[Bentwheelbob]

The suspense is killing me.

Well, actually it isn’t. This whole thing is being milked like a prime heifer.

It will be well photographed as another car needing restoration in 30 days.

Very cool, but there are lots of cool cars.

[notime]

This is a holy grail car for us Judge lovers. I cant wait to see it.

[Held for Ransom]

Two shows I'll miss the car at...

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

I hope it never gets restored - maybe just a nose job.

Holly-Holy [neil diamond]

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

It's Black in this old picture
Is the picture on time stamped paper ?
Looks less than 5 years old at the time

[Held for Ransom]

The car in this thread has been repainted in the past, so it's no longer all original paint.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

ah ok

Then my theory is it needs a nose job ASAP
Plasti-Kote used to have a school bus yellow offering in aerosol.

[muscle_collector]

just a thought, but if they had made this one with a black spoiler it mighta (is that a real word) been a cool deal.

as for my car, it was resprayed another color with what looks like krylon and its all peeling off everywhere and you can see the orbit orange on every body panel and in all the jams, trunk panel, etc... the nose is oo also but who knows if it actually was delivered to the dealer that way or painted when the dealer got it. my guess is the dealer painted it when it came in if special paint cars were delivered with primered noses.

last, does any know how the color on endura noses on gto's and firebirds was actually applied at the factory?? and when? im assuming they were painted before being installed on the body????

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

On standard colors -
(proper color) was supposedly sprayed into the mold first
then the molten endura material poured in on top of that.

Heavy science for the day and time.
And is said that the "factory finish" on the enduras was hell to repaint (get bonding action) for several years until more chemical technology was produced.

On special paint colors
Seems like they "should" have supplied the enduras in primer coat
and the dealer or any GM approved dealer could paint to match.

There may have been choices on that parameter .... idunno
Primer Coat
or
Finish Coat of Select Standard Color

[unruhjonny]

Originally Posted by Baron Von Zeppelin

On standard colors -
(proper color) was supposedly sprayed into the mold first
then the molten endura material poured in on top of that.

Heavy science for the day and time.
And is said that the "factory finish" on the enduras was hell to repaint (get bonding action) for several years until more chemical technology was produced.

...

That is SUPER cool!!

[Norwood]

Originally Posted by Baron Von Zeppelin

On standard colors -
(proper color) was supposedly sprayed into the mold first
then the molten endura material poured in on top of that.

I would be very interested in documentation of this please.

[The Boss]

Same as a gel-coat on fiberglass.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Searches on here come up with everything you dont want, practically

did find this
but there is more on here somewhere


from PY member North

For what it’s worth a key employee who worked for me in a steel wire mill years ago did his engineering apprenticeship at inland manufacturing in 1967-68 and he was on the endura nose team. The bumpers were painted as following: the inside of the super polished molds were painted body color, the steel frame was inserted, the “endura” materiel injected into the closed mold. Then the mold “baked” the bumper to cure it. Bumpers were then shipped to assembly plants prepainted for installation.

Apart from his recollection this is documented by an article in SAE magazine from that time describing the process. It is further supported by period MPC’s that list a different part number for each color bumper.
This is also why various factory documents state that 68-69 GTO’s couldn’t be ordered with special order paint like other cars were.

So original paint appearing bumpers maybe replacement bumpers (color bumpers were only offered in the parts catalog for short periods before being replaced with unpainted ones) or perhaps plants would paint bare ones if certain colors ran out?

Btw he told me that the early months of 68 production was a disaster due to air bubbles in the endura under the paint, the assembly plants had hundreds and hundreds of GTO’s waiting for bumpers. Lots of people were fired.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

I had a chance to buy an NOS 68 Endura at Charlotte Auto Fair Swap around 87 or 88.
It was that Springmist Green color (light green/silvery metallic)
Never mounted and never an emblem installed.

In mint condition in every respect.
After about an hour of marveling and examining , declined due to the 68 emblem holes , which was what kept swirling in my mind the whole time. I could have used a 69 unit and would have bought it instantly.
68 parts were SLOW SLOW movers back then.

That was on a Thursday
went back by every day still fighting the urge
someone finally bought it on Sunday
probably Ron Johnson

Never seen another one since

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

All of the process was cutting edge for the day

Think the paint was urethane/polyurethane (epoxy with catalyst)
Main reason repair/refinish lacquers and enamels wouldn't bond at the time.
Likely a mid-coat//tie-coat sprayed after the color , as a go between from the color to the endura material.

reverse technology


someone else can hunt down the SAE article that North mentioned.

Mike Noun or North might have more info / data
It has always blown minds , just thought most of you guys would already be past the initial shock at this point in time.

Not to make excuses for something i'm not looking at -
its possible they could have even dusted the trailing edges after curing - before removing bumper from the mold fixture (no exterior masking required)

It's interesting - but not my baby

[notime]

I myself find it hard to believe they put color in mold before pouring endura material in. Im no scientist but as a painter I cant see how that would ever work. I've worked on original paint endura bumpers and have found overspray on the inside. I would definitely need to see some kind of documentation on that theory.

[Norwood]

Originally Posted by notime

I myself find it hard to believe they put color in mold before pouring endura material in. Im no scientist but as a painter I cant see how that would ever work. I've worked on original paint endura bumpers and have found overspray on the inside. I would definitely need to see some kind of documentation on that theory.

Well that’s two of us

[71JudgeFNG]

Originally Posted by Norwood

Well that’s two of us

This Hot Rod article references the process mentioned previously.
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/1968...r-of-the-year/

As great an achievement as the bumper material was, Pontiac claims that the development of the paint was even more significant. Inland Manufacturing Division at Dayton had been a recognized factor in foam technology for years, and when named as initial fabricators for the ’68 GTO bumpers, it was basically a relatively simple matter of perfecting a paint material for this specific application. It soon became apparent that the only paint suitable for the new bumper would entail an entirely new project for its development. Conventional paints simply did not possess the necessary flexibility.

The advanced quality of the paint and the technology involved is evident in the fabricating process itself. First the paint is sprayed on bare, solid nickel molds that have extremely smooth, plated surfaces. Then a .150-inch thick steel frame is placed into the mold, the cover half is dropped on, and the urethane is injected, heated, cured and removed, all without additional finishing and polishing. There is also no real limitation to color availability, since the present GTO range consists of 17 different hues.

[muscle_collector]

Originally Posted by Norwood

Well that’s two of us

mark me down as 3 I just cant get it in my head how you can paint something and then have something else attach to it and turn out the way the endura did and stay on for 50 years. but im not the sharpest knife in the drawer by any means.

[Bentwheelbob]

Seems hard to understand from a 1960’s technological standpoint, and from a common sense standpoint. That said, if they were able to spray cars with a special order paint color, they could have just as easily sprayed the endura front as well if that was the process.