Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

I always assumed Packard painted the underside of fenders, hood, etc body color, but while restoring my 1940 160 I am finding black on the underside of the hood, color under the trunk and couldn't tell what was under the fenders. Would be easier and cheaper to paint undersides of fenders and hood black; is this incorrect? Also, I think the body color paint was on the welting and door hardware, although it seems crude. Opinions? Thanks!! Brad

Underside of the hood and fenders should be black. The only body color under the hood is on the firewall....

The fender welt is always black...On the door hardware some is painted and some is plated, depending on the model....

...are this rules also valid for cars from 1924 ... ?

Thanks. Darrin 180! That is what I had planned to do, but had been advised by another "expert" that the welting was painted and that cars were painted after assembly.

Karl, as a general rule, yes. Everything from the body down was painted "chassis black" - it standardized production and didn't show dirt or oil, so, it was used in all the places likely to show dirt and oil! Packard followed this rule for quite a while.

The welting on my all-original 1940 110 was painted so curious that it should have been black! Of course, mine was as oddity having a two-tone interior with blue seat armrests and blue rear compartment window moldings, and the standard wood grain in the front.

.. thanks for answer 1929 PG.
I specialy mean the hood underside and the hoodside inside.
Karl

Insides of the hood were generally painted body colors on the 1920s cars. I've seen some painted black but I don't think that's kosher as it wouldn't make sense to paint the inside one color and the outside another. That said, I've seen a LOT of 1920's firewalls painted black regardless of what color the car was, so, I tend to think that's probably correct, although I've not seen it addressed specifically in any Packard literature. Have seen original unrestored cars where this was the case tho, so, I tend to think it was their normal practice, but from the body down, and everything below, black was the norm.

1929PG,thanks again for answer.
I´ve a LOT of pictures from Packards Engineroom early 20th and 30. I´ll paint the side of the hood in dark/dark red. underneath the top of the hood black.The top of the hood black like the whole area
above the side molding include the sidemolding self. So ... the car will be Black/Dark Red/Black. My preferred color
for the firewall is dark red but I´m not 100% sure till now.
Karl