Vette4achange

I looked at what is supposed to be an original paint 1979 Corvette today. Of course it wasn't perfect but looked good. It had a lot of checking and small cracks or spider webbing. Is this normal on an original paint car from 1979? What type of paint did the factory use in '79?

JC68

The original factory paint was acrylic lacquer. This type of paint is prone to spider web with age. It probably a good indicator of original paint.

John

Vette4achange

Thank you. Would a factory paint job have any overspray on anything or was all the painting done before the car was assembled?

Alan 71

Hi V4,
Quite a few cars were 'touched-up', and some were 'touched-up' a lot at St. Louis, so finding overspray isn't that unusual.
It might even be typical.
Regards,
Alan

leadfoot4

My wife bought a 1979 brand new, back when we were first dating. It's an involved story, so to speak, but I didn't go with her when she picked it up. However, the next day, when I went to her house to see it, she said that "it didn't look right" to her. I went over it thoroughly, and found the OE paint job to be HORRIBLE.

The body shop manager at the dealership and I had a LONG conversation, and in the end, about 25% of the car was resprayed.

Easy Mike

Define "on anything". Bodies were painted before actual assembly began.

These are in primer. Color coats would be next. They are bare bodies.


A section of the assembly line was called Paint Repair, the purpose of which was exactly as the name implies: fixing dings, whacks, and runs.

leadfoot4

I just thought of something...

A number of years ago, there was a small town Chevrolet dealer, that sold a LOT of Corvettes. It was called Palmyra Motors, located about 30-35 miles east of Rochester, in Palmyra, NY. I'm not positive if was because of the Corvette's spotty paint quality back then, or simply an interest in providing a customer with a "custom touch", but they sometimes ordered Corvettes in primer, and painted them in their own body shop.

Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, and I'm sure somebody's going to call it "and old wives tale", but believe me, I personally saw 2-3 brand new Corvettes there, on their lot, in primer, over the course of a couple years.

Easy Mike

Some of that is a Corvette Myth, especially when the story teller says this dealership or that ordered them in primer "all the time". The paint records simply don't bear out the myth. The number of cars leaving the plant in primer was never more than a hand full in any model year.

BKarol

In the 78/79 NCRS Judging manual they even make this comment

"note the St. Louis assembly plant was notorious for paint repair causing over spray on door and hood weatherstripping. The original finish is not perfectly smooth and typically does not show great depth"

My friend who is the original owner of his 78 was judge by NCRS and failed paint. The reason? too good. He explained that nothing was done when it arrived at the dealership but apparently it made a few rounds at the factory in the touch up & they sprayed where the sun don't shine