Kansa City Factory Build Info

This is in reference to a 1972 V8 Maverick Grabber built on 3/2/72 at KC. What would have been the routine on painting the maverick? My grabber is Blue with Gold grabber accents. It has a respray so I can't see what was painted 1st. I'm going to assume that after complete body primer the undercarraige was painted ( What Color ?) . what was painted next, the gold accents, then followed by body color like some other ford products? Then followed in turn by the front blackout. I'm sure the nice folks on this site have a much better knowledge of the build practices at KC than I have laid out. Any information is always appreciated. Thanks Lu

 

The underside would have been red primer, with overspray from the body color. Accent stripe color was first then body color, then blackout. That's how it was on my two Kansas built cars .

 

If you have gold stripes, they are vinyl stripes on the car, not paint. There would be gold paint on the rear of the car on the tail-light panel. The black on the front would be put on over the body color.

My 1972 Kansas built Grabber.

 

so it sounds like the order of paint at the KC factory would be as follows. 1st the undercarraige in red primer followed by the rear tail panel in black or gold then body paint with overspray of undercariage and painting of front clip. Then the front blackout . How where the front fender wells treated, were they body color or blackout or a combo. Were the rear wells undercoated 1st then painted over with body color? were they then blacked out? Thanks for the info Lu

 

The entire body inside and out minus the under carriage is painted. The black or gold rear panel would be painted over the body color.

 

Undercoating would be applied after painted. I have found that under the front fenders, that the undercoating was applied after the plastic splash guards were put in.

As far as the rear, undercoating applied after it was painted. I have seen it really thick, and I have seen it really thin. Probably depended on who was working that day.

Here is how I did my rear wheel wells.



Undercarriage painted with Eastwood's Chassis Black. Rear axle and leaf springs painted satin black. Rear shackles and axle u-bolts gold cad plated. All new stainless steel brake lines and fuel lines installed from "Right Stuff Detailing". New stainless steel parking brake cables installed from "Inline Tube". Gas tank cleaned inside and out, then sealed on the inside, drain plug installed, and outside of tank painted. Wheel wells painted with 3M undercoating. New fuel and brake lines installed with gold cad plated hardware holding it on.

 

So, which is it?

 

After dipping in E coat...Cars were painted with red oxide filler primer, this would include the undercarriage...Bodies were then painted what ever color was called out on the build sheet...(Interrior painted surfaces were painted at this time) Accent colors were applied after the body color. Engine compartments were body color Except in 1970 and some 71s' out of KC The exceptions were semi gloss black like the mustangs of the 60s'...(Core supports were blacked out at this time) Undercoating/sound deadener was then applied to the wheel wells front and rear.This undercoating/sound deadener was applied after some assembly was completed (usually after installation of brake/fuel lines and rear suspension)Cars went on to final assembly then out the door...Hope this helps you out.

 

Thanks, Craig your car looks great. Im assuming that all thwe seam sealer was placed before body paint. In case of mustangs the rear wheel sealer was placed before the body paint and then balcked out at the end in a seperate process. you can sometimes see body color at the bottom of the wells depending on who was applying the blackout. How were the front fender wells and coil perches addtressed. any red primer left in these areas? How were the rear and front valances painted. was the rear attacthed to the body with paint oversray to the back red oxide. was the front valance painted both front and rear with some red oxide still showing on the rear. how far did the front blackout extend back? Thanks for your input LU

 

Here is a fine example of how it was done in St Thomas
http://www.1bad6t.com/Maverick/70Maverick/index.html

 

Could also depend on the body color. On my 73's built in Kansas, the white was put on before the body color, and on my St Thomas 74, the orange was after the white body color.

 

Very nice Jeff

 

Thank you for the compliment. More pictures of my car on my website.

Yes...seam sealer before paint.

I have always seen coil perches just left as bare metal.

Front and rear valences had a skim of body color on the back side. When I repaint, I prefer to paint them as if they will be seen.

Honestly, when it comes to Mavericks....no rear "concours restorations" are done to these cars as there is no real "rules" or "guidelines" to go by.

 

Pretty sure that the Grabbers I have seen with the hood and rear panel color worn through always had body color paint underneath.

 

I would agree, at least on 1970-1972 Grabbers. I have not really investigated the 1973 and newer Grabbers to that extent. Since Dave has 2 of those, I will rely on his expertise on those.