1963 - 1967 Corvette: Chevrolet Engineering Letter: Exterior Paint Process

Source:  Chevrolet Engineering Center
Date:  September, 1965

  1. PRIMARY SANDING - All body panels and bonded joints that received acrylic lacquer are dry sanded to prepare surfaces for painting. A filler material (called putty rub) is applied to the entire body to fill minor imperfections.
  2. PRIMER - Two coats of primer are applied (the first red and the second gray) and are oven baked for 60 minutes at 280 degrees F.
  3. WET SANDING - The body is wet sanded to provide a smooth surface for the sealers. Most of the gray primer coat is removed with the red primer acting as a depth signal for the sanding operation. The body is dried to remove all moisture.
  4. SEALER - One coat of sealer and one coat of color acrylic lacquer are applied and baked.
  5. DRY SANDING - The body is dry sanded to prepare surfaces for the final acrylic lacquer.
  6. LACQUERING - Three coats of acrylic lacquer are sprayed on the body to build up the required paint thickness. The paint is "rested" for eight minutes to permit it to partially set up and to remove excess volatile paint vehicle.
  7. INITIAL BAKING - The body is oven baked for 30 minutes at 140 degrees F to harden the paint which permits the subsequent operation. Small interior and exterior parts are painted to complete the body paint schedule.
  8. FINAL BAKING - To assure a durable, hard, high luster finish the lacquer is oven baked for 45 minutes at 250 degrees F. Reheating the lacquer permits the paint film to soften and allows surface blemishes and sanding scratches to disappear during the thermo-reflow process.
  9. FINAL SANDING AND POLISHING - The body is lightly oil sanded and polished to bring painted surfaces to a high luster finish.

Article ID: 249
Created: July 15, 2014
Last Updated: July 15, 2014

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