Color of engine compartment.

[rvrtrash]

My car was originally White, repainted black, and I'm
putting it back to original. The engine compartment is
black but in many places, including the underside of
the tranny hump, it's white under the black. Is it
supposed to be white to be correct? I'm wondering if
Ford painted it black after spraying the whole car white
or if it was sprayed black when the car was repainted
to keep the color uniform. Thanks for the info in advance.
Steve

 

[x-codegtcs]

I had a 68 Cougar from San Jose that appeared to have the undercarriage painted the same color as the car (Candy Apple Red). I have discovered recentlly in discussions that the undercarriage should be painted Red Oxide (so probably my confusion). Anyway, I do not have the car any longer to reference this.

It is very possible that there was overspray, but I have only seen the black and red oxide "merge" in the tranny hump.

Let me know what you find out!

Bryce

 

[rvrtrash]

I guess it should be black then. Has anyone ever seen a color other than black, that was stock? By the way, my cars 35th birthday is Wednesday, May 14th. Happy b-day CS! :

 

[Russ]

On the San Jose cars that I own, the underside of the transmission hump is red oxide. The cars were dipped in red oxide primer and numerous drips can bee seen on the floor pans as a result. The cars were then painted the exterior color, and overspray went into the engine compartment and underbody. A semi-gloss black paint was then applied to the front of the car, sans fenders, the engine compartment and parts of the undercarriage that would show. The undercarriage on light colored cars were painted black on the underbody, as the lighter colors on the frame would really show.

I don't think the Ford painters would try to paint under the trans hump because of time constraints, and because Ford identified specific areas that were to be painted the exterior color and semi-gloss black. I would check further to see if you can find the red oxide primer, but for sure, it was not black. Hope this helps, Russ

 

[GTCSMustang]

I have four San Jose Mustangs, three are California Specials. There are places in the engine compartment on all the cars where the paint is/has chipped off and it is body color underneath. I also have two Shelby Mustangs which were built at the Metuchen, NJ plant. It appears to me that there is much less overspray on them than the San Jose cars...but that is hardly a survey.

Scott

 

[rjw]

Hey GTCSMustang,
It sounds like you have quite a collection there. (Doug, you have some competition on collecting these GTCS's.) I'll bet you have one heckuva garage!
Richard

 

[GTCSMustang]

Richard,

Let me know if I can be of any help to you. I can send you digital pictures, etc. Two of the GT/CS's are unrestored, original paint, cars and are good for reference. What is the build date of your car?

Scott

 

[rvrtrash]

I want to thank everyone again for the feedback. I
thought the engine bay should be black but remembered seeing cars at car shows that had the
compartment painted body color and thought "Well-
maybe..." because there is considerable white. Someone must have just gone nuts with the spray gun. Steve