1961 VIN tag, when placed on column during assembly?
02-06-2011, 05:03 PM
#1
Race Director
Thread Starter
1961 VIN tag, when placed on column during assembly?
My car came a with a dealer replacement VIN tag (correct VIN for the frame) screwed on the door jam when I bought it in 1974.
I was cleaning up the steering column for repaint and noticed red paint on the column where a VIN tag was originally. This would have been under the tag.
Was this red paint over spray from one of its previous repaints after the tag was removed from the column, or red from the factory?
In other words, was the tag welded to the column after final body paint, and would factory red have migrated that far into the engine compartment?
Doug
I was cleaning up the steering column for repaint and noticed red paint on the column where a VIN tag was originally. This would have been under the tag.
Was this red paint over spray from one of its previous repaints after the tag was removed from the column, or red from the factory?
In other words, was the tag welded to the column after final body paint, and would factory red have migrated that far into the engine compartment?
Doug
02-07-2011, 02:25 PM
#2
Team Owner
Member Since: Oct 2000
Location: Washington Michigan
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This was a really dumb design (spot-welding a stainless steel tag to a painted plain steel tube), which is why many of them fell off.
02-07-2011, 03:22 PM
#3
Race Director
Thread Starter
Thanks.
Finding red paint on the tube, where the tag was, would indicate the tag fell off early in life, and an early repaint accounted for the red, since no work was done on the car from 1969 when it was damaged until i got it in 1974, and apparently two repaints were done in the 1960's, the first was bare fiberglas strip and gel coat (based on the gelcoat I found in 1974) and red spray, and a second red spray over the first one sometime later.
Working on an old car is like an archaeological dig, if you remove the layers slowly, you get a feel of what its history was.
Doug
Finding red paint on the tube, where the tag was, would indicate the tag fell off early in life, and an early repaint accounted for the red, since no work was done on the car from 1969 when it was damaged until i got it in 1974, and apparently two repaints were done in the 1960's, the first was bare fiberglas strip and gel coat (based on the gelcoat I found in 1974) and red spray, and a second red spray over the first one sometime later.
Working on an old car is like an archaeological dig, if you remove the layers slowly, you get a feel of what its history was.
Doug
09-11-2012, 11:26 AM
#5
Safety Car
Where is the body tag on a 61 ? Just bought one and trying to find original paint and interior colors
Mike Coletta
09-11-2012, 11:29 AM
#6
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St. Jude Donor '07
Thanks.
Finding red paint on the tube, where the tag was, would indicate the tag fell off early in life, and an early repaint accounted for the red, since no work was done on the car from 1969 when it was damaged until i got it in 1974, and apparently two repaints were done in the 1960's, the first was bare fiberglas strip and gel coat (based on the gelcoat I found in 1974) and red spray, and a second red spray over the first one sometime later.
Working on an old car is like an archaeological dig, if you remove the layers slowly, you get a feel of what its history was.
Doug
Finding red paint on the tube, where the tag was, would indicate the tag fell off early in life, and an early repaint accounted for the red, since no work was done on the car from 1969 when it was damaged until i got it in 1974, and apparently two repaints were done in the 1960's, the first was bare fiberglas strip and gel coat (based on the gelcoat I found in 1974) and red spray, and a second red spray over the first one sometime later.
Working on an old car is like an archaeological dig, if you remove the layers slowly, you get a feel of what its history was.
Doug
BUT corvettes are supposed to be red, so that's what i painted it...
Bill
Last edited by wmf62; 09-11-2012 at 11:33 AM.
