63-Riv-The devil in the details

[petelempert]

I need some counsel on two paint details:

First, I just had my hood center spear (trim piece running down the center of the hood) re-chromed. It looks good, but I'm wondering if the factory sent the car out with the entire spear chromed or if it was a combination of chrome and painted dull silver...like the grill treatment? When I look at photos of restored or survivor cars, it looks like the spear has both a chrome and a satin silver look. Specifically, the spear has three ribs that run down the length. In some photos it looks like the valley between the center and outer ribs is a satin silver color while the ribs and outer edges are chrome. I'm learning that the trim on the first gen Rivs often involves a mix of painted and chromed surfaces (like the grill, headlight buckets and the grills on the cowling beneath the windshield). What's the deal...all chrome or partial paint and chrome?

Second, I'm restoring the headlight buckets and surrounding grill assembly and following some of the posts regarding this subject. I'm finding the tape and spray method works best, but it's tedious. In the small black painted sections in the headlight surround, should the black be flat or satin? On my car, it looks flat, but is also 50 years old. What's the deal...flat or satin black?

What would Bill Mitchell want me to do? Any counsel is appreciated. Thx PRL

[RivNut]

The '63 hood spear is painted between the ribs, probabaly Argent Silver like the painted part of the grill. The black paint on the head light grills is supposed to make it look like it's open like the rest of the grill. Which ever paint gives you that illusion is the one to use. I'd probably go with the flat black.

[petelempert]

Thanks RivNut. I thought the spear looked a little too shiny. Also, I tried the flat black on the grill and it's far better than the satin. So now I'm looking at the turn signal/running light grills and thinking they too have a chrome and silver paint combination. Sort of the same deal with silver on the inner portions and chrome on the facing. Is that true? Thx PRL

[RivNut]

Yep! Chrome on the vertical surfaces, argent on the horizontal surfaces.

With production lines moving at the rate they did, it makes you wonder how the factory painted the grills, hood spears, and turn signal grills in the time alloted. Same with the later years on the rally wheels.

Ed

[Guest brivi65]

It's amazing, between taping, prepping, and paint it took me 2 hours to paint my grille, it makes you wonder how they did it at the factory!..Brian

[petelempert]

It really is interesting, to the casual observer, most just assume it's all chrome. I'm guessing the supplier had some large scale automated way of creating the look because like Brian...I've been taping and painting for hours. The results are worth it though. Anybody out there have a good/tight up close picture of the hood spear that shows where the argent.silver ends and the chrome starts? Thx PRL

[lrlforfun]

OK Riviera People: Just for the record......the 63 hood has different mounting holes than the 64 or 65. They all fit the car, but a 64-5 hood spear with the R-bob site will not fit a 63 hood, unless you want to do a leeetle grinding. Mitch

[Guest u571]

Plenty of time spent cleaning, prepping paint surfaces and masking. If I remember right it took me 42 hours to sand,polish,mask and paint my turbine wheel covers. This was after media blasting them. Mark

[petelempert]

Yeah, I file it under "stuff I learned to do but will probably never do again". Also, right when you get good at it, you're done. It took me a week of fiddling around with re-doing the first headlight bucket and surround. It looks good. The second took me about one third the time and it looks three times as good as the first one. Still trying to figure out the paint scheme of the hood spear. Seems like the outer sides (viewed from the side of the car) and top of the outer ribs are chrome. The valleys on either side of the center rib are painted. Obviously the top of the center rib is chrome, but does the paint extend all the way to the top of the rib or not? I feel like I'm picking the flea @#$% out of the pepper here...but I just want to get it right. Anybody got a good pic that shows what Bill Mitchell wanted? Thx PRL

[Guest brivi65]

Hey petelempert , my car is at my shop right now, but I just went out to my parts hood and shot this, hope it helps....Brian

[RivNut]

I did this when I painted a set of ribbed aluminum valve covers and it might work the same on the hood spear. I painted everything and removed the paint from the surfaces that I wanted shiny. When the paint was still tacky, I tood a lint free paper towel and wrapped it one (one layer) around a body paint stir stick. Then dripped some lacquer thinner on it and let it soak into the paper towel just enough to get it wet. I then pulled the stick w/ paper towel-lacquer thinner across the top of the ribs. I did this enough times to eventually remove only the paint from the top part of the rib. Everything else was then left with paint on all put the flat surfaces. Kinda bass-ackwards but it worked.

Ed

[Guest u571]

Pete, only the bottom surface is painted,the sides are chrome. I have 2 original 63 spears to confirm this.

Happy masking!!!

Mark