Hi Jeff,
Really glad you asked for questions. I have a lot of them. First thanks for providing this sequence of steps. It really helps a lot. Please forgive some of my questions if they seem ignorant, I just want to make sure I am doing this work concurs correct.
Here goes:
1– Exterior was painted using a red oxide color primer sealer. Over this a light gray primer surfacer was applied
• Not sure I understand about the light gray primer being sprayed over the red oxide. All the pictures of the exposed primer are red oxide. Were only certain areas sprayed with the light gray?
2- Sound deadener and sealers were applied to the A pillar, cowl, interior and trunk areas as well as the rear wheel wells area.
• At this stage was seam sealer applied to the entire car?
• If not when was the rest of it applied?
• What other areas got the sound deadener and when? I see that in #9 below sound deadener is applied to the front fender wells at that stage. How about inside the doors?.
3- Epoxy primer with left over exterior color from the day before mixed in giving a number of different tones was typically used at this plant and time period. During 67 the tone was generally a dark gray semi-gloss color The engine compartment area, bottom body section and much of the top area of the body received the traditional red oxide
• To what parts of the car was the dark gray semi-gloss primer applied?
• This seems to be a 3rd coat of a different color primer (from #1 above: red oxide, then
light gray, then dark gray semi-gloss)
4- Either before or just after the undercarriage paint application the interior surfaces such as dash, interior door, A pillars were painted then masked off from later paint applications
• I thought the undercarriage was unpainted red oxide or light grey or dark gray semi-gloss from #1 & #3 above. I am not sure what you mean by “undercarriage paint application”.
• When you refer to the interior surfaces, I assume that in my case would be the parchment color. Do you happen to have any pictures you could share to demonstrate the extent of what should be painted with the interior color?
5- Some seams and the seat belt reinforcements are chalked. The quarter or floor drops and the seat belt points were applied with a brush or pushed out of a gun then smeared with a brush or thinner dipped rag It appears from samples only the inner anchor points were sealed in this manner– this step was often overlooked at Dearborn
• What does it mean, “chalked”?
• What was the product that is used to chalk?
• What other areas should I be chalking?
6– Exterior color was applied with some over spray flowing onto the undercarriage surfaces especially in the rear wheel well and exposed frame area. The further a part of the pan hung down the more overspray it received. Application of the overspray could be a little or allot but never the whole floor pan. In the rear wheel wells the area received a nice coat of paint in most cases and over spray/ nice coat often found its way onto the exposed rear frame rail that are visible from the wheel well. Individual parts were being painted with the same paints in a separate line and would be added to the unibody later
• This section I understand!!
• So the sound deadener in the rear wheel wells and trunk are painted over with the exterior color.
• How well is the trunk painted with exterior color? Onto the side walls and into the drops?
7– Next the engine compartment paint is applied. As the drawings and pictures show on the wheel side the black would stop about the front edge of the front spring pocket (shock tower) area.
• OK, so the exterior (in my case Brittany Blue) would be sprayed just beyond the front edge of the front spring pocket and that edge would be covered with the black engine compartment paint to ensure no gaps of paint, Right?
• I understand the engine compartment paint color along with all the suspension parts are the same semi-gloss/matte black. Is that correct?
8– Next the pinch weld was blacked out. The outer edge was a soft edge so many painted just back mask the line. The over spray from this application would again cover some of the undercarriage as it would naturally. Again the more part of the pan hung down the more paint/black out it received. The amount of overspray generally would be less the distance that the body color traveled as it was applied with less pressure
• What does this refer to, “next the pinch weld was blacked out”.
• Where is the pinch weld? Is this the vertical seam under the rocker panels?
• “soft edge”?
• And when you say, “blacked out” do you mean it is now sprayed with the engine compartment color black paint or something else? Is this what is pictured on page 30 the Osborn Body Assembly manual?
9– Once the front fenders were installed the wheel wells were blackout with sound deadener. At the same point the front wheel wells were over the inner fender panel, along the area of the fenders that meet the splash shields and up over the top of the fender. This step was not shown in either set of drawings. It appears that typically Cougars received twice as much sound deadener in this area than Mustangs
• What kind of coverage of sound deadener was applied to the front wheel well area?
• Could you clarify this too, “At the same point the front wheel wells were over the inner fender panel, along the area of the fenders that meet the splash shields and up over the top of the fender.”
• Do you mean sound deadener was applied along the seam so when the fender comes down it will sandwich the sound deadener between the fender edge and the outer edge of the splash shield? (in the Osborn Assemble manual page 9, item “W” (ESB-M4G32-A black sealer 0.12 x 1” x length required))
Again, I really appreciate your willingness to help set me straight.
Regards,
Dave