Firewall Blackout Paint

[Z10Mike]

Looking for experienced opinions on firewall blackout paint.  Percent gloss, manufacturer, aerosol preferred.  Was going to use the OEM BlackIT Poly black in eggshell finish on my resto car.  Problem is when I inspected my other unrestored 69 the paint looked almost dead flat black.  Tested the mentioned eggshell OEM around the heater motor area on the outboard face of the cowl and there is more gloss than the original finish.   I assume there was some variance in the gloss from the factory but I want to get this right and not too glossy.  Any help would be appreciated. Thanks...

[Sauron327]

"experienced opinions"?? I gun spray primarily but SEM Trim Black 39143 in aerosol and gun sprayable is one. I also shoot PPG 9266 and 9248, the latter being flatter. Most paints can now be put in aerosol at the supplier. Your origional flat firewall must be the result of deterioration. Eggshell is a step above flat and below satin. Note the H. box cover is full gloss as the factory did it but if shot with urethane full gloss it will be incorrect for obvious reasons. The link listed has finish guidelines but some of the tech. descriptions are incorrect, just Dichromate. I would assume the factory did not maintain exact formula consistency when mixing thousands of gallons of black with flattening agent and the differences would be negligable anyway. Maybe John has more data on that.  http://www.67z28.com/finishes.htm

[JohnZ]

I would assume the factory did not maintain exact formula consistency when mixing thousands of gallons of black with flattening agent and the differences would be negligable anyway. Maybe John has more data on that.  http://www.67z28.com/finishes.htm

The full-gloss black heater blower housing was painted at Harrison, not at the assembly plants. The plants didn't do any tinting or flattening on-site; all paint came from DuPont in 500-gallon tote-tanks and was fed from the tanks directly into the circulating systems. The in-line repair booth where blackout and stripes were done had manifolds for all the gloss exterior colors, lower-gloss blackout paint, and purge thinner.

[Sauron327]

Thanks John. Always an education. That being said it should be noted that today's urethane shot at full gloss exceeds the gloss level of 40 years ago and would look overrestored. If a test was shot with straight up lacquer vs. urethane th diff. would be apparent.

I should have clarified what "factory" .

[Z10Mike]

  I assumed that the original black out had oxidized since it was sprayed, but there is still a notable difference when compared to the BlackIt product.  I have to finish wet sanding the firewall before it gets painted anyway so I can monitor this post for a few days before I get into the job.

BTW: Don't anyone get out of shape over the "experienced opinions" statement.  I was looking for some folks that had recently dealt with a like situation and determined a good plan to get the firewall close to an accurate finish.  No sense in reinventing the wheel.  Getting JohnZ's perspective in the mix was a bonus. 
Thanks for the replies and keep them coming.

[Sauron327]

Statement was amusing; like jumbo shrimp, civil war, civilized divorce, etc. I never used Blackit--cannot provide info.

[KurtS]

The in-line repair booth where blackout and stripes were done had manifolds for all the gloss exterior colors, lower-gloss blackout paint, and purge thinner.

The firewall black does have some gloss, not much though.
Note that the tailpanel and rockers used the same paint, right John?

And I agree, the heater cover should not be a full-on gloss. More like 70-80% sounds about right.....

[JohnZ]

The in-line repair booth where blackout and stripes were done had manifolds for all the gloss exterior colors, lower-gloss blackout paint, and purge thinner.

The firewall black does have some gloss, not much though.
Note that the tailpanel and rockers used the same paint, right John?

I can't confirm for certain, but based on my production experience, I can't imagine them charging a full circulating system (500 gallons+) with a unique low-gloss black JUST for BB tail panels when they already had a circulating system and manifolds for low-gloss firewall and rocker blackout.

[Fastcompany69]

I agree, the extra cost and time wouldn't be justifiable.

[Z10Mike]

Thanks for all the feedback.  After considering all of the input from folks online here and shooting a test panel I decided to pull the trigger and use the Black-it.   Wet sanded and prepped the firewall and shot it in thin coats.  Results were great as soon as it flashed and after a 24 hour cure time it looked even better.  The first test area must have been a fluke because it had more gloss than the prepped and shot firewall does.  Now on to the trunk...

[firstgenaddict]

"I can't confirm for certain, but based on my production experience, I can't imagine them charging a full circulating system (500 gallons+) with a unique low-gloss black JUST for BB tail panels when they already had a circulating system and manifolds for low-gloss firewall and rocker blackout."


There was
1. low gloss black,
2. code 10 black  

was there
3. zero gloss with the suede additive in that booth as well?

On the 04C Black survivor the ZERO Gloss upper dash paint was oversprayed over the white out in the wiper cowl.