Correct Underhood Finishes

Trying to get it right, but there’s a few things I’m still unsure of even after looking at survivors and photos of survivors. The uncertainty is compounded by weathering over time and conflicting information found in books and magazine articles. The items in question are:

Power steering gear, gloss black or?
KD bell crank on the throttle cable bracket, natural or orange?
K member, gloss or 80% black?
Sway bar links

ETA: ‘69 GTX - St Louis plant

the power steering gear box was a cheap gloss black they used back in the day. I'd say it would be considered semi gloss by todays standards.

Bell crank on the throttle cable / kick down linkage should be engine color.

K member should be a semi gloss black. Again, probably a gloss black back in the day but by todays standards would be a semi gloss black.

end links should be a gray phosphate from what I remember.

K-Frame - originally shiny gloss black as proven by paint hidden under one of the K-frame bolts on my A-body. But most people, me included, paint theirs semi-gloss, because full shiny gloss seems like too much shine. The shine would have faded soon enough anyway.

It is VERY important not to end up with the exact same shade of semi-gloss black in too many places. Different plants, different parts of the plants, and different sub contractors often used different shades of black. You might want to use the same black paint for the base coat with hardener, but you can follow up with top coats of different shades of rattle can black on different sub assemblies.

When the K-frame, alternator brackets, blower motor, coil, radiator, fan, pulleys, horns, master cylinder, etc. are all the same shade of black, it just doesn't look right to me.

That being said, I do think it is very likely that mostly all of the brackets and such on a car (and there are many) that were dip painted black could all be the same color and shade of black because there could have been just one dip tank vat in a plant. Examples are license plate bracket, parking light brackets, brackets on the front of the engine, grille brackets, splash shields, seat bases, jack base, jack mechanism, removeable frame cross member, parking brake bracket, etc.

I totally agree with you, parts are supplied by numerous vendors so it stands to reason that one supplier’s semigloss black may not be the same shade as another supplier’s semigloss black. Subtle variations make perfect sense 👍

if i remember right, the dip tank method had the paint floating on water, so as to get maximum use of the paint.
is this correct ?

^^^ That's what I've read & heard. Most stuff just needed enough coating to look new on the lot, or get it through the warranty period.
I remember seeing new '68s on the dealers' lots - I was obsessively scheming how to get a '68 Road Runner at 17 - and most of the black parts weren't high-gloss.
Gloss levels differed a bit on different parts - memory tells me torsion bars, PS gearboxes, and radiators had more gloss than K frames & etc.