[sd455hota]

Thought I would post a couple pics for reference. This is a 70 we have in the shop. It was painted once in it's life and the front spoiler was left on the car during the repaint protecting the original blue and semi gloss black behind it.

[The Boss]

It does not appear to be a crisp masked line either - interesting.

[keith k]

That's the way the original ones I've seen have always looked as well.

[The Boss]

So how did they do it? Template mask held in place?

[firstyearta]

So is this correct for 1970 only or does this carry through 1973?

[bossbirdta]

Originally Posted by firstyearta

So is this correct for 1970 only or does this carry through 1973?

My 71 is similar.....

[LeighP]

Another neat piece of info...thanks.

[johnta1]

I know my 70s had it, I think my 71 had it.

I would say the metal valences were like that.
The 72/73 plastic were probably not since they were molded in color?

[keith k]

Originally Posted by The Boss

So how did they do it? Template mask held in place?

That's the way it looks. I think the black was actually the original black ecoat primer - they just put the mask over it before spraying the color onto the panel.

[sd455hota]

We went through the stripping process yesterday. There is original blue paint under the black. Looks like the valance was painted blue then the black was srayed over it. Boss, yes, it looks like some type of template was laid down before the black was sprayed. Not a crisp line like you get with tape.

[Formulabruce]

So the black was not the e coat..interesting.. this is interesting..

[71HO4SPD]

That sounds correct, because the ecoat would have started rusting without a top coat of body color (at least in a hot & humid climate)

[70RAlll]

I have been telling people on this board this is how they were done for at least 3 years.. I think this car may have been repainted in correctly before and the black resprayed after the blue was sprayed.I have pictures of a 18k mile RAIV, with the original ,1970 only ,style lower spoiler still intact, where the black is a dull ,obvious e coat finish, not this still bright semi gloss finish .

How many original pieces of our cars that had semi gloss look as glossy as this piece does in these pictures. Poster admits the car was painted once before. The original faded pieces I have seen all have an obvious e coated finish and then masked off for the body color. Why would GM go through the extra paint step, waste additional body color or worry about longevity of e coat rusting(which would have lasted 5-10 years anyway, 2-5 times the original warranty).. Just my opinion, but a opinion by someone who has taken more than one original 1970-71 Firebird apart..

[RAFormulas]

Off of a 1970 Formula with 57k miles.

[keith k]

Originally Posted by RAFormulas

Off of a 1970 Formula with 57k miles.

Nice. Any body color under the black?

[70RAlll]

Here is a good clear picture of a 1970 RA IV with 18K miles. The car sat in a underground garage(the kind where a house is build in a hillside, we all have seen these style homes) and the bottom of the car was rusted from sitting in basement flooding, otherwise looked like a new car. Notice the spoiler, that is a style the majority of us here have never seen yet all of our cars started life with this style. I have only seen this one(car produced 1971 after the strike) ...GM had to produce a 3 bolt mount kit for the new spoilers(ones that we all have) look at the indentations on the 3 center bolts. Original 1970 TA's Spoilers did not need the spacer on these three mount points..
Anyway, you can see the shade of black is not shiney...I was under this car(the owner has a lift at his house) and saw this up close, will bet a lot that this was not repainted but was original ecoat.... then again, guys we have all been wrong before, including me.. So, maybe I was seeing what I wanted to on this car and the others I have disassembled.. ?? who knows...

Oh.. Added two extra photos.. One is a correct 70 front spoiler shot. Notice the round hole drilled in it..rarely will you see front wheel spoilers with this hole(cause they have mostly been replaced).. And the original '270 carb. Notice the yellow plastic choke pulloff..never see that on restored cars.. always the grey or white one. I have only seen 1 NOS 70 choke pull off ... still have it.. anyway,. thought everyone would like these 70 pictures..I have 100's of pictures like this.. really need to get my bopok done one day..

[RAFormulas]

Originally Posted by keith k

Nice. Any body color under the black?

None that I can see.

[keith k]

Originally Posted by 70RAlll

Here is a good clear picture of a 1970 RA IV with 18K miles. The car sat in a underground garage(the kind where a house is build in a hillside, we all have seen these style homes) and the bottom of the car was rusted from sitting in basement flooding, otherwise looked like a new car. Notice the spoiler, that is a style the majority of us here have never seen yet all of our cars started life with this style. I have only seen this one(car produced 1971 after the strike) ...GM had to produce a 3 bolt mount kit for the new spoilers(ones that we all have) look at the indentations on the 3 center bolts. Original 1970 TA's Spoilers did not need the spacer on these three mount points..
Anyway, you can see the shade of black is not shiney...I was under this car(the owner has a lift at his house) and saw this up close, will bet a lot that this was not repainted but was original ecoat.... then again, guys we have all been wrong before, including me.. So, maybe I was seeing what I wanted to on this car and the others I have disassembled.. ?? who knows...

Oh.. Added two extra photos.. One is a correct 70 front spoiler shot. Notice the round hole drilled in it..rarely will you see front wheel spoilers with this hole(cause they have mostly been replaced).. And the original '270 carb. Notice the yellow plastic choke pulloff..never see that on restored cars.. always the grey or white one. I have only seen 1 NOS 70 choke pull off ... still have it.. anyway,. thought everyone would like these 70 pictures..I have 100's of pictures like this.. really need to get my bopok done one day..

Thanks Bill - good reference pics.

[The Boss]

Here's an interesting add - buddy of mine just looked at a 20k original mile, unrestored survivor 70 Formula last night that had the blacked out treatment on the front valence, but it was also done on the rockers behind the molding.

[Transamric]

Originally Posted by 70RAlll

And the original '270 carb. Notice the yellow plastic choke pulloff..never see that on restored cars.. always the grey or white one.

I too have had true NOS (one in a Rochester tagboard type box & the other in an AC Delco zip string metal carton) choke pull-offs with the "RP" cast into the front half that were quite White. The reason most used ones, low or high mileage, are Yellow is simply due to the aging of the plastic, just like any other underhood White plastics.

Have you ever seen the Rochester pull-offs with the front half in Silver/gray plastic? I'm thinking these were not true NOS but likely NORS.