Re: Engine Bay detailing on a '56 dual carb car

Posted by BH On 2010/11/1 10:09:31

HH56 -

Yes, that initial statement was a bit awkward on my part. I was working on editing that when you posted, but let me try to clarify it even further. (I'll then go back and try to edit some earlier posts for clarity.)

On two-tone Four Hundreds and Patricians, anything below the masking line gets painted lower body color, including the parking light area.

The angled portion of the masking line, aft of the wheel opening, is hidden by the ribbed stainless insert used on those cars. However, because that same area is painted middle color on the 55-56 Caribbeans, the boundary for the upper color is completely straight.

Therefore, everything below the masking line for the upper color on Caribbeans got sprayed in the middle color - including the parking light area. On my unrestored H/T, it appears that the factory then masked for the lower color, from the rear of the front wheel opening, and rearward. (In fact, I have found traces of Socttish Heather under the Maltese Gray on my H/T.)

The parking light details is a compeltely separate issue from the fender splasher color and Ross' description of factory techinque.

As for other so-called luxury cars of the period, they were all mass-produced with haste. I've seen Caddies from the mid- to late-50s with far more problems than I ever saw on any V8 Packard. Yet, the 56-57 Continental Mark II might be the lone, shining exception to run-of-the-mill quality of that time.