[1977blackta]

Are the hood hinges "black" or "gray" phosphate on a 1977 Trans Am? I see some that are black but at the same time Johns famous 11,000 mile original pics look "gray" to me.

I bought mine in 1986 and it has been mainly inside since 1990. While I was stripping them down, they appeared more black than gray. I have them now ready to be recoated in phosphate and unsure which color to go to. It is a black on black car.

I already told the guy black then when I looked at some of Johns pics I am having second thoughts. I am basing my info on the pics you see in this thread:

10th post down by Mr W72, "engine7.jpg"

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=563683

Thanks for the help.

[Firethorn Fan]

I agonized over this. I located a shop in Wisconsin that can recoat the hinges with zinc phosphate (not zinc plating, a different process). The owner stated this is what the factory used, but if I did not paint over the phosphate, it will rust in 90 days. I have seen photos of another 77 survivor with 15K miles, the hinges are black. For same price as phosphate (and having to paint over) I chose to have powdercoated. I chose a 40-50% semigloss black (very mild like satin). They should be ready to pick up this week. My 77 hinges had traces of black, but not much left after all the years. Suggest you blast the rivets real clean with brake cleaner and see if you have any side to side play. That would indicate worn rivets and I located a company that can rebuild your hinges. I had this done. Looking at your other threads, do you know the correct GM corporate blue engine color for 1977? Looking for a paint code number and manufacterer to get close as possible. I saw pics from MrW72s survivor but in the thread didn't see mention of engine paint code.

[1977blackta]

Thanks for the reply. I decided to go with the black phosphate coating. When I was stripping my hinges, what I noticed was a black type of coating. I have owned it since '86 and have never painted the hinges and don't believe they had been painted before I bought the car. The stuff that was coming off with the aircraft stripper was certainly not paint, and a lot of it stayed attached to the hinge after a good stripping.

Thanks for the "repairing" advice but my hinges did still seem to be in great shape. The car has just over 100k on it now and had 82k when I bought it in 1986.

Here is a link with some engine paint code info that I hope helps:
http://www.pontiacpower.org/enginecolor.htm

I still haven't got my engine back together yet, so I am still waiting a good word on that. I did paint the intake with Classic Industries paint and Duplicolors DE1608. I don't know which is anywhere close to correct. They are both similar. I wound up spraying both on the intake to get a "mix" type of color and I am happy. Maybe others have better options and they can chime in. I am still interested in this subject because I still have the rest of the engine to paint.

I will repost this in your current thread also.