[charles bledsoe]

I have seen restorations where the firewall crayon markings are visible, is this correct, or would they have been painted over with black paint? I am freshening up my engine bay and did find the crayon markings, but I had to remove paint to get to them. Not sure if the paint covering the markings was factory, or done by the shop who rebuilt the engine and repainted the car years before I purchased it.

[goatless]

While I'm no expert, I'm pretty confident that the crayon markings would have been put on after the firewall was painted, as the car was going down the line. It would be pretty safe to assume that the shop that painted the motor the wrong color also painted over the markings when they "freshened" it years ago.

[north]

My guess is a mix of both, different markings for different purposes may have preceded or followed the chassis black paint application.

[charles bledsoe]

Were the body's delivered from Fisher to the assembly plant painted with vin and cowl tag applied prior to delivery, or were they painted at the assembly plant once a build sheet, cowl tag, and vin assigned?

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by charles bledsoe

Were the body's delivered from Fisher to the assembly plant painted with vin and cowl tag applied prior to delivery,

Yes.

And completely trimmed out in terms of carpet, seats, etc.

K

[charles bledsoe]

Thanks Keith!! I was hoping you would chime in. Were the firewall crayon markings inscribed after the black paint was laid down at the Fisher plant, prior to body delivery to the assembly plants, or was the crayon markings put on the firewall by an assembly worker as the car was going down the Pontiac plant assembly line? I thought the crayon markings were for use at the Fisher plant so they would know wether to build it as an auto/manual, A/C, no A/C, etc...and once the body was at the Pontiac assembly plant the build sheet was used to build the car.

This is why I was wondering if the crayon markings were painted over with the black firewall paint at the Fisher plant. Painted over as the body was already built. Just a thought, I don't have any references to show either way.
Thanks.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by charles bledsoe

Thanks Keith!! I was hoping you would chime in. Were the firewall crayon markings inscribed after the black paint was laid down at the Fisher plant, prior to body delivery to the assembly plants, or was the crayon markings put on the firewall by an assembly worker as the car was going down the Pontiac plant assembly line? I thought the crayon markings were for use at the Fisher plant so they would know wether to build it as an auto/manual, A/C, no A/C, etc...and once the body was at the Pontiac assembly plant the build sheet was used to build the car.

This is why I was wondering if the crayon markings were painted over with the black firewall paint at the Fisher plant. Painted over as the body was already built. Just a thought, I don't have any references to show either way.
Thanks.

I'm with North on this one: probably both.

There were some markings added in the cab/body shop (prior to paint) and then again after paint. In both cases they served as a "heads up" for those downstream in terms of what was coming their way.

Since they were tire crayons (like a grease pencil) you can get some bleed through even after the paint has been applied.

K

[GOAT WHORE]

I have soda blasted many cars and I have never seen crayon/grease pencil markings before I started. However they are always visible after the paint is stripped away. You can't see the actual markings but rather a ghost impression of them. They are very clear. It's my opinion from what I see that the markings where put first then the paint.

[GOAT WHORE]

Here is a photo of a car it did that shows the ghost lettering. You could not see any "writing on the wall", fire wall that is, before soda blasting.

[68pongto]

Here are some pictures of firewalls. The E-24 marking is clearly on top of the paint, that car has been off the road for 35+ years (Pontiac MI plant, paint code E trim 224) Some other cars have the ghost image after the car is blasted.

[charles bledsoe]

My markings appear to be like the ghost markings in the pics above and the ones GW posted. I'm guessing when I repaint the firewall it should be black without any markings present. Is this correct?
Thanks.

[ws6speedpaul]

Agreed, the grease paint markings on my 1969 gto raiii were all put there before the final coat of black paint on the firewall and I have the pics to prove it!

I did not know they existed until I soda blasted the firewall.