Hello Mo,
I was planning to send more questions for your Dad directly to you, but Belair put this here since so many people seem to relish the history he has to offer. So, here are a couple, if you wouldn't mind relaying them to him.
1. During the '63 model year, Chevrolet stopped painting the firewalls body color and switched to a semi-gloss black. I've tracked down when this change happened at all the plants to, in some cases, just a day or two of production. At the St. Louis plant I know it was done between the 2nd week of Dec. and the 3rd week of January. I was wondering if your Dad remembered this change and if he could describe the new process somewhat. For instance, was the firewall done first, then masked with a formed template of some kind when the body was painted, or was the body painted first, with or without a masking, then the semi-gloss firewall?
I've never discovered any body color overspray around the edges of the firewall under the black (or vice-versa).
By the way, the Atlanta plant was completely screwed up. They never changed over and stuck to it. I have cars in my database all the way to the end of production with original firewalls BOTH ways! Let me guess......when they sent your Dad around to trouble shoot paint problems, I wonder how many trips he made to Atlanta....
Tell ya what. I'll just leave it go at this one for now, Mo. Let's keep your Dad's mind active now..
Thanks
Verne.