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I call the GM engine compartment satin black, which has more of a matte finish.

Semi gloss black is just a step under gloss black.

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Cass, I'm not trying to with you but it's purely semantics at this point.

I believe that Mopar didn't flatten their paint (like GM did) for the majority of their parts (exceptions being dashes, organisol, etc.). Some parts appear "less glossy" than others due to poor materials, shoddy application techniques and time.

I agree that it is sometimes desireable when restoring a mopar to "cut the gloss" or use a bit of flattening agent to reproduce the low quality gloss black that mopar used in these applications...but to say the parts are or were semi-gloss is erroneous IMO.

As it was pointed out in the archived thread, the term "semi-gloss" could be used for something 25% down from full gloss or 70% down from full gloss....the 25% one might appear pretty close, but the 70% one certainly would not which is why I'd rather explain the correct finish as I did; low quality gloss black applied with no particular care as it was just to stop or slow down corrosion.

At the end of the day, there are probably a limited number of people trying to get the finish 100% correct; for the remaining enthusiasts, I'd rather see them use regular gloss black paint than some repro GM semi-gloss which (to me) looks totally wrong.


Dave

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I never said the factory used semi-gloss paint.

Regardless of what the paint was originally called, the appearance was not gloss black by today's standards.

In other words, if you ask a good shop to paint your wheels "gloss black", the result will be much shinier than the original finish.

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....and if you ask them to paint them "semi-gloss" the result will be much less shiny than the original finish.

See what I mean? In any case, if you only had the choice of GM "semi-gloss" and regular gloss paint, the gloss would be far closer to original IMO. If you're more anal than that, then a small amount of flattening agent might get you even closer.


Dave

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I agree with the poorly applied gloss black but what I'd like to know is how they got it to stick so well and be so hardy? A lot of that paint is still stuck onto the parts much better than what we do now with modern primers, supercleaning the parts and sanding them for bite.

Sheldon

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lead and/or other paint additives that are no longer used

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I agree with the poorly applied gloss black but what I'd like to know is how they got it to stick so well and be so hardy? A lot of that paint is still stuck onto the parts much better than what we do now with modern primers, supercleaning the parts and sanding them for bite.

Sheldon

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lead and/or other paint additives that are no longer used

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Perhaps, but more likely a chemical etch prior to dipping
Maybe someone up north had a relative that worked at one of the plants?

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No, I don't tell a shop to paint my wheels any degree of "semi-gloss black" they choose, nor do I specify "GM Satin black".

I show them a sample.

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And that's great for you, but many/most don't have a mint, never exposed to the sunlight NOS pce for a sample so they read these threads and decide whether to buy off-the-shelf GM semi gloss black spraybombs or gloss ones....

anyhow,

Dave

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We way over anal-ize these parts. Cheap and fast was the rule of the day when these cars were built.

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Dave

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Ever strip an original wheel? Nothing but black paint. Bare metal dipped in heavy cheap black enamel.
Here is the back side of an original spare. Basic black with body color sprayed on the front side. You can see the blue in the slots.
We way over anal-ize these parts. Cheap and fast was the rule of the day when these cars were built.

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Are there ever any runs or drips like on some other things that are dipped (i.e., torsion bars, etc.)?

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Are there ever any runs or drips like on some other things that are dipped (i.e., torsion bars, etc.)?

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Torsion bars???

Yes...

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do the wheels have them?

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do the wheels have them?

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Personally, my belief is that flawless paint on ANY component of these cars is a stretch from OEM...

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You've got that right; my 'Cuda had all original paint everywhere and perfect was nowhere to be seen!


Dave

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do the wheels have them?

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Personally, my belief is that flawless paint on ANY component of these cars is a stretch from OEM...

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You've got that right; my 'Cuda had all original paint everywhere and perfect was nowhere to be seen!


Dave

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My question was really to do with "does a dipped component have any indication of the process used to cover it with paint?"

If I brush painted an item someone could sure tell, if I used a paint roller someone could sure tell, when I look at a torsion bar I can see the drip marks still there and know it was coated with paint by dipping it.................so how is anyone sure of the process of how black steel wheels are done and if the car is to get body matching color how is that done, by dipping too? (I know they are not because the backs are not body color) Anyone have any manufacturing photos of how the wheels were done back then..if not then where is the evidence (drips, runs, errors,) that indicates they were dipped?

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I sure hope end of the world decisions don't come down to a debate over percentage of gloss.............

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You ain't been around the A12 restoration guys much, have ya'?



Darn, I sure miss mine...