68 rear axle - correct colors
 

I'm more of an A-body guy, so trying to figure out what is correct colors for a correctly restored real axle assembly. also, is the vent white plastic or metal?

Thanks,
Chris

There was an article in HPP on the restoration of Jim Mattison's 67 Bird that was performed by Scott Tiemann. The article was many years ago, but you might find a copy of the article on Google. I think it was titled "Perfect in every way" and was a two part series. Somewhere I still own original copies of those magazines.

Anyway, I'm in the process of detailing out my 68 rear axle based on info I gathered from that article and factory pictures of a 69 Bird being built at the factory.

Before final assembly with brake backing plates:

Pumpkin: Cast Iron Gray... Same for the yoke - Replicates bare cast iron
Axle Tubes: Stainless steel (natural steel) paint color - Replicates bare steel
Brake Backing plates: stainless steel paint same as above

After assembly: Spray just the backside of the entire assembly with satin black paint. Evidently GM didn't really care that not all of it got painted. They just wanted it to look good from the back when it left the factory. The amount of coverage with this black paint varied quite a bit. As far as I know, it was just a ballpark spray job with no taping involved.

I have also seen pictures of assemblies where people have airbrushed the welds at the ends of the axles so they have a blue tint before spraying just the backside with black paint. That really does make it look like a fresh weld if you want to go that far with it. Even more detailed, I've seen some with a slight rust tint on the welds.

This is the best info I have. I make no claim to it being 100% accurate. It's what I've read over many years and my memory ain't perfect.

OJ

Oh yeah, Vent tube was milky white plastic and Cap was and Ugly Olive Green (not beautiful Verdoro Green). At least that's the color of mine and I "think" it was original.

thx. been meaning to reply, just keep forgetting.