maverickmk

I found this pic on another forum I peruse from time to time and thought this was an interesting photo.

Go Vette Go

Very interesting - they didn't tape off the whole car. The painter is not wearing a respirator (like is done today).

I wonder if there is another painter painting the driver side! Keep them rolling!!

Alan 71

Hi m,
Yes quite interesting.
Note that at least the front bumper (maybe both?) are already painted.
The other side is papered, so I too wonder if the same painter did both sides, or if there were 2 painters?
Regards,
Alan

wendellp601

In the automotive plant where I work, we mold and paint the plastic bumpers in what we call "the fascia plant", which is in a completely separate building from the body paint plant.

mortgageguy

That has to be a powerful downdraft paint booth to pull the overspray away from the top of the car. im surprised GM didn't require respirators in 78. My first thought was, must be third shift. Nobody follows safety regs on the night shift.

John Ulrich

The door sills must have been shot in silver earlier in the process. Interesting that the front turn signal appears to be installed and taped over vs waiting to install it after the paint.

Red86Z51

Good question Alan. I do know that on the early Gen 2 Camaro line where the Z28's got striping on the paint line, they had 2 men taping and striping the cars. Hence why there could be a slight variation between the LH and RH stripes. If I were to guess, I would say they have a man on each side to save time and keep 'em moving through.

I too am also blown away by the lack of PPE I've seen in these old paint line photos. It looks like that paint fog is right up to his face.

Dave

maverickmk

That was my first thought, what about all the over-spray on the top of the car?

KapsSA

Here's an example of the attention to detail they put into spraying the lower side.
My former pace car. I always thought it looked like they pushed paint down here with a rag.
Maybe they avoided spraying upward to avoid overspray on the unmasked area of the car??

KapsSA

The door sills, actually the entire door jamb, stayed black.
Bowling Green painted 2-tones had the door jambs painted half and half.

3JsVette

Having owned a Pace Car purchased new the silver was "dry" and thin on the bottom especially by todays standards.
I would also guess that there were painters on both sides of the car as on the car I had one side had better coverage than the other.
So yes we have come along long way quality wise and safety wise.

steve78vette

Thanks so much for that!
I am rebuilding Pace Car #900 634 ( black on top/ silver on the bottom) and have been surprised by the lack of original silver paint. Now I know why!

Thanks again for the photo.

Steve

gbvette62

St. Louis didn't have the ability to apply two-tone paint finishes. To apply a two-tone finish, they either had to pull a body off of the line, and send it back through the booth a second time, or set up a paint station at the end of the line. I seem to remember reading something years ago that said that is what they did, set up a second paint station at the end of the line. This would have been done to paint the Silver Anniversary's, and later the Pace Cars. Maybe KapsSA, or one of the other 78 experts on the Forum, can confirm this, but that picture seems to confirm this?

When Bowling Green was built, they designed the paint facility to include the ability to paint both base coat/clear coat, and two-tone finishes. At the beginning of production at BG, it appeared that they were only painting two-tone combinations, in a effort to get two-tone cars out onto the street. In the end, about 5350 of the 8900 81 BG cars built, were painted in one of the 4 two-tone combinations.

The rubber bumpers were always painted separate from the car, at both St' Louis and Bowling Green. This continued at least through 96, and maybe later. I think the reason for this was that the bumpers needed to be painted with a paint that included a flex agent. This is likely why the bumpers were often a slightly different shade, than the rest of the car.

The pictures below are from June 81, at the start of production at Bowling Green. They originally appeared in a 1981 edition of Vette Vues Magazine.

There are a couple things interesting to note in these pictures. First is the shape of the entrance, at the beginning of the paint booth. It was shaped exactly like the body, and only allowed fractions of an inch clearance around the body, as it entered the booth.

Second is the manner in which the two-tone was applied. At BG the entire body was painted the primary color, and then the top was masked off, and the lower accent color was applied.

Finally, there are no bumpers to be seen anywhere. Not in the paint booth, or with the body as it comes down the line after leaving the booth. The bumpers met the body, just before the body was mated to the completed chassis.

Alan 71

Hi gb,
Boy! Thanks for the information and the photos!
Very interesting description of the process.
I've heard John Hinkley talk about the paint 'booth' in St. Louis…..how primitive it was and also how the heat in summer and cold in winter affected the booth.
Thanks again!
Regards,
Alan

OLE442

I would suspect a painter on both sides. The height of the concrete wall by painter one would be a pretty good obstacle to getting to the other side. He's have to be pretty agile to keep hopping back and forth. Pretty wild that there was no mask or covering over the top of the Corvette. Of course, I was surprised to see a worker working with a lit cigarette in his mouth inside of a new Vette at the Bowling Green plant a few years ago.

KapsSA

Check this thread and click the link in post 1.
Lot of clicking but want credit to go to Tom

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...l-process.html

steve78vette

Wow! Thanks to you and Tom. I made a copy , great history to know.

Thanks again,

Steve

C3 4ME

Very interesting info. Thanks to all for sharing.

Rky Mtn C6

Interesting photo. No doubt it was a 78 Pace Car.