Paint Process

[Agent-J]

In 1985 and 1986 how disassembled where the cars before painted the reason I ask is I was looking at another convertible and the over spray kind of left me wondering the paint process for the 1985 and 1986 convertibles? What is “factory over spray” and what could be a repair or repaint.

Thank you, Agent-J

[Sandy]

In most cases one would not notice any "overspray" as ascMcLaren ordered the cars to be converted to 2-seat roadsters in a very similiar color, to the colors they were repainted using Sikkens paint. Therefore, cars earmarked for Convertible conversion were ordered in advance in Black for Black cars, Oxford White for ASC White Cars, Silver Metallic, for Sterling Silver cars, Light Regatta Blue for Paris Blue Cars, Midnight Blue for Shadow Blue cars and Bright Red for ascMcLaren Red (or Muscat Red) cars.

Now, interiors took preferance,as they could not be altered, so I don't doubt it, that at some time, they found themselves without a correct interior. Example: Customer wants a 1986 Vert with the Charcoal-Black interior, and a ascMcLaren Red body, but at that time, all the Red cars in inventory had tan interior, so, in order to get the tan interior they HAD to take another color & paint it ~ so maybe in this case the car they took was black. Then it had to be repainted in a total color change, to ascMcLaren Red. However, this was an exceptionally infrequent occurance, and NOT the norm.

If you look closely, you'll see the door hinges of a red car, are a shade or two "off" from the exterior paint color.

[bigzeke42]

When you say overspray, do you mean the finish feels rough or can you see a different color?

[Agent-J]

example over spray on the gas tank cover or emergency brake cables in the rear wheel wells or the edges of the front apron that goes under the very front of the front fenders.

[Sandy]

What color is the car & what color is the overspray ?

[Agent-J]

Car color is White and the Over spray color is also white

The reason I was asking is another collector told me the car where disassembled before paint and that there should be no over spray at all.

However I am asking the real expert now.

[Sandy]

Well, yes, the car was disassembled, to a degree, but not radically. Let's see.....Hmmmm, memory aging again..... Damn !

Crappy low line Capri seats removed, center console also. Rear seats removed, hatch remove & tossed, roof cut off, windshield bent rearward 10 degrees. New finishing plate forming new rear fender tops (peaks) installed & leaded in. Seems to be it.

[merk23literturbo]

When I saw them being painted they had no interior. They did nothing to stop overspray from getting on the undercarriage. Their focus was on the exterior. I don't remember if they opened the doors to do a proper jamb color change. That should be very easy to check however. Just open the door and look for any roughness or color difference.
When spraying cars in their downdraft booth the overspray will sometimes go up instead of down and stick to things like brake lines and underbody like you mentioned because of the air turbulence under the car. This is caused by a lot of variables. As the cars are being sprayed all the intake and outlet filters are getting more clogged. Eventually they need replacing but the last cars painted before the filters are changed will have the most overspray. When the filters are clogged the air velocity in the booth will be lower and the overspray will stay wet longer allowing it to stick better to the body or whatever it contacts. Also the air coming into the booth is heated to a preset temperature but even with a One million BTU burner the incoming air will fluctuate in temperature. So cars painted during the winter will probably have more overspray on the undercarriage.

[merk23literturbo]

I thought about this a little more and here's some more info. I forgot that the undercoating process was done after the paint process at the OE plant before being sent over to Livonia. This means that if you see any under-carriage overspray on undercoating or gas tank covers, that happened at ASC unless the car was repaired somewhere.

The OE process is usually: Body shell gets paint, then assembly of mechanical, then undercoating, then interior and exterior parts and moldings.

So this means that you should have some slight overspray on the undercarriage parts and maybe on top of the undercoating, unless they resprayed undercoating on the cars. My memory is that they got painted and then re-assembled with no second undercoat process, but I could be wrong. And who knows WHAT! happened at the dealership.

[tfs2121]

In 1985 and 1986 how disassembled where the cars before painted the reason I ask is I was looking at another convertible and the over spray kind of left me wondering the paint process for the 1985 and 1986 convertibles? What is “factory over spray” and what could be a repair or repaint.

Thank you, Agent-J

this car is an 85 or 86 we are talking about shouldent it have the facory ford paint not Sikkens i thought that was for 87-90 cars

[negusm]

In 1985 and 1986 how disassembled where the cars before painted the reason I ask is I was looking at another convertible and the over spray kind of left me wondering the paint process for the 1985 and 1986 convertibles? What is “factory over spray” and what could be a repair or repaint.

Thank you, Agent-J

this car is an 85 or 86 we are talking about shouldent it have the facory ford paint not Sikkens i thought that was for 87-90 cars

84-86 verts got Sikkens repaints too. Only the Coupes kept their Ford factory paint and their charcoal trim.

-Mike

[Sandy]

Right on, Mike.

[ASCMCLRN]

I just got off the phone with a guy named Rick who worked at ASC during the time they made our cars. He mostly worked on the Capri hatchbacks and the Buick GNX though. He said they stripped the cars extensively as they had so much they put in to structural support on these cars as well. He mentioned the windshields were hydraulically pushed back and then re-inforced substantially at the A pillar. I mentioned the hole created under the bodyside molding he wasnt aware of it by memory. He said he had to work on the B pillars of the hatchbacks, I guess they had some work in that area too. McLaren only did some handling on the cars no engine work. He mentioned how ASC bought the design from Peter Muscatt and Peter was paid a per diem for each car sold. the original design was poorly done so they had to revise allot. Rick is presently working on the Foose Mustangs atm. I know I wasnt able to get any Earth shattering news from him but he is starting to look through some of his old stuff and if he comes across anything will get back to me. We are talking a long time ago now and he was just starting to remember some of the things he forgot. It was very nice of him to take his time out and answer some questions. If anyone has any additional questions that he may be able to answer I will relay it to him. I also plan on emailing him this site so he has the option to visit us if he likes.

Nick

[Sandy]

It's kinda funny. Muscat told me that he was "dissapointed" in changes to his original design that ascMcLaren made, because it compromised quality and took the quick & easy way out.

Your contact states that ascMcLaren had to revise some of what Muscat designed because the original design was poorly done....I guess we'll never know.... for sure. I do know P.M. was paid $500.00 @ car, or One Million, one hundrd & 79 thousand $$$