68 RS/Z Firewall Codes

[scuncio]

Hi Folks, Paul (HuggerSS) was looking for some feedback on what looks to be a few firewall codes written on his '68 Island Teal / Black VT RS/Z. Thoughts?

https://photos.smugmug.com/SYc-Site/i-b2S5RqQ/0/5c02780c/X3/IMG_0551-X3.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/SYc-Site/i-thKPXxX/0/532292a9/X3/IMG_0552-X3.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/SYc-Site/i-vfQJHg4/0/2f4fab83/X3/IMG_0553-X3.jpg

[HuggerSS]

SCUNCIO, thank you for posting. I am trying to figure out what the grease pen markings on my firewall says. I think I see D E A L, Which I’m assuming the D is a T and it is TEAL.

Has anyone had any luck putting anything on the firewall grease pen markings to make it more vibrant?

[William]

They are hard to read because they were placed there during body fab, on raw steel. One of the last operations was firewall black out, when they were covered with paint. It wasn't necessary to write TEAL on the firewall after the car was painted. Over time the paint flakes off and they become a bit more visible. The 'firewall graffiti' often seen such as M-21, L78, z-28 is nonsense; wasn't visible after firewall blackout.

They are easy to read if the firewall is media blasted because grease pencil stains the metal.

The only marking occasionally seen on the firewall blackout is the assembly sequence number.

[HuggerSS]

Great info, thank you

[William]

This is from our '67 Z/28 project circa 1990. 3L was to the right of the body tag. RS, white, black vinyl, blue custom.

[firstgenaddict]

A little fuel for the fire... all unrestored cars.
2 Norwoods
R GRN
DK BLUE

And a VN... multiline plant used numeric codes VS color names-
71 71

[William]

Paint doesn't adhere well to grease pencil. The body was painted long before fire wall blackout was applied. Over time the paint flakes off and they become a bit more visible.

From John Z's First Gen Camaro Assembly Process article on the CRG site:

"The last process for a non-stripe car was the blackout booth, where the firewall was blacked-out, the trunk was sprayed with spatter paint, and sound-deadening undercoat material was sprayed in the rear wheelhouses. The rear "cocktail shakers" on convertibles were suspended in the trunk for spatter painting, but weren't bolted in place until later in the Trim Shop, after the taillights and marker lights were installed."

http://www.camaros.org/assemblyprocess.shtml

[ruralrte66]

So on a car that the fire wall has been painted over, but not restored, what is the best way to clean the paint off, to find the original grease marking.

Thanks Gregg

[KLars1]

This is from our '67 Z/28 project circa 1990. 3L was to the right of the body tag. RS, white, black vinyl, blue custom.

Wow! Pics of this car somewhere?

[William]

Volo had it listed recently; it's been through several auctions.

[William]

So on a car that the fire wall has been painted over, but not restored, what is the best way to clean the paint off, to find the original grease marking.

Thanks Gregg

We did the media blast because a previous owner had brush-painted the fire wall. But it will clean off everything. If it is rattle-canned, enamel reducer might take it off. But check to ensure it won't affect the factory black-out. Mask the body tag.

Later on we did a '69 COPO project; nothing there. There may have been markings, just weren't visible.