Few questions about paint finishes and horn

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19corvair62
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Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2014 5:48 pm
Location: Miami , Fl

Few questions about paint finishes and horn

Post by 19corvair62 »

Hello to all :wave:

I will be having my car in the body shop in a few days to get bodywork done and the car painted. I figured in that timeframe there are many little things I can do, such as paint the trim pieces and engine compartment pieces which I have already removed. A few questions I have are:

What is the paint finish for the interior door metal, trim and dash? If I'm not mistaken I believe it is a semi-gloss finish. Also is the steel dash removable? It looks like its integrated with the lower lip of the windshield.

What is the finish for the black steel pieces in the engine compartment (shrouds, air cleaner, generator )?

I replaced my original low horn (wasn't working) with a new low horn from the auto store. The high tone horn had already been replaced by previous owner. Horns work great but have that modern sound. Id like to have it sound like they did back in the day like how you see in the movies. Are there any baffles or such I can install or is the only remedy to find period Delco horns? (I read that horns can be repaired- tossed out my original low tone like an idiot long before I found out :banghead: )


If you have any specific paints and such that youv've used and any tips (prep, thinning, etc) I would appreciate!! I have a HVLP spray gun I plan to spray with. Also the finishes I ask about are to get as original as possible to stock (interior is Black FYI).

Thanks!
Matthew

1962 Corvair Monza 102 HP 4 Spd.
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MBlaster1
Posts: 335
Joined: Sun Jul 14, 2013 6:25 pm
Location: Lake City Fl

Re: Few questions about paint finishes and horn

Post by MBlaster1 »

You can find good used horns on ebay or i belive Clarks Sales the RPO
Don Howard
Lake City Fl.

66 140 Convertible
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bbodie52
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Re: Few questions about paint finishes and horn

Post by bbodie52 »

I would think that the Corvair Ranch would be another good possibility for purchasing serviceable used Corvair horns...

:link: http://www.corvairranch.com/
Image

1079 Bon-Ox Road, ​Gettysburg, ​PA. 17325 USA
​Phone: (717) 624-2805
Fax us by the same number... ask us to hook up the machine
​Email: corvairranch@embarqmail.com
Our hours are Monday thru Friday 9 to 5, Saturday 9 to 12
or contact us for an appointment.


These vendors sell many classic car items, including horns, interior paints, steering wheel repair materials, etc. Some of the listings for 1960s vintage paints and materials for Chevelles, Pontiacs, and Camaros, may also have applicability to the Corvair. It might be worth a look...

SOURCES

Image
(800) 343-9353
http://www.eastwood.com

Image
(800) 521-6104
http://www.npdlink.com

Image
http://www.tcpglobal.com/
Ragtop Man wrote:I have decided to repaint my dash since I've got all of the carpet and dash trim removed but finding the correct interior paint codes seems to be an ongoing issue for Vair owners. Using the search feature here turned up nothing as far as I can tell but maybe I've missed them somehow . I found this cool interior paint chip chart for 65's and was surprised to see it . All the other ones I have ever seen only list the colors with no codes or chips.

http://www.oldride.com/library/1965_che ... rvair.html

Here's the link to the auto library main page as they don't seem to make it that easy to find unless you know about it
http://www.tcpglobal.com/AutoColorLibrary/

I called my local auto paint shop and gave them the Lucite code from the first link and got nowhere so I'm hoping I can try the Ditzler code from the second link now . I bought a can of the Duplicolor junk up at Autozone called light metallic blue and it doesn't match. The color in my car is definitely greener and seems to be the medium turquoise listed. Clarks has no idea either and doesn't sell any interior paint or interior color chip charts. Does anyone have a link for the interior paint codes? I am hoping I can remove the windshield pillar trim piece successfully to take down for a spectral scan at this point. Hopefully others will find the links useful. :chevy:
Brad Bodie
Lake Chatuge, North Carolina
Image 1966 Corvair Corsa Convertible
PaulR
Posts: 133
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2015 7:56 pm
Location: Appleton, WI

Re: Few questions about paint finishes and horn

Post by PaulR »

19corvair62 wrote:Hello to all :wave:

I will be having my car in the body shop in a few days to get bodywork done and the car painted. I figured in that timeframe there are many little things I can do, such as paint the trim pieces and engine compartment pieces which I have already removed. A few questions I have are:

What is the paint finish for the interior door metal, trim and dash? If I'm not mistaken I believe it is a semi-gloss finish. Also is the steel dash removable? It looks like its integrated with the lower lip of the windshield.

What is the finish for the black steel pieces in the engine compartment (shrouds, air cleaner, generator )?

I replaced my original low horn (wasn't working) with a new low horn from the auto store. The high tone horn had already been replaced by previous owner. Horns work great but have that modern sound. Id like to have it sound like they did back in the day like how you see in the movies. Are there any baffles or such I can install or is the only remedy to find period Delco horns? (I read that horns can be repaired- tossed out my original low tone like an idiot long before I found out :banghead: )


If you have any specific paints and such that youv've used and any tips (prep, thinning, etc) I would appreciate!! I have a HVLP spray gun I plan to spray with. Also the finishes I ask about are to get as original as possible to stock (interior is Black FYI).

Thanks!
The steel dash board is welded in. The paint finish for the interior door metal was different from the dash. What I mean by that is the flatness or the gloss of the paint. When I did my '64 Monza convertible and a '65 500 coupe I used Lucite (acrylic lacquer) interior colors. On the Fawn metallic color 500 door metal, inside A pillar trim and steering wheel, I sprayed it straight from the gun using medium dry thinner. I had the paint a little more "thinned out" too. This replicated the semi gloss finish as when it was built. A lot of times now, many owners spray the door metal , other interior trim pieces and even the dash, in a gloss finish as like the rest of the car. Yuck. On the dash of my base model 500, which had no pad, I sprayed it in a flat finish using a flattening agent in the lacquer paint. This agent has long since been discontinued, so today I guess some people use a pinch of baking powder, and that works. Adding a certain amount will replicate the original finish. I used flattening agent on all of the Ember Red color Monza door and quarter painted metal surfaces. The early cars, as opposed to lates, had a little duller finish in these places. Later, when I applied Armor All, it looked just right, not too glossy and not too dull.

This was, of course, twenty-five to thirty-five years ago when a guy could just buy Lucite from the auto paint store. You would just get the paint code off of your car's trim tag and look up the paint number in the DuPont book. I was working in auto body back then, so it was easy. I do not know what you would do now. One thing though, back about 1987, the body shop manager threw out all of the old paint color chip books from the 1960's. Back then we did not repaint many Corvairs, like none actually. Today those same books would be worth some money. If I only knew then.

The finish for the engine compartment and sheet metal is about a 75% gloss. What I mean by that is, on a scale of zero to 100, zero being an ultra flat finish and 100 being an ultra gloss finish. The air cleaner, cross tube and generator is a glossier finish, at least 90%. Rustoleum makes a close semi gloss black for the engine compartment. But if you can find the right paint to apply with a spray gun, do it. Years ago, the CORSA Communique "Stock Is..." had a wealth of information on interior finishes. The Stock Corvair Group could probably help too.

You have to remember to avoid any gloss finish on the dashboard. It can lead to reflections through the wind shield on sunny days, and that can be dangerous. But I think you already understand that. Hope this helps.
1964 Monza convertible 110/PG
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Nickshu
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Location: Northern Colorado, USA

Re: Few questions about paint finishes and horn

Post by Nickshu »

Interior paint codes are out there, but many are not available anymore under those codes...I have only ever found Ditzler codes and Ditzler has been out of business for years. I had to work with my painter to match the color as best we could. The correct gloss for the interior is FLAT on the reflective surfaces such as the A-pillars, dash bezels, steering column, radio surround, etc. and then my understanding was the interior GLOSS color was 60% gloss.

Here's a reference, yes it's from 64 but they were the same for all years:
Image
Nick
1964 Monza Spyder Convertible #435 - Rotisserie restored - SOLD ON BRING A TRAILER 4/30/2019 - Check out my restoration thread here: [corvaircenter.com]
Thanks to all the awesome CCF, CF, COG, and CORSA members who helped me with the restoration!
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tiger13
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Location: North Carolina USA

Re: Few questions about paint finishes and horn

Post by tiger13 »

When I was doing restoration work I have found this company is able to supply factory paint colors, mixed to the actual "factory formulas" in either acrylic lacquer, acrylic urethane, acrylic enamel and so on. Since most of these cars from the 60's were done in acrylic lacquer it is good to be able to still have a place where you can get it mixed in the correct formulas. A lot of places around me, for instance have kept the paint chip books for some reason, but threw away the micro films of the formulas! Which meant that they could not mix the paint even if they wanted to. I have had great service from this place mixing the zero % gloss and the 60% gloss paints needed for the the dash board of the 67 Pontiac Le Mans that I did a interior color change on. As the dashboards use a combination of a flat paint and a 60% gloss based paint for the dashboards on the GM cars of the period. It can be ordered here. I will put the link to the site in this post.
http://www.autocolorlibrary.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Rusty in NC
66vairguy
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Joined: Tue Dec 21, 2010 3:44 pm

Re: Few questions about paint finishes and horn

Post by 66vairguy »

Over a decade back I used the TCP color matching service. You had to call via the phone and the shop TCP used was in San Diego CA. The guys there were good and they mixed the original color paint in a base coat/clear coat two part. The color was exact AND they sent me a small sample with a sprayed card to check out for a minor fee BEFORE I bought the paint. Great service - THEN.

Now I'm not sure who TCP uses and of course it seems paints have changed almost every year since then. Check with your painter - state restrictions vary and some paints are illegal. The other issue is the original Acrylic Lacquer wasn't that durable, especially in metallic shades. I know as I painted several of my own 60's GM cars back in the 80's with Acrylic Lacquer myself. Easy to use and color sand to a great finish, but in three years it was starting to loose it's luster, especially if out in the sun a lot - and the metallic paints tended to fade in color

The modern paints last much longer and and hold their color, but are a PITA to use. Some of the base coats, and most of the clear coats are hazardous to your lungs so a fresh air respirator is needed - yes I have one, no a simple face filter won't protect you. Look up ISOCYNIDE.

To the best of my knowledge none of the major paint manufactures make automotive acrylic lacquer now, it's mostly made by specialty companies so the quality is unknown. Probably fine for interior trim as it's easy to use and can be loaded in spray cans for small jobs so you don't have to get out the spray gun.

Just a suggestion - but check with your painter to see what type of paint he is familiar with, or likes to use. If he likes the new base/clear coat paints then I'd recommend going that route. Solid colors are fine in the one part urethane, but metallic one part colors don't match the look of the old Acrylic Lacquer paints.

A good paint shop can match the color to the original factory finish and if you don't like the "shiny" look of the clear coat a good painter knows what compound to use to buff the clear coat so it looks just like the original Acrylic Lacquer finish.

That's my two cents worth.
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wbabst
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Re: Few questions about paint finishes and horn

Post by wbabst »

If you have a decent piece of interior trim you can take it to you local paint supplier and they can color match it in your paint of choice. They will more than likely also be able to supply you with a flattening agent to make your paint to what ever level of flatness you want. My experience has been that the flattening agent does not really affect the color, just the shine. I know some will poo-poo it but I prefer my interior trim and dash shiny. I understand the glare issues but have had flat dashes and shiny dashes and it hasn't really have not struggled at all with any issues due the glare.

Depending on the guy doing the color matching it should be a really close match for you.
Current owner
61(x2) Monza Cpe
55 Pontiac Chieftain Wagon


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