I'm "restoring" my 77 Vette and need some help with finishing in the engine compartment.

1. Can anyone tell me what color (ie flat, semi flat, semi gloss etc) black the painted areas of the firewall, interior of fenders and underside of hood should be painted?

2. What parts of the firewall, interior of fenders and underside of hood should be painted and what areas should not be painted.

3. Any recommendations of specific brands of paint and sources?

If anyone has any detailed pictures that they would like to post or email me, I would appreciate it.

Thank You
Troy
troy.blackburn@advanteck.net

 

I used Krylon Fusion Semi Flat...made for plastics, fiberglass, etc

Pictures from my earlier thread...
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...ngine-bay.html

 

Black paint used was described as "black-out" or semi-gloss. Krylon 1613 is the formulation used described by restorers as a close match...the problem is that its no longer available over the counter. If you get a can of "semi-gloss" they tend to have too much gloss due to the reformulation of black paint over the years.

Another over the counter is the John Deere Black blitz. I've used it and its a near match. These paints will appear more like flat than semi-gloss but you've got to discount the label description.

Understand, the factory used "masks" to protect installed components. For example, a mask was used to protect fenders when the engine compartment was "blacked-out." So the hood gutter was black along with the compartment. The entire firewall would have been painted because there was no hardware installed at this point. Also, if you check your harness clip and rotate, you should see no paint underneath. Clips were installed before paint was applied.

A mask was used to protect the painted hood while the entire underneath side of the hood was painted. So the hood was hinged but the hood support was not installed.

Once black-out was completed, the entire vehicle went through a baking oven...so you can see no other wiring harness or parts were installed at this point. As you work, think like a factory worker.

If you do a search in the archives...you should find previous threads on this topic. You'll find other suggestions for a close match to the original black-out used in the engine compartment.

A suggestion would be to pick up the NCRS technical reference guide for 75-77 which lists the colors for all areas of a Corvette and in great detail. The NCRS tech forum would be another source to search for threads on the black-out operation.

 

I used the underhood paint from Eastwood on my engine bay. It is a semi-gloss but with about 20% less gloss than the current paints on the market. Matched almost to a tee what was originally in the car. It's about $5.00 a can more than Rust-o-lieum or krylon but you could do the whole bay with 2 cans.

 

A reasonable "rule of thumb" for C3 engine compartment [black] paint: body surfaces get semi-flat black paint; components (accessories, pulleys, brackets, etc.) get semi-gloss black. NCRS has the correct information if you need to go that route.