62- Where does the firewall Blackout end

[Anthony P.]

Hello,

I have a few questions as to where the blackout ends and bare fiberglass is for the following areas:

Front of car:
1. Firewall: How far into the transmission tunnel is blacked out, as well as the areas on either side towards the floor boards?

2. How far towards the Front wheel wells- Does the blackout go into the areas that are behind the front splash shields? Is there any blackout near where the back side of the dimmer switch is?

Rear of car:
3. I know it states in the JM that the wheel wells are blacked out. For the rear wheels, how far into the underside does the blackout go? Does it stop at the outside of the frame area?

Pictures would be great showing all of these areas.

Thanks,

Tony

[Jack H.]

Re: 62- Where does the firewall Blackout end

Things like this are hard to define. Why? Well, you're asking about a human factors issue that varies from car to car...

How aggressive was that particular black out painter on that particular day when that specific car went through his work station? Did he cough or hiccup when he was spraying? Was he distracted in some other manner?

That's typically why you don't see descriptive text get specific when it comes to things that were affected by human factors (e.g. Where does this/that label go? Where does the Chevy orange stop on a bellhousing?)

[Anthony P.]

Re: 62- Where does the firewall Blackout end

Yes I realize it is difficult to define exactly, and there are lots of variables. I am looking more for "very" general guidance.

For example: The black over spray at a minimum goes towards the lower slope of the tunnel; From the wheel wells, goes to at least the frame, etc.

Thanks,
Tony

[Jack H.]

Re: 62- Where does the firewall Blackout end

Still, I don't think it's possible to answer even to THAT level of generality, Tony. Here's why.

When I was restoring my '65 BB, I looked at the wheel wells of approximately 100 unrestored Corvettes to get a feel for undercoating and blackout coverage. The car with the least coverage had a 'dribble' of undercoating, about 1.5" wide down the center of the wheel well in an arc of roughly 45-degrees centered off top center.

The car with most coverage had undercoating FULLY covering the wheel well's inner surface (end to end and inside to outside) with abnoxious drips frozen in place at both the forward and rearward ends of the wheel well. I concluded there was no 'right' answer and this was a human factors variable with a LARGE standard deviation...

[Anthony P.]

Re: 62- Where does the firewall Blackout end

Thanks Jack.. Understood.. That definitely makes it much easier for me to do the blackout, and not get it wrong <smiles>