Okay guys, quick sanity check before I start painting 72 Cutlass parts...
From what I have read up on, from this site and others, the stock colors are:

-Brake drums - semi gloss black (I thought this would be natural? I seem to have no trace of paint on my drums - just rust.)

- Rear sway bar - either semi gloss black OR natural (which is more common? Again mine has just rust)

- Coil springs - natural

- Axle assy and cover - semi gloss black (Mine looks like rust, too)

- SSIII wheels - lower body color on outside, semi gloss black on inside (Can they be powdercoated in two colors? need to call 'em)


Am I right for the most part? I am after the "most correct" factory paint scheme for a Lansing car...

Thanks...

 

Hey Rob, they're all supposed to be semi-gloss rust I think.

Opening a can of worms here.

According to the Donahue guide;

-Brake drums-Semi-gloss black

-Antisway bars- Manganese phosphate/color coded

-Coil springs front-Gloss black/color coded

-Coil springs rear-Semi-gloss/color coded

-Third member-Gloss black

-Axles (tubes I assume)-Natural/color coded

These are generic GM in the book so who knows? There still isn't a good Olds resto guide, Poncho would probably be about the same I bet. My GTO resto guide is in the Goat which is up on the lift and it's in the trunk. I could stand on the roof of the Vista Cruiser and grab it.
The front springs usually were gloss black IIRC, new ones are usually gloss black, rears were semi-gloss, looks like they dipped them with tons of runs.
I prefer the rear all black myself, correct? beats me but I like it. A long as it's done neatly and looks pretty you can win trophies at any local show, heck..., you can win the nationals.

Beats me on the wheels, just paint them black too.

Isn't this fun kids?

Mine was rust and gloss grease, I ate dinner off the bottom of it this evening.

myvista 025S.jpg
2-5-07 Vista 003SML.jpg

 

And the only way to recan the worms is to use a bigger can...

I do have the GTO resto guide, which says nothing on brake drum color.
It did say the coils are natural though...

I have an evil desire to do the drums "natural" so they will match the fronts with the disks showing...

And just what is "Manganese phosphate/color coded"? I saw that...
-Longhand for 'natural'?

Looks like I will pick up a can of POR15 "metal mask" to do the natural stuff.

Glad to see you back here and the Vista is safe. You did not need a 2004 van anyway - glad you sold IT!

 

So the assy manual states the brake drums should be painted color #384 if car is equipped with any of the styled SS wheels.

Does anyone know what color and finish 384 is?

 

black

 

Rob, I just finshed spraying my control arms,sway bars tie rods,rear brakes,springs all with POR 15 semi gloss. very pleased with the results. I took the front drums off and replacing them with disc brakes. The rear drums I also sprayed with POR 15 but I sandblasted them first as I did with the other suspension parts

 

agree with Patton.

the drums are all natural, which obviously rusts after a while. If the car came equipped from the factory with SSI/II/III then the face of the drum would get painted black. This is noted in the assembly manual, at least the 69 and 70 manuals I have


for the SSII/III wheels you can have them powdercoated all black. Then scuff the face and shoot them either body color (if you want SSIII) or the correct argent which is common for 69/70. This is what I did for the SSII on my W-31. Came out GREAT