Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

I am painting the firewall on my 1950 Deluxe 8 23rd series. There is a small removable body number tag on the upper right side of the firewall near the stamped-in raised numbers. This body number tag is difficult to clean up for painting so I removed it for cleaning. I want to paint it the way the factory did originally.

My car was repainted in the original yellow color years ago and both the firewall and this body number tag share this yellow color. However I looked closely at the paint on the body number tag and it has black paint under the yellow. Does anyone know what the factory did originally? There is no yellow paint on the firewall under the body number tag so that would indicate the tag was attached first and then the firewall was painted. However, why is it black under the yellow color?

I know this is a silly little detail, but I want to do it right if I can.

I've always seen them body color, presume the tags were all painted black to prevent rust?? then attached, then painted along with the body??

They were installed by Briggs when the body was built, and then painted body color afterward.

Kev - I understood the question to be, why did the Briggs tag have black under the body color?

All this makes sense. The tag was painted black before attachment to prevent rust. After it was attached the entire firewall was painted body color. That matches what I am observing. Thanks for the advice folks.

Fred - curious, what was the condition of the firewall behind the Briggs tag? You said it wasn't body color, but what was it - naked steel? Primer?

The firewall behind the body tag is naked steel. Obviously the body tag was put on first when the car was in bare metal and then the paint was applied. There is very little rust on the naked steel because the paint sealed the edges all around the body tag.

Thanks Fred for the answer; it all fits together exactly as one would have expected.

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The back side of the Briggs body tag is also naked steel.