'68 Olds Chassis Finish?

[StevenGuthmiller]

Anybody have some insight as to what kind of finish the chassis on a '68 Old 442 would have had from the factory?

Red primer, gray primer, paint over spray, etc?

 

Thanks!

 

Steve

[restoman]

According to my Olds fanatic friend, the floor pan underside and firewall should be what they call 60% black, or slightly glossier than eggshell.

The frame rails are gloss black, but not a high gloss. And the paint jobs were often messy and thin from the factory.

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, restoman said:

And the paint jobs were often messy and thin from the factory.

I can do that!!!

 

 

Steve

[restoman]

My buddy Ron's '68 H/O clone...

When he took this car apart, there was very little original paint left on the frame or floor underside.

He says the frame should have been a little glossier than this.

[espo]

Quote

 

Most frames had very little paint coverage and nothing like the body. Usually a shade of Black and very low gloss but not a flat finish. This is the reason when looking at an older cars frame there will usually be a lot of surface rust or worst depending on what part of the country and conditions under which the vehicle had been used. There seems to be far more variables on the underside of the body. Besides what you may expect from one manufacture to another, there would be differences depending on the plant where the body was made.  Even this would change from year model to year model. Since the bodies were most often assembled and painted before they were lowered onto the frame there wouldn't be any overspray with a Unibody car being the big exception.  If you're building something that would represent a car or truck that had been repainted then body color overspray would be present to some extent. 

[Slick Shifter]

The black floors on the silver-painted 1968 Cutlass S are totally incorrect. And frames were never painted. They were dipped in Chassis Black and stored outdoors in stacks at the assembly plant, after they came from the frame plant, until they were trucked indoors to load onto the line. Chassis Black is not paint. It is an oily product like runny undercoating meant to keep the frames  looking decent for a few months in spite of the outdoor storage. The frame coating already looks too thin and shiny on the 1968 S.

As for the rest of the misinformation here from the 'experts' who have never owned a 1960s or newer GM product, i'm just gonna watch and grin.

BTW, 'chassis' actually refers to the frame and everything attached to it before the body drop. Floor pans are part of the body.

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

40 minutes ago, Slick Shifter said:

As for the rest of the misinformation here from the 'experts' who have never owned a 1960s or newer GM product, i'm just gonna watch and grin.

That's not particularly helpful Buz.

 

I'm looking for information on how the under side of this car would have been finished from the factory.

 

I get the frame, but what about the floor?

If you have solid information, I would be interested to hear it.

 

 

 

 

Steve

 

[restoman]

Buz may be correct. 

... But every picture I can find online shows pretty much the same as the photos I posted. Quite a few of those pics are concours cars and projects destined for concours quality.

Ron - who owns the silver '68 H/O clone - is a diehard Olds guy, and his '69 H/O is a consistent show winner. He's my go-to guy for Olds related questions. He tells me he tried the black floors & overspray method when he did his '69, and he hated it, so he went with straight chassis black.

I'm a Mopar fella, so I'm just relaying what I've found and seen.

I'm sure whatever direction you take, Steven, it'll be killer.

[Plowboy]

Steve, if I were you, I would search for GM assembly line videos. They gotta be out there. Then, you'll know for sure.

I've always thought factory finish on floor pans were primer with body color overspray and a black chassis. But, I'm no expert.

A solid black floorpan doesn't sound right as they would have to mask off the entire body to do so. But, Oldsmobile may have done it that way.