Black Firewall Paint

[Pex68]

Here's a question I would like to get a lot replies on.
I have a 68 Sequoia Green SS 12D build car that I am the second owner of, was purchased from an estate sale where the original owner was a construction company owner and had passed in an crane accident and the estate was tied up for 15+ years and the car just sat.  The car was mostly original when purchased, T3's still working, all original interior without a tear (seat foam just rotting), even had original belts and hoses on the engine.  The car was repainted once (outside only-all paint in door jams, under hood, cowl area, under trunk original-you could see the tape lines) due to an accident that took out the drivers fender and door and the original vinyl top was removed. Someone also went through the engine compartment with black spray paint too because there was overspray on everything including the dirt and grease.(I guess in an attempt to pretty it up for the sale)  Some things were changed like shocks, tires, antenna, exhaust, plugs, wires, cap & rotor. Here's the thing, my firewall/bottom side of hood was NOT painted black but was body color so when I restored her, I did not paint the firewall/bottom of hood black but had to have the tail pan black so that's what I did.  I have been questioned several times about it and KNOW I read somewhere (never to be found again) that certain colors did not get the black-out treatment due to an enamel/lacquer mismatch.  I also was told by a reputable person at nationals that it was incorrect even after the above explanation.  I have photos of factory crayon marks that ran under the blower cover and numerous pic’s of the firewall during teardown all showing body color, no black except for some little spots where there's overspray from the fool with the spraybomb. 
My questions are;
Am I correct about the paint mismatch or did I dream that?
Did certain color cars come from the factory with body color firewalls?
Does anyone else have a Sequoia Green SS where the firewall is NOT painted black?
Any and all opinions would be greatly appreciated!!!
Thank's in advance, Chris.

[JohnZ]

I've never seen a full body-color firewall, although others may have. The bottom of the hood wasn't "blacked-out"; it had black dip or flow-coat prime on it, and only the top surface and edges were sprayed with body color - there was no access to spray body color on the inner panel, as the hood was mounted on a conveyor buck with the header, fenders, and valance in car position with about an inch between panels. The body shell from the firewall back was painted by Fisher Body (who blacked-out the firewall and the rear wheel openings after color), and the exterior sheet metal from the firewall forward was painted in a separate plant by Chevrolet.

See the "First-Generation Camaro Assembly Process" paper in the "CRG Reports" block at the top of the page for more Paint Shop process detail.

[mr396]

Allright another sequoia green camaro owner. . I didn't know how cool  sequoia green was untill I saw one. here is a picture of the cowl on my sequoia green camaro.                             


It looks to me like it was primered then body color.see the tag area it's painted body color.This is a 68,000 mjle original camaro.

[KurtS]

I agree with John, the bottom of the hood has been repainted.

...that certain colors did not get the black-out treatment due to an enamel/lacquer mismatch

There was no issue with the types of paints. They only used lacquer. And the blackout of the firewall did not vary by model, every car should have gotten it, regardless of color. The blackout was to make the firewall uniform.
Can you post pics showing this?

Not uncommon to see some body color on the tag and the top of the firewall. The firewall blackout didn't always cover the top edge. I'm interested in seeing any pics of a car having color on the main part of the firewall.

I know of one car that did have green on the firewall. A silver 69. I need to ask for some more details on that car.

[JohnKY]

I asked this same question a couple of years ago concerning my Sequoia Green car. When I took everything off of the firewall during the most recent restoration (there have been a few of them over the past 27 years), there was body color on the firewall. Things like the blower box, master cylinder, accelerator rod bracket, etc. did not have black paint under them. I repainted it green and did not use any blackout. It may not be correct, but as near as I could tell at the time, that's the way it was when it left the factory.

[mr396]

It looks like its black up to the seam with primer above the seam.the top of the cowl is body color.the tag area has a lot of green body color paint,so it looks like they primered it, then painted it black up to the seam and didn't masked it. and painted the top of the cowl body color with a little more body color paint sprayed over the trim tag area.hope this helps.

[Pex68]

Nice, Sequoia green Camaro owners unite! 
Mr396, I see you also have a vinyl top...Me Too!  I also see your car is a Norwood car, maybe that denotes a difference, is it solid black from the seam down, everywhere?.   
JohnKY, as stated, mine was like yours, no black anywhere, by chance is your car a LOS-Van Nuys car?  We could be on to something!

I'll post some pic's of mine ASAP, Could you guys also email me some more pics of your cars, would love to see them!

Any other Sequoia green Camaro owners out there???

[william]

There was an excellent book "The Great Camaro" written many years ago. In it there is an assembly line photo of the front sheet metal being positioned on a '67 body. The firewall is clearly body color.

The photo could be staged, could be a pilot car. Take it with a grain of salt. No one has seen every car built.

[Pex68]

Here's some pictures from the teardown, note----the black paint on the lower portions of the firewall where the inner fenders would meet, right above the the frame mounts is overspray from when they rattle-caned the inner fenders and not from the factory.  You can see it in the last pic on the brake lines also.  Also note the missing wire harness hanger to the right of the trim plate, not a hint of black, just rust...

[mr396]

Those are very good pictures, is that the hidden vin by the heater core? It looks like norwood did it a little different then L.A. mine has a/c, and there isn't much firewall showing, I wonder if that would make a difference?

[JohnKY]

Pex68, mine is a Norwood car, 05C.
Just a couple of questions on your pictures: Are the steering column seal and the plastic plug for the stock speedometer cable hole painted green? These would have been installed on the Chevrolet side, and shouldn't have any paint on them. It's hard to tell from the pictures; they may just be dirty. Heater core appears to have overspray also, but that might be oxidation of the brass, again, it's hard to tell from the pictures.
BTW, what happened to the wiring harness "hook"? Did it break off?

[JohnZ]

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.

[Pex68]

JohnKY, No paint on the seal, gromment, or heatercore, it's just dirt & the pictures-pic 3 is a better shot of the heater core.  As for the wire harness hook, I guess it just fell off, was missing when I got the car.  Spot on the firewall hardly even looked like it had something there so it must have been a real poor attempt by the spotwelder.

Mr396, yep, that's the hidden vin under the blower case.

Looks like so far I'm the only one with a LOS car, anyone else with a LOS car want to chime in???

Thanks for all the responses so far too!!!

[Buddy]

Those are very good pictures, is that the hidden vin by the heater core? It looks like norwood did it a little different then L.A. mine has a/c, and there isn't much firewall showing, I wonder if that would make a difference?

Not sure on 68 but in 67 LOS didn't use hidden VIN's. I beleive that 68 didn't either.

Buddy

[JohnZ]

Those are very good pictures, is that the hidden vin by the heater core? It looks like norwood did it a little different then L.A. mine has a/c, and there isn't much firewall showing, I wonder if that would make a difference?

Not sure on 68 but in 67 LOS didn't use hidden VIN's. I beleive that 68 didn't either.

Buddy

Are you sure? It was a Federal requirement on all cars.