Ford assembly line methods

[MGL]

I'm planning a 69 Ford truck build and have been doing some research on the paint process they used on the assembly line. Specifically I'm wondering if they painted the whole truck the base color and then masked off and painted the second color or if the second color only had primer underneath. I know eventually I will find something in the google machine that will answer my question but in the mean time I found this neat little reference.  http://fordofwestmemphis.blogspot.com/2009/01/1960-1969-ford-trucks.html . The pictures I've found look like it could go either way. One thing I'm positive of is that Ford liked the red oxide primer. But this got me thinking we could probably benefit from a pinned thread in the questions topic that had information about the different manufacturers assembly line methods, primer colors and other 1/1 paint related stuff.

[Ace-Garageguy]

From a purely logical and cost standpoint, I'd suspect the two-tone vehicles got painted the light color all over, and then masked off for the dark color.

Masking prior to painting the light color, while it would save a little paint, would add an additional labor step of unmasking and re-masking. If the light color was sprayed only on the to-be-light areas without masking, the dry-spray edge would need to be dealt with before the darker color was masked and sprayed, also an additional labor step.

Painting the entire vehicle the light color on the paint line would allow painted one-color vehicles that were slated to be two-toned to be pulled off the main paint line, masked, shot, and returned to the main assembly line with the least amount of additional work and delay.

I'm also certain I've seen two-toned vehicles that have weathered, and exposed the main color under the accent color. This would be consistent with my hypothesis above.

[MGL]

From a purely logical and cost standpoint, I'd suspect the two-tone vehicles got painted the light color all over, and then masked off for the dark color.

Masking prior to painting the light color, while it would save a little paint, would add an additional labor step of unmasking and re-masking. If the light color was sprayed only on the to-be-light areas without masking, the dry-spray edge would need to be dealt with before the darker color was masked and sprayed, also an additional labor step.

Painting the entire vehicle the light color on the paint line would allow painted one-color vehicles that were slated to be two-toned to be pulled off the main paint line, masked, shot, and returned to the main assembly line with the least amount of additional work and delay.

I'm also certain I've seen two-toned vehicles that have weathered, and exposed the main color under the accent color. This would be consistent with my hypothesis above.

This is what I suspect they did except that in a lot of cases the light color tends to be the accent color ( blue with white top, red with white top ). If the light color is sprayed first then when the main color weathers it should have the light color underneath. this would be obvious on a car primed in red oxide like Ford used but not so much on one primed in gray like Chrysler used. I would suspect the first color to go on would be whatever color the door and trunk jambs end up. I think a field trip to a junk yard is in order. I need to find a rear view mirror with some patina to mount above the consol in the Engineering Control Room on my ship to hang the fuzzy dice from anyway.

[Fabrux]

While I can't attest to the 1969 model years, I do know that on the one truck I have first hand knowledge on (1996 F-150), the darker colour was painted over the whole truck. This particular truck was blue with a silver down the middle of the sides, however the inside of the bed and the rear cab wall were still blue. I believe my dad's old project truck '73 was the same as well. For the trucks that just had the cab roof painted white, I would hazard a guess to say that the white was painted after the whole truck and the main colour would be underneath.

[Travis T]

Yes, the trucks were painted all one color first. My dad has a 72 Sport Custom he bought new. It has a Mallard Green roof, Springtime Green midsection, and Mallard Green lower. The entire truck was Springtime Green first, masked, then the darker Mallard Green painted. The interior and inside the bed and underside of the truck and firewall are all the lighter Springtime Green.

Edited February 22, 2016 by Travis T

[mk11]

In parting out a couple of '68 F100s with white roof and lower panels and red middle a few years ago, I'd noticed that it looks like the white was painted first, then the lower panels and roof masked so they could paint the red through the interior, back of cab and cowl and inside and top of box. In areas where the red paint wore thin, the white shows through. I'll dig out the fenders I still have and examine them again...

 

mike

[Travis T]

That's interesting and sounds backwards from my dad's truck. The light green is definitely under the dark green where it is chipped. May have something to do with the fact that the dark and light areas were inverted from your truck to his.

[MGL]

In parting out a couple of '68 F100s with white roof and lower panels and red middle a few years ago, I'd noticed that it looks like the white was painted first, then the lower panels and roof masked so they could paint the red through the interior, back of cab and cowl and inside and top of box. In areas where the red paint wore thin, the white shows through. I'll dig out the fenders I still have and examine them again...

 

mike

That's interesting and sounds backwards from my dad's truck. The light green is definitely under the dark green where it is chipped. May have something to do with the fact that the dark and light areas were inverted from your truck to his.

I wonder if one was a dealer upgrade and the other was factory? Maybe some dealers ordered a bunch of white trucks that they could sell as fleet or work trucks and then painted as needed for customers that wanted a color combo they didn't have in stock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Travis T]

Dad's was completely factory. I think it is solely based on what part of the truck is light colored maybe. Everyone paints them backwards to me. I grew up looking at these trucks all having darker paint on the roof and lower sections because all of them in the family were that way. Everyone building the kit seems to paint the upper part of the body dark. Mk11's picture looks normal to me, not the inverse of that which is what everyone builds.

[MGL]

Dad's was completely factory. I think it is solely based on what part of the truck is light colored maybe. Everyone paints them backwards to me. I grew up looking at these trucks all having darker paint on the roof and lower sections because all of them in the family were that way. Everyone building the kit seems to paint the upper part of the body dark. Mk11's picture looks normal to me, not the inverse of that which is what everyone builds.

I think you are on to something, we tend to associate with what we know. I tend to notice the trucks with the white top. My brother had a blue '69 that had a white top but if I remember correctly, the truck was a work truck for the glass shop (Banner Glass, a small chain in the DC metro area) next door to my dads shop. Dad had a body shop and its likely that he painted the top white rather than the factory since to this day I don't think Banner Glass ever bought anything that wasn't all white or all blue. Of course having said that somebody will likely post many pictures proving me wrong. I think if I paint the model blue first, then the top white, then weather it slightly, I may not be 100% accurate but I won't be wrong either.

[1930fordpickup]

My Uncle had a 67 that had a white top and the rest was a light blue. He worked at a stone quarry and the Supervisor had one the same colors.  

[mk11]

Out of all the 67-72s I've seen, the combination in my avatar, with the white as primary color, actually seems much rarer than the opposite combination with non-white primary.

A look at my (still) factory painted red top/white bottom fenders shows them to have had the red painted first; opposite to what the process on the truck looked like. Gonna have to find another one to check out.

 

mike

Edited March 3, 2016 by mk11