65 Barracuda questions

[Tadams]

Behind the grill area, I've seen tv shows that said that area was painted black from the factory. I was at a car show this weekend and noticed that several of the un restored pre 68 cars were painted body color. Those that had been repainted were painted black. Just curious before I paint mine.
Second question, I have 3 decals in the engine compartment which have been painted over. Is there away I could gently remove the paint to see what decals they were? May be nice to replace these once the paint is completed. Probably not important enough to fool with, but I tend to go overboard sometimes when doing a complete restoration.
Thanks for your thoughts

 

[65 Dartman]

I have 3 decals in the engine compartment which have been painted over. Is there away I could gently remove the paint to see what decals they were? May be nice to replace these once the paint is completed. Probably not important enough to fool with, but I tend to go overboard sometimes when doing a complete restoration.
Thanks for your thoughts

You might be able to gently wipe the decals with lacquer thinner or something similar. 2 of the decals are probably the long Antifreeze decal and a smaller battery decal, both located on top of the core support. I can't remember the other one right off hand. Since you're repainting, I would replace with new decals.

 

[Tadams]

Thanks, I'll try that tomorrow

 

[grimreaper]

The core support should have been painted black. I met a guy that did that job back in the early sixties. He said it was an entry level job that they stuck a person with right after hiring. The paint was applied with a wand like a weed sprayer from a pit below the car as it passed over on the assembly line. He said it was a nasty job as the pint drifted back down onto the painter. So when someone doing another job called in sick one of the"pit painters" was quick to volunteer to leave his post. That often left the remaining painter with twice the work so cars often got the quicky spray. Sometimes both pit painters would upgrade for a day and then core supports missed the painting step. He also mentioned that the level of effort put into the job was directly proportional to the severity of a hangover at times! It was Chrysler's intent that all cars had blackened core supports but not all got painted and some just got an obligatory splash or two. If you want yours to look like factory work spray the cheapest black paint you can find from a weed sprayer while lying underneath the car!

 

[Tadams]

Thanks, I know I saw that on Graveyard Cars. Just wanted to check. I saw several at Rockingham this weekend that were original paint that were body color.