[vertigto]

I've searched the forum for related threads and there doesn't seem to be a consensus on whether the gas tank straps on a 1970 GTO are painted black or are unfinished.

I picked up this set from the Parts Place and they appear to be unfinished. Should I paint them black (got a can of Rustoleum semi-gloss black laying around)?

FWIW...Arlington TX car.

[Wakepowell]

The consensus is that the straps were on the car when the underside was painted black. Therefor the straps were black. Original unrestored cars do have black paint on them but since there were not prepped the paint overtime flakes off. If you are restoring the car for judging, I would paint them black.

[SD455DJ]

X2 with what Wakepowell said. These are the factory tank straps repainted back to black on the Tempest.

Dennis

[Shiny]

This is also on my to-do list. I'm curious - if the straps were painted with the entire underside, wouldn't the tank also be painted? The black straps and bare tank look great and is probably what I will do but I'm simply curious about the factory process.

[SD455DJ]

Shiny, Of the 4 - '70 A-body's and 1 - '71 from Pontiac, Baltimore, Oshawa, and the Fremont plants, they all had remnants of black paint on them (straps)...which leads me to believe they had a dusting of black paint before they were installed possibly, as they all had surface rust on the bottom and rear (no paint left anymore), but a bit of black paint at the front above the axle where they were more protected out of the elements. I've heard/read somewhere that maybe the straps were installed and hung down from the rear as the bodies were painted and possibly got body color overspray on them before the tanks were installed, but I couldn't find any factory body color overspray on any of mine. I imagine some straps may of never had any paint on them and were different from supplier to supplier, plant to plant. I'm certainly not an expert in this area and maybe Uncle Judge and Ol' Pinion Head will add there expertise to the discussion. I just know enough to be wrong most the time (lol).

Dennis

[vertigto]

So...paint them black it is.

Since mine are galvanized (according to the Parts Place) and I don't want paint to flake off like factory, I'm thinking it might make sense to spray the straps with a water-based primer before hitting with the semi-gloss black.

Rustoleum recommends this for proper adhesion...

[lamans71]

I like the black painted look and plan to do mine that way too, I just bought the same straps you have and they fit very nice with my new Tanks Inc. tank.