did the factory ever have runs in the paint that they had to rub out? this 72 cutlass i got from Scott 442 i strongly believe has the original paint, all but the front right finder. the paint is very thin in spots and a little thin everywhere. you can see the primer through the paint. there is no signs of ever being repainted but at the edges of a couple spots it looks to have had runs at one time in the paint. i don't know if someone spilled something on it and stained the paint or if the factory rubbed out a couple runs. if this is not the original paint someone did an incredible job of repainting it. this car was owned by an older lady all it's life till (if i remember right) 2003. i have documentation that she owned it then her grandson then Scott had it for a little over a year. if this was repainted it was done a long time ago because it is lacor. also i would not think that the car would have ben disassembled back then for a paint job. there is no over spray anywhere other than where i have seen factory over spray.

 

also if you rub your finger across what looks like a run you can feel something there but not like a bump you would expect from a run.

 

Eric, of course....Johnny Bench would have puked if he saw the quality of paint jobs coming out of the factories back then. Like somebdy here once said,"that was more the rule than the exception!" Today's quality is far superior, but dirt, drips, sags still exist!

 

The cars were painted by line workers in "divers suits" with the air repirators. The body from the firewall back was painted, and the hood and fenders were painted separately. Sometimes, the color had a mismatch that you could see at certain angles.

The bodies went thru a huge vat of primer first.

That is how they painted the cars at the Framingham plant in 1972 when I worked there.

The paint jobs were, on a good day, just average.

On a bad day, they were worse.

 

My442, you were the guy I referred to...

 

Now we know who the culprits are is right. I had factory drips everywhere, hard to rub out painted primer runs. I read that at Lansing they painted the fenders and small painted parts at the assembly plant and the bodies were done at the Fisher Body plant first, could explain some of those color matches too.
Why are the horizontal surfaces on the bottoms of the rockers never painted?
On my (just sold) '04 Astro van the inside fender and door edges had no paint on them. I guess the robot couldn't see there/GM quality control, the thing was junk compared to my '87 Astro.

 

The funny part of the the 1972 BOP assembly plant experience for me was the fact that at that time, here was ZERO automation in terms of robots. Every operation depended on the worker to do the job right. All of the assembly, welding, and painting were done by people.

I went back to tour the plant for one of my MBA classes in 1986, and there were many robots welding and painting. I was shocked at how many there were.

The UAW was a major culprit in poor quality. They would stage "do your job wrong" periods to strongarm GM management to bend on issues of discipline or bargaining. It truly was a "us versus them" mentality.

That is why the quality went up - robots don't get fatigued, need breaks, or use drugs and alcohol.....