Rebuilding the frame in my 1964 Valiant convertible. The original paint appears white, or off-white (cream). Some parts are recessed inside another and were white inside, which was also the base color on the front bow. Somebody sprayed black over the white on the undersides. The body was originally red, but I don't know the top color since missing when I bought the car. The side pads were there and black, but perhaps all are.
When rebuilding, I suggest not removing the fwd hinge pin. I did, using a shop press and broke the center ear when forcing the pin thru. It had mushroomed a bit on the end. I had filed the mushroom, but apparently not enough. I will leave the other side as-is. I had to secure the 2 broken aluminum pieces to the frame with roll-pins, then a steel strap over them (Home Depot plumbing strap), secured to the frame by a 10-24 bolt in a tapped hole on each end. I found an outer ear crack, so secured with a roll-pin. Most places with steel in aluminum was corroded together. I removed 70% of the Phillips screws which secure the stainless weatherstrip rail using an impact hammer. The others had the screw head break off. Since too hard to drill the screws, I tapped new holes to the side. I tapped all holes for 10-24 stainless Torx screws. Strange that the factory used sheet-metal screws. I'll use anti-sieze on the threads. A few roll-pins didn't budge, though I didn't own a good punch set. I had to drill them out using a cobalt drill bit since regular HSS chrome nitrate bits couldn't cut the hard roll-pin steel.
BTW, to fix the broken hinge ear, I first tried aluminum brazing, per youtube's. I heated the part to 500 F on my outdoor grill, then a propane torch at the spot while still on the grill. I cleaned the groove I cut as best I could with a stainless brush once heated and the aluminum braze rod melted by touching the aluminum as I rubbed it in. It looked bright and well- bonded, but later popped off the casting so wasn't truly bonded. I'll fill those gaps w/ epoxy before painting. I stripped all paint off the aluminum parts and will use NAPA ZinChrom spray primer.
