Body color on firewall

[Charley]

Somebody posted pics awhile back of their firewall being body color instead of being blacked out but I can't find the thread. I did find this pic on the site though and it also looks body color to me. Maybe this is old news ? Also crayon on top of the firewall paint. Maybe I need more morning coffee.

[My68SS]

Is this the thread?
http://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?topic=143.0
There were some variations

[Charley]

Sounds like the pic William mentions in the thread.

[william]

Thats it. Possibly a staged photo of a pilot build.

Assuming I remember it correctly, there was a guy with an LA '69 Z/28 in Cortez Silver. Had a Fathom Green firewall.

[acelr8]

Norwood buid but I believe staged because of missing engine.Jeff

[JohnZ]

Norwood buid but I believe staged because of missing engine.Jeff

Nope. That's Van Nuys, and the engine/chassis was married to the body after the front clip was installed.

[firstgenaddict]

There was a Sequoia green 68 SS convertible that was restored with a painted firewall and he was told it was wrong even though upon disassembly and documentation all indications led to the factory building the car with the firewall painted body color.

[Jon Mello]

Charley,

Because that photo is in b&w it would be faulty to conclude that it is body color. To illustrate my point, check the photo below of a '67 LA-built Z-28 engine compartment. This was taken when the car was brand new. You can see the contrast of heater box color to the actual firewall is pretty close to the same as the car seen in the photo you supplied and the Z's firewall is a shade of black, not body color.

I'm not saying a body color firewall could never have happened but it certainly would have been a fluke.

-Jon

[tmodel66]

Could someone please post a clean and crisp picture of a firewall  so I can show my painter how the firewall had over spray on it. We go to paint in a couple weeks and he has never saw what I'm talking about. He says no problem but I'd like for him to see first hand what I want.

[firstgenaddict]

The blue / white striped 67 Z above most likely has the cowl whiteout overspray on the firewall causing it to "appear" gray. It would take a non striped car to make a better determination, unless physical inspection has shown the mist on the blue 67 Z's firewall to, in fact be blue.

[Jon Mello]

What it would really take is for the assembly line photo to be in color to determine whether it is truly body color or not. I'm not a believer that it is body color.

-Jon

[68Zproject]

I'm not an expert, but if you look at the shadow of John's pic of the 67 z, you can see that it is a light reflection that makes the top of the f/w look white.  Look at the right edge just above and left of the booster.  Where the shadow comes in, the f/w is the same shade as the top edge by the washer nozzle.  Next to that the light comes in and makes it look white.

[Jon Mello]

No, it is white on top of the cowl, not a shadow. I owned the car at one time however now it is back in the hands of the original owner. The car is Tahoe Turquoise by the way.

-Jon

[68Zproject]

Sorry John, I meant that the shadow shows the firewall was black but looked white in the glare.  The top is easier to see as a lighter color in the shadow.

[ChevyThunder]

Could someone please post a clean and crisp picture of a firewall  so I can show my painter how the firewall had over spray on it. We go to paint in a couple weeks and he has never saw what I'm talking about. He says no problem but I'd like for him to see first hand what I want.

My garnet red Norwood built 69 pictured below had about an inch or so of body color left on the firewall so I duplicated that . I think it is clear from what John Z said whatever you decide , whether it is a 1/4" of body color or an inch of body color on the firewall don't make it a clean hard taped line.

John Z from another thread "Firewall blackout at Fisher Body wasn't a "concours" operation, and coverage varied greatly; the photo below is my untouched original Norwood 02D car, which shows pretty much Fathom Green body color above the plenum seam, and blackout below it. Some cars had blackout further up, some didn't - it was done with a hand-held shield (not tape and paper), and sometimes the sprayers used the shield, sometimes they didn't."