sea2jet

In Noland Adams book 1963-1967, in numerous undercarriage pictures, the exhaust is coated with a preservative of some sort(Black paint?). I'm just curious what Chevrolet used back then and if it was just to keep the exhaust from rusting while sitting on the dealers lot? Can I expect to see this on a NCRS Top Flight car?

Bluestripe67

I can't answer the question, but I have one for the viewers. Are those pipes really big, bigger than normal or is it something else. Could the car in the pick be preproduction unit (it is mounted on a special ramp) which just might have had special parts? I just noticed the big difference in pipe size on the first pic. Dennis

MikeM

Many exhaust vendors back then applied oil to the pipes to prevent rust. They weren't aluminum coated back then.

sea2jet

Sorry about that. The second photo is of a Z06 car. I added that because it was a better picture to illustrate the dark coating applied at the factory.

wmf62

I've also seen a shellac or varnish kind of coating on raw pipes

Bill

project63

Very nice pictures! Gotta love that chassis black all over the rear suspension too.

Pretty sure the coatings on everything are just low grade asphalt based paint.

tc

MikeM

The back end of the pipes/mufflers are painted with black paint after car assembly.

My comment was directed at the incoming material to the plant before assembly and specifically at the front end of the pipes.

Nelsonc1c5

A very knowledgeable friend of mine said that the manufacturer would apply paint out of buckets. He said the guys would wear these big gloves, dip there hands into buckets of paint and wipe down the pipes. it came out a bit sloppy but done quickly.

MikeM

What was your friend's field of expertise that he was very knowledgeable in?

phil2302

In 1965 my dad bought a new Impala. I remember him taking it back the day after he got it and complaining of a burning odor. If I recall correctly the sevice guy told him about some factory exhaust coating burning off and saying it will stop after few hundred miles.
Could that be the same stuff?

MikeM

Maybe undercoat overspray? I'd think the protective oil would be gone by then.

Critter1

Yes, that's exactly correct. Just prior to body drop, most of the exhaust system was spray coated with chassis black (black goo) along with many other areas of the chassis.

And yes, for 63 and 64 most of the rear suspension and drive was also coated with the same black goo before it ever left the basement of the plant. The differential, half shafts, control arms and propeller shaft were all coated.

I hear "The Foremost 63-64 Corvette Authority On The Planet" disagrees though.

John McGraw

That "paint mitt" story has been de-bunked many times over the years, but it just keeps coming back time and time again.

Just the same old cheap paint that everything else was blacked out with. sprayed on anything that might show under the car from the outside.



Regards, John McGraw

SWCDuke

Yes, the "blackout" on the exhaust pipes quickly burned off. Application varied widely and may have been more liberally applied during the winter months. The uncoated exhaust pipes and fasteners would start picking up surface rust the day they were built and driven out to the lot to await shipping.

Back then new car shoppers often got on their hand and knees to look under the car and surface rust might cause them to not buy a car. I don't think anyone does that nowadays.

The "mitting" myth was discredited decades ago.

Duke

Critter1

Here's a picture of a new 65 on the St Louis line. Were the exhaust pipes coated with the same chassis black as the rest of the chassis and many other components? Yes.

And how do we know that the red car is a St Louis built body and not an A O Smith build?

project63

Because we see bare fiberglass where the exhaust valance tabs mount to the taillight panel?

mikelj

And one of my '64s, restored by a famous restorer, has all this duplicated exactly. I am expecting some comments when I take it through NCRS judging.

tuxnharley

So how does one keep it exactly as it left the factory production line and prevent the coating frm burning off so as to satisfy NCRS standards - unless it is a trailer queen and pushed on and off a trailer?

mikelj

Not easy of course. This car has 13,000 miles, and had 12,679 miles in 1976. I am driving it now that I own it, and yes, you can smell that asphaltic black goo burning off. Over the next 10 years, if I put about 500 miles on it per year, it will probably be reduced a bit........

tuxnharley