Topic: April 69 Boss red oxide?

[JohnB]

Hello

69 Boss 302 VIN# 9F02G189***

Built 4/25/69.

Owner claims that it does not have any traces of slop grey, but a rather dark red oxide type!

Did a search about Dearborn red oxide, but no conclusive info found.

Please advice.

Thanks

John

[Bob Gaines]

Hello

69 Boss 302 VIN# 9F02G189***

Built 4/25/69.

Owner claims that it does not have any traces of slop grey, but a rather dark red oxide type!

Did a search about Dearborn red oxide, but no conclusive info found.

Please advice.

Thanks

John

Red oxide at Dearborn is most typically seen very early in production . By April 69 slop grey was the typical . With that said that doesn?t preclude the red oxide just to say it is out of the ordinary. For example I have seen a very burgundy looking paint that maybe mistaken by the uninformed as red oxide but it was just an unusual mixture of slop paint. Be prepared for push back. You would typically need some type of documentation like restoration pictures in an undisturbed matrix to support why you made your choices. If that can?t be accomplished then it is best to go with the typical . That is if planning on showing in concours. Of course it is your car and it is up to you to determine which makes the most sense to you.

[JohnB]

Red oxide at Dearborn is most typically seen very early in production . By April 69 slop grey was the typical . With that said that doesn?t preclude the red oxide just to say it is out of the ordinary. For example I have seen a very burgundy looking paint that maybe mistaken by the uninformed as red oxide but it was just an unusual mixture of slop paint. Be prepared for push back. You would typically need some type of documentation like restoration pictures in an undisturbed matrix to support why you made your choices. If that can?t be accomplished then it is best to go with the typical . That is if planning on showing in concours. Of course it is your car and it is up to you to determine which makes the most sense to you.

Paint may look burgundy, I just used dark red oxide as it was described like that by the owner. Hard to tell from the pics. May ask him for more pics.

Thanks

John

[J_Speegle]

Hello

69 Boss 302 VIN# 9F02G189***
Built 4/25/69.
Owner claims that it does not have any traces of slop grey, but a rather dark red oxide type!
Did a search about Dearborn red oxide, but no conclusive info found.

Yes I can confirm that red oxide was used during Dearborn production in the month of April 1969 on the undercarriage floor from the firewall rearward. We already have confirmed that it was also used firewall forward on the vast majority of Dearborn built Mustangs and Shelbys that year until there was some testing of what they thinking about using planned 1970 production


I've identified some cars built during October 68, Dec 68, Feb 69 and possibly April 69


Of course close careful cleaning and looking for the original color (down to bare metal) in those spots more protected from the elements is always the best place to start.

Here is a group of red oxide painted floors and the related general production period that I've posted before



Now looking at the example from April could have been a reddish batch color as mentioned and shown below. the other 5 or 6 cars I have from mid to almost the end of April were just reports and I got no pictures with those reports and postings.

And to illustrate and example (similar I would guess with what Bob has witnessed) where the number of reddish color cars the day before was greater than norm creating a reddish batch color used on a small group of cars.



Hope this helps  and yes it would be good to get some pictures so that they can be fully examined and compared

[JohnB]

Some more pics .

[JohnB]

More

[JohnB]

More

[J_Speegle]

Thanks. Seems that in some of the pictures there is a gray blue  bottom later and others possibly red oxide color. What color was/is the exterior of the car.

Since we were focused on red oxide I didn't mention or include what I found on my 4/24/69 built/completed Dearborn Boss 302. Color, firewall reward was a similar gray blue and firewall forward a red oxide as we typically find. Undercarriage has about 30K original miles and paint on it.

Guess I should post more pictures in a unrestored picture in that section of the site.


Oversprays and such can be very misleading and this car was/is a good example of that. If you look at the back end of the car where there was a lot of body color overspray that got under the car when they painted the rear wheel wells the color can look sort of red oxide.





Some sections where I cleaned through the overspray to get a good look at the base coat & color








Once you find or cut through that layer the dark gray sort of slightly blue shows through to match the area in front of the rear end hump in the floor. Looked at closely with some better lighting the color is a bit dark gray with almost a purple tint and some slight metallic from the left over paint and base mixture

[JohnB]

Thanks. Perfect .

Exterior color is Yellow.

John

[Bob Gaines]

For others reading this discussion illustrates why the paint is referred to by enthusiasts as slop paint. It is a mixture of paints depending on what went into the recycling vat at that time . You have the typical medium bluish gray looking mixture and then others that are a range all over the spectrum. The shade depended on what was mixed into the vat in that time period . Short of copying examples from your undisturbed underside floor pans or examples from other cars done from a very close(days) verifiable time period it would be hard if not impossible to call out for sure if a shade is not correct . That is if it is in the typically seen  range of color shades. It is prudent to document anything out of the ordinary with pictures especially if trying to show others why you made the decisions to replicate what you did.