chartreuse primer under it, and the rest of the brace has a light coat of interior color paint. There is no paint on the trim tag. Is it possible that the tag was installed prior to painting, and masked. Again, Noland's book shows a contradiction. Is the brace under the tag chartreuse, or interior color on your car?

Joe

[Jack layton #896]

Re: Trim Tag Attachment

I have a blue on blue june 1965 AO Smith convert with 65+K miles.
The ventral surface of the lower Z bar is chartruese.
The lateral containing the two plates has two colors. The portion of the face to the left of the trim tag is black. The portion of the face to the right of the glove box bracket is solid blue. Between these locations the bar is a "fog" over spray blue. The area behind the trim tag ( very difficult to see since the tag is in the way) appears to be this light fog over spray blue. Neither the trim tag
nor the VIN tag shows any sign of paint.

[John H.]

Re: Trim Tag Attachment

Joe -

My car is essentially identical to Jack's - black toward the center, overspray blue from the trim tag outboard, and not a trace of paint of any kind on either the trim tag or the VIN plate.