Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike V. Florida
The paint and finish guide does not say anything about baking. "Bodies were coated with two "double header coats" of lacquer in both primary and secondary colors. ... The body interior and trim was installed ... windshield ...all glass. This gave the paint approx 2 1/2 hours to set and harden. The body was then wet sanded..." And it goes on and talks about the 70 - 30 and a final spray of thinner.
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THE FORD MODEL A “As Henery Built It”
PAGE 63
“The fourth step was the sanding of putty glaze
feathering it out to the surface of the basic metal.
This was done on a moving conveyor line and better
assured that the metal surfaces were free of dings,
scratches and low spots.
(Henry used body filler! So don't be ashamed if you do!)
The fifth step was that of spraying on a primer. The
spray booth was actually a tunnel, and an operator
was stationed at each side. The car bodies on a con-
moved through the spray booth or tunnel.
The primer material used was of the red oxide
type. The first coat of the two coat process was
sprayed on horizontally over the entire surface of the
he body. The second coat was sprayed vertically.
The next step was that of prime bake. Here the wet
bodies ran along the conveyor through a prime bake
oven. All ovens received their heat from steam pipes
and operated at temperatures between 190-220 deg.
Fahrenheit. The speed at which the bodies moved
through this oven was regulated so that the body was
subjected to this temperature range for about one
hour — sufficient time for the prime to set to a hard
surface.”
PAGE 64:
“. . .was allowed to air dry for five minutes. Then, the
body moved through a second spray booth where two
more coats of color, one horizontal and one vertical,
were applied.
From this station the bodies were carried through
a primary color bake oven where the units remained
for twenty minutes. Next came the masking operation
for two-tone models. Any second tone or moulding and
trim color was applied over the base body color. When
the upper body color was applied on sedans with two-
tone treatment, it was carried around each pillar up
to the weather strip.
A third coat of paint, air dried for five minutes,
a fourth coat of paint, and a second twenty-minute
color bake completed the paint application. Now the
body was ready for the final wet sanding operation.
From here, the stripers took over — and, these
men were highly skilled artisans. Each body type and
each color combination had its own standard striping
location and color. Each striper worked right along a
with the moving body, applying a fast-drying striping
lacquer from a small cup. By the time the stripes had
added their final touch, the body was ready for its last
operation.”
BTW This is an excellent Book that should be part of every Model A library!
(This makes this a review and allows the quoted sections under fair use!)
NOTE: The author states that the striping occurred before polishing, but the included 1928 factory photo clearly shows polishing of unstriped bodies. That makes sense since it would be easy to polish off the stripe. So I am guessing striping was done after polishing.
BTW #2: Notice the wheel wells were painted black. I am assuming that was another 1928 feature that was eliminated to save time?