#21  
Old 07-18-2022, 04:57 AM
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dataway dataway is offline
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So I bead blasted my covers with some well worn glass bead ... it took them down to a factory silver base coat. The whole freakin front surface is silver ... how the heck did they then paint between the fins black and leave the sliver fins .... I could see how they could do it black first, then silver, but not the reverse.

I have heard of instances where a paint is applied to a mold before the part is cast and bonds with the plastic during molding and also acts as a release agent. No idea if that kind of technology existed back then.

Otherwise, almost assuredly hand paint in some way .. one year part, up option car, no way the numbers would justify an automated process being designed.


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  #22  
Old 07-18-2022, 08:40 AM
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Keith Seymore Keith Seymore is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shiny View Post
That looks like a big challenge and I understand why the liquid mask came up. How would the original manufacturer have masked this? Seems it would take a vacuum-formed plastic sheet or something similar. Maybe a latex mold material could be poured over the entire part, peeled off, then cut and put back in place? Yikes... good luck!
They would have used a vinyl or mylar mask.

1) Paint all the black portions (or leave them, if they are native black plastic)

2) Apply the mylar mask (either small "caps" over the edges/front half of the fins, or - more likely - a single mask that indexes and sets down covering all the correct areas in one shot). It is also possible that different portions were painted in multiple steps (ie, the center fins masked and painted first and then, in a separate operation, the enter center area covered and only the periphery painted next).

Multiple masks would be in use at any given time, and would need to be cleaned at some regularly prescibed interval.

Also keep in mind that this operation was not done at the final assembly location. These parts would have been built up and painted at a Tier 1 supplier, like Fisher Guide or some other outside supplier.

Outsourcing small parts like these has the additional advantage of being able to whip on the supplier if they are messed up, rather than being responsible for them yourself. It also puts the onus on them to be able to supply the part in the right quantities to support several final assembly locations.

K

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