Asphalt Coating Prior to Body Drop

[Jeff Z.]

Front sway bar/links attaching to lower control arm
Front Springs (portion visible between frame and lower control arm)
Lower control arm mounting bolts/anchor plates
Lower control arm bumper/bolts
Lower ball joint
Front spindles/steering arm
Upper control arm mounting studs/nuts
Upper ball joints
Front shock upper washers/nuts
Relay rod/tie rods/adjusting sleeves/clamps (this resulted in Asphalt overspray on oil pan and maybe harmonic balancer/pulley)
Steel brakelines/brass junction blocks/rubber hoses/clips
Motor mounts and ground straps (overspray on block)
Steering box/coupler/pitman arm (overspray on left exhaust manifold)
Fuel line/clamps/bolts (maybe overspray on fuel pump)
Battery box/attaching bolts
Front exhaust pipes (over spray exhaust manifolds/starter/rear transmission/shifter base)
Center exhaust hanger/ground straps
Emergency brake cables/equalizer
Driveshaft/yokes (overspray transmission tailshaft)
Pinion support/bolts
Rear shock/mounting bolts
Mufflers/rear exhaust pipes (overspray spare tire carrier/rear spring/bottom ends gas tank)

Other questions:


Upper control arm alignment shims not sure when installed and if coated. Also true of rear trailing arm shims.

Pages 73,176, 200, 241 of Noland Adams also shows nice bottom views of 63/64 chassis. Bottom surfaces show minimal coverage which probably makes sense due to fact chassis on assembly line cart was at about mid thigh level of workers and was probably difficult to spray under (p28.29). Bottom views also show what appears to be over spray on oil pans.

Thanks
Jeff

[Michael H.]

Re: Asphalt Coating Prior to Body Drop

Thanks
Jeff

I'm a little surprised no one posted on this.

[Michael G.]

Re: Asphalt Coating Prior to Body Drop

Michael, I'm sure this is probably a difficult pill to swallow for all those guys (me included) who own 63 and 64 cars with pristine chassis.

Its going to be difficult to spray asphalt all over my freshly restored components, but I think the evidence is pretty compelling that that day will have to come, assuming our cars are to really be returned to "as delivered" condition...

[John D.]

Re: Asphalt Coating Prior to Body Drop

Jeff, Your post is probably one of the better if not the best 63 chassis post I have ever seen. Now I have most certainly read a ton of discussion on the proper finishes of various parts but no post as ever been presented in such excrusiating detail.
Great job Jeff. If you are able to pull this off your chassis will most likely be one of the most accurate ones out there.
Good luck, JD

[Gary F.]

Re: Asphalt Coating Prior to Body Drop

Jeff, Your post is probably one of the better if not the best 63 chassis post I have ever seen. Now I have most certainly read a ton of discussion on the proper finishes of various parts but no post as ever been presented in such excrusiating detail.
Great job Jeff. If you are able to pull this off your chassis will most likely be one of the most accurate ones out there.
Good luck, JD

Jeff, I definately agree with John. Take tons of pics, and write down your procedure. Why? So you can publish probably the most accurate book on chassis restoration the C-2 has ever seen ( I will buy one ).

[Tracy C.]

Re: Asphalt Coating Prior to Body Drop

........I plan on duplicating the factory process and need help from the 63 experts verifying the follow parts are coated prior to body drop..........

Thanks
Jeff

Jeff, I applaud your quest for perfection here, but I don't think we yet have a conclusive listing of the amount of black goo coverage for the items you list. Your car will be the best place to look for clues.

I think the workers only had about 5 -7 minutes on each chassis at any given point on the production line. That isn't much time to be very precise. Imagine being one of the blackout guys with 5 minutes to blow goo on the bare metal components of the chassis. Barring additional information, that is how I'm going to proceed.

Prior to body drop I will roll my late July 63 chassis out into the yard and I will walk around the chassis and spray every natural finished component from the top side with asphalt based goo. I will not hit the ball joints, springs, or small items like alignment shims, but will shoot the rear driveline, drive shaft, steering box, front spindles, backing plates, tie rods, and stabilizer bar.

I plan to adjust the spray fan to about 8 inch and will sweep across the target area with one pass. I will not try to get 100% coverage. In fact I will try to leave some items will very little coverage so the original finish of at least a few of the fasteners can be detemined.

I will limit this exercise to 5 minutes and then walk away and not look back. Clean my gun and let the goo dry before I roll it back into my shop. I'm aware the goo will never actually "dry", but the solvents will evaporate and it will firm up to some degree.

I just hope our chassis judges will eventually embrace this approach. Recent reports of those having 63/4 car judged aren't too positive yet. I am confident however we can move in this direction soon.

tc

[Michael G.]

Re: Asphalt Coating Prior to Body Drop

Tracy, It might be easier to just hire the guy who seals your driveway to spray asphalt randomly a few places under your Vette. That's what I'm gonna do...

Happy New Year

[Timothy B.]

Re: Asphalt Coating Prior to Body Drop

When you guys do this I want to see some pictures..

[Tom H.]

Re: Asphalt Coating Prior to Body Drop

I plan to adjust the spray fan to about 8 inch and will sweep across the target area with one pass. I will not try to get 100% coverage. In fact I will try to leave some items will very little coverage so the original finish of at least a few of the fasteners can be detemined.

I will limit this exercise to 5 minutes and then walk away and not look back. tc

I have to admire your desire to duplicate this process. I think if you are really gonna do this ( and I know you are ! ), maybe you should do a dry run around the chasis walking around it with your spray gun practicing your technique in advance. I'd have to think 5 minutes will be a long time. I know you'll get it right, but 5 minutes just seems like it will look like a dipped candle ! Can't wait to see your results. I think a video would be awesome. Again, I applaud the guys willing to recreate the appearance of the original 63 chassis.

[Tony S.]

Re: Asphalt Coating Prior to Body Drop

Good discussion. There was a fairly recent photo on the back cover of the Restorer showing the chassis blackout by a St. Louis plant guy. Pretty compelling evidence how extensive the blackout process was performed. The chassis was upright when the asphault blackout was performed, so you'll want to be sure to keep your chassis in one place if you decide to replicate the process. The top of the half shafts and driveline will show blackout, but the underneath side shouldn't. If you roll your chassis when you blackout, you'll get more coverage than would be factory correct.

If memory serves me correctly, the original color of the differential before blackout was pretty dark. Too many restored cars have differentials that are too light in color. They seemed to oxidize fairly quickly into a color that approximated a wrought iron color--towards a flat black.

Good luck with your project. Education for all of us is the key. If you document and present your evidence, judges should respond positively. It just takes time to get the info out there. You should communicate with the Society's 63 national judging chairman because your information should spread faster if it's from the top down.

Good luck.

[Rob M.]

Re: Asphalt Coating Prior to Body Drop

Was your car a pilot car (VIN < 26)?

[Tracy C.]

Re: Asphalt Coating Prior to Body Drop

.....maybe you should do a dry run around the chasis walking around it with your spray gun practicing your technique in advance. I'd have to think 5 minutes will be a long time. I know you'll get it right, but 5 minutes just seems like it will look like a dipped candle ! ..............

Good idea on the practice dry run..er..make that a wet run. Maybe I'll shoot some straight mineral spirts to practice with first. It won't be 5 minutes of non stop shooting. There will be alot of spritzing and gun positioning going on.

I'll do this sometime in the heat of next summer. I want a good hot day to speed solvent evaporation.

tc

[Michael G.]

Re: Asphalt Coating Prior to Body Drop

Tracy, This will also be a great way to eliminate the need to mow your yard. It will be nice to have a model of the La Brea tar pits in Kansas.

[Tom H.]

Re: Asphalt Coating Prior to Body Drop

I'll do this sometime in the heat of next summer. I want a good hot day to speed solvent evaporation.

tc

Would baking in a paint booth be a way to solve the drying / curing issue ??

[Tracy C.]

Re: Asphalt Coating Prior to Body Drop

Probably...if you have one. I'm not that fortunate. I'd want a sheet of plastic on the floor if I did.