How did Studebaker paint their cars in 1963

[woodysrods]

Good info on earlier post about painting "Metyallic Paint". Most people don't know about the metal flakes in Metallic paint Laying down in the direction the were applied.,"
If this is not addressed when painting a car in pieces. it will look like a "quilt" when you put it back together.
Each piece must be lined up in the booth as it is to go back on the car, painted in the same direction, and the same number of coates!
Good Roads
Brian

[Milaca]

Yes and No, Milaca. The front-end assembly ("doghouse," if you will), consisting of those parts was painted apart from the balance of the car, as you suggest. However, it wasn't welded together, obviously, it was bolted together.

Bob, have you been working on brand X cars again??? Lark front fenders are spot welded to the inner fenders and are spot welded to the grill panel. This entire assembly is then, obviously, bolted to the car.

[Andy R.]

This is a very interesting thread. Thanks to Johnnywiffer and Craig for posting the great photos to illustrate the assembly process! I do recall a feature on some renowned custom painter who NEVER broke a spray stroke until traveling the entire length of the car. Films clips of him showed a movement as level and smooth as a Tai Chi master holding a 'steady-cam.'

I wonder if anyone will alert the auctioneer that the spelling of those beautiful red tractors from Canada is C-O-C-K-S-H-U-T-T!

It also seems the quality of the paint on the front clip may have varied from the rest of the body. I've seen many photos of unrestored, junkyard, and "field" cars were the paint on the front is faded and weathered down to the primer or worse but the rest of the body still looks decent.

Case in point is the '55 sedan at this auction:

http://www.midwestauctions.com/ostby/ostby_june_26.htm

BTW, note the '41 sedan on the auction bill. Wasn't there a recent post here of someone looking for parts for one?

Andy
62GT

[1952stude]

I worked at studebaker and i saw dog house one color and body a other when they came together .

[Milaca]

This is a very interesting thread. Thanks to Johnnywiffer and Craig for posting the great photos to illustrate the assembly process! I do recall a feature on some renowned custom painter who NEVER broke a spray stroke until traveling the entire length of the car. Films clips of him showed a movement as level and smooth as a Tai Chi master holding a 'steady-cam.'

I wonder if anyone will alert the auctioneer that the spelling of those beautiful red tractors from Canada is C-O-C-K-S-H-U-T-T!



Andy
62GT

OMG, the auction has a 1958 IH A-100 Golden Jubilee anniversary edition pickup! Too bad it's sitting on the ground... I see they have a 1960 Dodge pickup with what appears to be a good bed for a Champ. I guess I've strayed from the original topic now, sorry....

[Canadoug]

long ago .....long before BC - CC became into vogue ...... spraying metalic was a true art . You could do everything right , and still end up
with what appears as a mis-match. Our cars are a blend of different shapes and lines . Thus .... light reflects ever so differently ... all
over the car. For some reason that always eluded me ...... I could never understand how fibreglass or rubber headlite panels , always
came out looking mismatched ...... go figure .

Canadoug

[Warren Webb]

My first assembly plant tour involved the GM Linden, New Jersey assembly plant in 1965. There the bodies were painted on the line with the front end sheet metal for that car following the body. We had been repainting cars on warranty due to the poor match between the front fenders & doors. It was then I noticed that the primer used on the body was a different color than that on the front end sheet metal. Because they only put on just so much color & with some of the colors there was less pigment, you would see "thru" the paint into the primer. Another interesting thing I saw there was the outside was all done by robotic arms- just the door jambs & trunk lid underneath was done by oxygen breathing employees. Allowing tours into the painting area today would be a definate no-no but those were different times for sure!

Studebakers operation wasnt much different in the basic proceedures, except they didnt have the robot arms & didnt dip the cars in an electrostatic primer process that was becoming the norm at the time. That time was running out for them. The factory setup would not allow the processes that became the norm.

[StudeMichael]

I remember Martha Fleener, who was Sherwood Egbert's secretary and the wife of Ron Fleener, President of the Meccedes Benz Studebaker Distributorship, telling me that they used to dip the bodies in big wooden vats to undercoat them. If Egbert hadn't gotten ill he would have figured out how to modernize the process.

[nels]

I think 8E45E's paint booth photo is during the primer stage. It seems when ever I remove hinge covers there is no body color under them. Also, I think the hood is painted while on the cowl as the bolts are usually painted body color. I think the cowl grill must be painted then installed as there is usually enough paint color down in the cowl grill well to assume that area was not substantially blocked. Also there is usually no paint color under the trunk hinge where it fastens to the deck lid.

[barnlark]

Bob, have you been working on brand X cars again??? Lark front fenders are spot welded to the inner fenders and are spot welded to the grill panel. This entire assembly is then, obviously, bolted to the car.

Milaca,
Bob is perfectly able to defend himself on that one, but I have to add that he is spot on and hasn't lost it concerning his substantial technical facts quite yet. Perhaps someone had fun with your Lark and spot welded the front panel to your complete fender units one day?

Anyone who has removed a front Lark clip can attest to the bolts & washers that are pretty obvious when viewed from above any engine bay and seen in many pictures on the forum. There are many bolts visually obvious holding the front panel to the fenders... and, yes, their spot welded inner fenders. As a unit the clip is then bolted to the radiator frame in the front.

Now, at least two of those front panel bolts are visually hidden under each fender in a tight area above the headlights, holding the front panel to the inner fender's front assembly. Maybe those acted like spot welds for you if you ever tried to take the front panel off, but there seriously aren't any factory spot welds with which to contend. Removing spot welds from an often dinged front panel would not be fun for any body man.

When I removed my clips, the front area of inner fender panels were all painted body color over the primer, (not beautifully, but painted) so..... at least of the four 1960 Larks that I have owned they all had front clip parts which were painted separately at the factory then assembled later. You can barely get a hand back there with a wrench, let alone a paint gun with it assembled together.

My late 1959 built '60 Larks had their complete inner fenders painted very well with the exception of one of the later built ones (spring of 1960) which had a kind of a lazy dusting of the body color, at best. The one low mileage Lark convertible I saw an the Glendale Int'l had that type of inner fender factory treatment.

[Milaca]

Thanks for the correction Barnlark, and sorry for doubting you BP. I guess my memory played a trick on me. As the pictures show, this 1964 Cruiser's front fender has an inner fender and front inner panel spot welded together (three piece weldment). I presume that all Lark types are constructed this way. Is this correct?

[daytonadave]

Lark fenders bolted on

I bought NOS fenders and front apron from Newman/Altman back in 1972 for my 1962 Daytona, cheap prices back then.
$15 for a fender and $12.50 for the front apron. These bolted to the inner fender.

[clonelark]

This is how that surface rust starts, i had my 55 under a carport for about 6 months before i could clean it up, guess the front end paint on 55s is kinda thin, with some polishing compound i was able to get it looking good again.

[studegary]

I bought NOS fenders and front apron from Newman/Altman back in 1972 for my 1962 Daytona, cheap prices back then.
$15 for a fender and $12.50 for the front apron. These bolted to the inner fender.

The factory spot welded the inner and outer fenders together.
Replacement parts have been assembled in all sorts of ways, including welding, screws, bolts, rivits.
If you are referring to the front panel to fender, then bolts were used.
I believe that a $15 fender would just be the outer and had to be attached to the inner, as above. ($10 from Hurwich).

[1962larksedan]

It also seems the quality of the paint on the front clip may have varied from the rest of the body. I've seen many photos of unrestored, junkyard, and "field" cars were the paint on the front is faded and weathered down to the primer or worse but the rest of the body still looks decent.

Case in point is the '55 sedan at this auction:

http://www.midwestauctions.com/ostby/ostby_june_26.htm

BTW, note the '41 sedan on the auction bill. Wasn't there a recent post here of someone looking for parts for one?

Weird: my 1962 Lark (Ermine White) is that same way..........the front clip has a lot of surface rust whereas the rest of the car is decent----------especially in light of it (probably) sitting outside in the Arizona sun for many years.