John, did you ever receive a reply from John Jr.?
Nope, he must be busy.
Thanks for trying John but found several quotes (info) from JohnP Jr while searching the NCRS discussion forum including the following: Per John Pirkle Jr, "All of the information Dad and I have collected(archives,pictures,and interviews with engineers and line workers from the early 50s through the early 80s) shows that the starter was painted as an assembled unit,so the rivets,pole shoe screws,etc.would also be painted.The solenoid was masked in some instances,so you saw both painted and plated units. I have seen NO credible evidence of starters delivered with an unpainted drive end or commutator end.There would be a greater possibility of a completely unpainted starter.Typical factory production was to paint the entire starter." He also added "One of the assembly line workers we talked to started in starter assembly and later became a line supervisor.He told us that the starter was painted as an assembled unit(with solenoid)A protective "clip" was placed on the solenoid to keep it from getting painted.The starter was hung on a conveyor belt and run through a paint booth where it got a coat of black paint(semi-flat)He gave us some pictures from his time in the plant that supported his story.At times the clip got left off(leaving a painted solenoid)and at times a starter left the paint booth with no paint(due to a jammed gun, the need to pick your nose etc.) From a production stand point,this procedure makes sense,and the photographs he gave us are an excellent verification." Info from this NCRS thread dated April2010 Additional paint info from JohnP Jr in another NCRS thread, "Not all the solenoids were painted black.They also could have been silver zinc plated I have photos of the assembly line in the late sixties with a protective clipon shield over the plated solenoid as the starter goes through the paint process. Dad has had several interviews with assembly line workers that confirms the photos information. We have not been able to determine any rhyme or reason as to why some were plated and some painted,or that the year has any bearing on which would occur."
Most interesting the statement of semi-flat Black as well....... I just checked my friends 68Z/28 survivor and the alum nose is painted black (not the solenoid) while his and others that I have checked (yes, extremely small population or random sample) seem to confirm the more satin black then any semi-gloss black but that might be a mute point?
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