63 Front Suspension Finish Questions

[Marco H.]

Gentlemen,
I am trying to replicate the factory assembly procedure for the suspension on my '63 (built Feb 23rd). (Other than assemble it upside-down.)
It is my understanding that the front spindle-steering arm-backing plate-brakes-drum were pre-assembled and then coated black.

Question: the brakes were installed and adjusted, the wheel bearings were greased and adjusted, grease cap installed, wheel cylinder in place? Was the brake hose also attached at that point? Any overspray on it? Did they mask the brake bleeder? Were all the parts natural prior to black coating? .
Were the wheel studs/ bearing dust cap masked, or did they get coated with black? Was the coating used similar to the tar based frame paint?

Drive shaft stencil: what color should it be?

Frame stencil: Should it be white on the pass side or red on the driver side for this Feb built car?

Any help and clarifications are greatly appreciated.

Marco

[Michael G.]

Re: 63 Front Suspension Finish Questions

Marco, I think you probably need to specify what your goal is here, i.e., is car to match the judging manual, or, do you want to duplicate the original production process? I think these two intents, at this point, are a bit different. As I found out in having to remove all the original-type black coating from my rear suspension, its important to understand these differences if it is to be judged car.

[Marco H.]

Re: 63 Front Suspension Finish Questions

Mike,
The goal is to replicate the factory finishes as they were applied during the manufacture of the chassis. The new JG appears to be a clear step backwards in certain areas. I have read your thread regarding the rear suspension finishes on your car. My suggestion to you would be, to leave the black finishes as they are replicating what St. Louis did in '63. My car will be judged, and yes it will have all the black out in place. There is plenty of documentation to show the blacked out suspension on a '63. Knowledgeable judges will recognize it.
I am trying to not just paint all parts black and then assemble it (that makes the assembly too sanitary looking.) These sub-assemblies clearly show areas where the paint didn't reach, and I'd like to duplicate that.
The questions I posted are more in depth regarding details of masking certain areas. I will pre-assemble the spindle-brake assy with the drum and paint it as such. (The backing plate will lack coverage behind the spindle, the brake side of the backing plate will stay natural as well, due to coverage of the drum.)
I hope this clarifies my intentions. Thanks for your interest.

Marco

[Michael H.]

Re: 63 Front Suspension Finish Questions

marco, i think you probably need to specify what your goal is here, i.e., is car to match the judging manual, or, do you want to duplicate the original production process?

lol........

[Michael H.]

Re: 63 Front Suspension Finish Questions

Gentlemen,
I am trying to replicate the factory assembly procedure for the suspension on my '63 (built Feb 23rd). (Other than assemble it upside-down.)
It is my understanding that the front spindle-steering arm-backing plate-brakes-drum were pre-assembled and then coated black.

Question: the brakes were installed and adjusted, the wheel bearings were greased and adjusted, grease cap installed, wheel cylinder in place? Was the brake hose also attached at that point? Any overspray on it? Did they mask the brake bleeder? Were all the parts natural prior to black coating? .
Were the wheel studs/ bearing dust cap masked, or did they get coated with black? Was the coating used similar to the tar based frame paint?

Drive shaft stencil: what color should it be?

Frame stencil: Should it be white on the pass side or red on the driver side for this Feb built car?

Any help and clarifications are greatly appreciated.

Marco

Marco,

For the front spindle/brake assembly, all of the components were installed/assembled prior to the time of painting. That means that the spindle, backing plate, hub and drum were coated as one assembly. That included the wheel studs and grease cap. The brake shoes/springs etc were already assembled inside the drum.

The threaded hole for the brake hose in the back of the wheel cyl would have had a plastic plug to mask it. I don't remember if the brake bleeder was covered/capped.

As you mentioned, some areas of the backing plate behind the spindle would be lightly coated, or missed entirely.

The upper and lower ends of the spindle with the tapered hole for the ball joint stud would have been covered somehow but I don't know exactly how that was done. I think I may have a picture of a new assembly that will show us exactly how much of the ends would be unpainted. Probably just the first inch or two.

I don't remember the color of the stencil characters on the drive shaft. However, after installation, the shaft would have been coated with chassis black.

[Alan D.]

Re: 63 Front Suspension Finish Questions

"There is plenty of documentation to show the blacked out suspension on a '63. Knowledgeable judges will recognize it." Unfortunately the present position of the judges is NO Black Out and they will not look or consider anything else. That changed this year so expect to loose 5-6 points on rear suspension and another 4 on front however that's not a big number.

[Michael H.]

Re: 63 Front Suspension Finish Questions

Marco,

Hare's a poor pic of a new 63 chassis on the line. I enlarged/cropped to show detail.

You can see where the chassis black ends at the upper end of the spindle. It almost appears to have been covered or masked at the last few inches.
The lower section is more difficult to see though.

Also, the 2nd picture with the brake drum removed shows two black circles on the face of the spindle flange between the wheel studs. These areas exactly match the two extra holes in a rear brake drum. That proves that the entire rear control arm, spindle, brake assembly was painted after it was assembled. In fact, that's the way the assembly arrived at the St Louis assembly plant. Painted and ready to install.
Note that the center hub of the spindle and the studs are also black. More proof that the the paint operation occurred after the assembly was complete.

[Gary F.]

Re: 63 Front Suspension Finish Questions

Absolutely SUPER info on factory procedure Mike. Too bad no one has done an article on it. I, for one, would be very interested in it.

[Bob J.]

Re: 63 Front Suspension Finish Questions

Many people provided pics of "factory" blackout but it didn't seem to matter.
Below are pics of factory blackout on rear drum backing plates.
Bob

[Michael H.]

Re: 63 Front Suspension Finish Questions

Below are pics of factory blackout on rear drum backing plates.
Bob

Bob,

Yup. Black on the exposed side but no black on the brake shoe side of the backing plate. That would kinda prove how/when the backing plates were coated. It had to be a complete control arm assembly including drums, backing plates, spindle and brake shoes etc.

[Bob J.]

Re: 63 Front Suspension Finish Questions

Michael, yes, bare metal on the brake shoe side. The drums are usually held to the spindle or hub with lug nuts turned backwards when they're painted black. I think that practice was in use even in the 50s.
I'm sure you have assembly line photos or pics of the 63 red Nickey conv that shows the lug nuts holding drums on and everything black.
I agree 100% that the complete assemblies got the black goo paint......... which washes off with solvent.

[Gary F.]

Re: 63 Front Suspension Finish Questions

Michael, yes, bare metal on the brake shoe side. The drums are usually held to the spindle or hub with lug nuts turned backwards when they're painted black. I think that practice was in use even in the 50s.
I'm sure you have assembly line photos or pics of the 63 red Nickey conv that shows the lug nuts holding drums on and everything black.
I agree 100% that the complete assemblies got the black goo paint......... which washes off with solvent.

Bob....THANKS for reaching out and sharing your pictures. Cool stuff to know, and it will be instituted in the build of my 63......Gary

[Bob J.]

Re: 63 Front Suspension Finish Questions

Bob....THANKS for reaching out and sharing your pictures. Cool stuff to know, and it will be instituted in the build of my 63......Gary

Gary, anytime.
If you ever want pics of origie stuff I might have let me know.
I appreciate all the help you gave me on the Buffalo dealers. Bob

[Bob J.]

Re: 63 Front Suspension Finish Questions

A picture of what Michael is talking about.
Unrestored 63 brake drum showing the lug nut installed backwards which holds the drum on during the black paint operation.
Look closely at 6, 9 and 2 oclock.

Bob




IMG_0447.jpg

[Marco H.]

Re: 63 Front Suspension Finish Questions

Michael, Bob,
Thank you for all the replies. The pictures are great! That is exactly the detailed info I was looking for. Here's what I did today. I masked the ball joint bosses as well as the tie rod bosses (for the same reason). The bleeder was also capped. The drum was held in place with a reversed lug nut. From different angles the various spindle details are still visible. As I continue with this project, I will post more questions. Thanks for checking back.


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