63 lark daytona convertible

[00RACER]

Question: What brackets-ie batwing,radiator mount,fuel tank mounts,muffler hangers,clutch brackets etc. were bolted onto the frame before it was painted? This will help me decide what bolts were painted black and what bolts were cadnium plated THANKS

[00RACER]

Any info would help
thanks

[Warren Webb]

Good question. The only car that can really answer is the last Hardtop car at the museum. That car & pictures of the assembly process used could reveal the answers & tell all of us the minor details we need. I remember when I was doing the cab of my 61 Champ how the line number was written on the heater box & in the l/r wheel opening of the bed in crayon. Did I remember to do it again after cleaning the truck so many times? No. Pictures? No, just memory, a memory that hadn't thought about it till now. A book showing all the pictures of the assembly process in all the departments, even if they aren't all from the same time period would be entertaining & helpful.

Back in 1965 I toured the GM plant in Linden, New Jersey. I can remember a lot of the basic order of how the cars were welded, painted, and some features of the trim but the finer details that Racer asks I couldn't answer either.

[00RACER]

Any thoughts?

[bezhawk]

Perhaps the Hot Rod Magazine build of the R4 would show some pictures?

[StudeRich]

Well since no one here was THERE, do you want me to apply my (I wasn't there) Patented "Common Sense" version, that only works about 65% of the time?

It just seems to make sense that they would paint the bare frames, probably WITH the batwing and crossmembers, but without all the fitments you mention. Many of these were Cad Plate, galvanized (as Gas Tank) primered or even bare.
The paint could have been applied at Budd Corp. before frame delivery, to prevent rust while on the "Pile".

On '61 and on, the Mufflers and Tail Pipes were Aluminized.