Starter/ Flywheel dust shield

[Michael G.]

Is the shield that closes out the front of the bellhousing on a 63 supposed to be black?

Thanks,

[Jack H.]

Re: Starter/ Flywheel dust shield

I believe you'll find the service spares were painted black (prevent rusting while sitting in stock) while the factory original parts were natural and painted Chevy orange with the engine + bell housing at the Flint engine plant...

[Joe L.]

Re: Starter/ Flywheel dust shield

I believe you'll find the service spares were painted black (prevent rusting while sitting in stock) while the factory original parts were natural and painted Chevy orange with the engine + bell housing at the Flint engine plant...

Jack and Michael-----

Yup, that's how it was. Only ONE Chevrolet engine application with manual transmission from 1955 to 1981 used a black-painted bellhousing lower cover. So, what was that application? 1969 ZL-1 used in Corvettes and Camaros.

[Michael G.]

Re: Starter/ Flywheel dust shield

Joe and jack,

One of my cars has a black shield, the other one has orange. I'm sure they were both built that way at the plant....

Thanks,

[Joe L.]

Re: Starter/ Flywheel dust shield

Joe and jack,

One of my cars has a black shield, the other one has orange. I'm sure they were both built that way at the plant....

Thanks,

Mike-----


If the one with the black one was actually built that way, I'd say it's a factory anomaly like nothing I've ever seen before. As Jack mentions, the factory shields were bare metal and were painted with the engine. Very often, this cover received "spotty" or "incomplete" paint coverage and the bare metal substrate is quite obvious and can be seen on many cars. I've never seen a factory installed cover that was painted engine orange but which showed black "holidays".

So, if yours was originally built with a black-painted cover, then TWO very unusual things had to happen coincidentally. First, a painted-type SERVICE cover had to be used in place of the PRODUCTION natural steel cover. Second, when the engine was painted, the painter would have had to entirely avoid painting the cover.

While I would not rule out that both of the above might have occurred, I don't think you'd get any judge to accept that such a situation was "typical of factory production".

[Michael G.]

Re: Starter/ Flywheel dust shield

Sorry Joe, I was just kidding, hence the symbol. My black car tends to have quite a few of these "build anomalies", as do most "raised from the dead" cars. I've got the Chevy Orange Krylon ready to go....

Thanks,