How Were They Painted?

R

rfitzpatrick

Well-known member
Were the A's painted by brush, pressure spray, or what. Think I've seen viedos using this great big brush -- like what the inside of my PicUp looks like it was painted with right now--
 
Most enamel was dipped in a vat. The Pyroxilyn or Lacquer was sprayed with a DeVilbiss spray gun. Much of this is covered in the Model-A Paint & Refinish Guide supplied by both Model-A clubs and the bigger vendors. Very interesting to read.
 
Not sure about the Model A, but Model T bodies were painted with a low pressure spray, really a low pressure drizzler, that looked like a small rake. The paint dripped off and was collected for reuse. Parts that were added to the bodies later, like fenders, were dipped. Passenger car bodies were rubbed out for a glossy finish, trucks were not except by special order.

I would guess at least in the early years, Model A's were painted similarly. Layers of semisolid paint would build up in the paint spray areas and need to be cleaned off periodically. These would eventually harden up and could be shaped and polished into very interesting shapes called Fordite.
 
1JJLZ6O.jpg


Paint dip/oven line Long beach Assembly,1931
 
Jack thanks for posting the pix. The black enamel dip was a common practice in automotive for chassis parts. Remember that in classic automobile parlance the fenders are chassis not body. I was a manufacturing engineer at the old Cadillac Motor plant in Detroit which built Cadillacs from 1921 - 1985. We still had the "black dip" operation. All the miscellaneous black chassis parts, radiator cradle, inner fender panels, braces and brackets went thru the huge paint dip tank then into the oven to dry. That area of the plant was protected by a very large CarDox fire suppression system.
Joe B
 
When I was a young teen the old man across the street never washed his old Dodge truck, what he would do is paint it once a year, with a brush, Dutch Boy was his paint of choice if I recall.
When he'd close the doors that thing sounded "solid"
 
burner31 said:
When I was a young teen the old man across the street never washed his old Dodge truck, what he would do is paint it once a year, with a brush, Dutch Boy was his paint of choice if I recall.
When he'd close the doors that thing sounded "solid"
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There's lots of how-to info on the net about painting a car with a brush (or usually a roller). Hot Rod even did an article on it:

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/hrdp-0707-1962-ford-falcon-budget-paint-job/

It's labor intensive with lots of coats and sanding but the results can look pretty good. It is recommended to wash the car first! :D
 
Ford was spray painting the bodies late in the Model T era. The Aug's 1926 Service bulletins told the dealers how to setup and do the job. Seems to me I have seen dates of ether 1924 or 25 when the spray equipment was started being used at the factory.
 
The DeAngelis book stated the bodies went through a vertical spraying process then a horizontal pattern or vice-versa, then the bodies went through a drying process using heat to quickly dry the body.

I assume the Branches did this process though it becomes hard to envision, looking at the size of the buildings remaining today.

BTW I read that completed Lincoln cars were shipped by rail encased in large soft flannel bags.
 
I thought that I read somewhere that prior to lacquer paint there was a problem with drying times, one of the reasons they switched. The bodies would be stockpiled waiting to be dry enough to work with.
 
The paint circulation photo above shows how they they kept paint mixed and ready in volume,the number of vats shows how many colors were 'on the gun'.Ford used conveyors and ovens to speed and time the drying process.Assembly plants were shipped painted bodies depending on the size of the plant,Larger assembly plants like Long Beach actually did some steel stamping,providing some of their own body parts,smaller ones just assembled painted units delivered by rail from the Rouge.
 
As with post #7, I was an engineer at the Ford Monroe Stamping Plant (Michigan). As with Model A's we had parts hung on a mono-rail conveyor that dipped into a Bonderizer vat which in essence was a chemical primer before ending up being dipped in black paint. If the black got scratched the Bonderizing prevented rusting. The major products were wheels but there were miscellaneous brackets, headlamp parts, etc.

I have sandblasted Model A parts with original paint and I could see as the black disappeared, a brownish Bonderite coating which disappeared next. Bonderite was a company name for the chemical.
 
Jack Shaft said:
The paint circulation photo above shows how they they kept paint mixed and ready in volume,the number of vats shows how many colors were 'on the gun'.Ford used conveyors and ovens to speed and time the drying process.Assembly plants were shipped painted bodies depending on the size of the plant,Larger assembly plants like Long Beach actually did some steel stamping,providing some of their own body parts,smaller ones just assembled painted units delivered by rail from the Rouge.
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Are you saying that the spray guns were connected to these vats via a hose and they selected the color they wanted to spray and that paint was directed to the gun?

.
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To Brent’s question
There is no way that all the colors were attached to one gun in a mere “dial-a-matic” selection process
One color may have been to one gun/one color. Changing color would be cleanings/purging gun and lines.
IMHO can’t prove such but I’ve painted for 50+ years
 
Oldbluoval said:
To Brent’s question
There is no way that all the colors were attached to one gun in a mere “dial-a-matic” selection process
One color may have been to one gun/one color. Changing color would be cleanings/purging gun and lines.
IMHO can’t prove such but I’ve painted for 50+ years
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Bill, my factory assembly line pictures show cups on the spray guns and only have an air line attached. That is why I was asking.

Since Ford was his own manufacturer of paint during the Model-A era, I suspect this is the batch mixing area where the colors were blended. I like the steam engines powering the mixing paddles in the picture above.
 
Ok, maybe someone with lots of experience can answer this paint question. How did the paint make it into the hole where the part was hung? If you hang say a fender from one hook, dip/spray it how did the paint make it to the part where it was connected to the hook? Or, it being such a small area that it did not matter.


Mike
 
Dont have a picture of paint application at Long Beach,although the ones Ive seen agree with brents statement ...why are there gauges on the delivery side if they are just vats?
 
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