71 Black Hood Paint Finish

7173Mustangs.com

Help Support 7173Mustangs.com:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

cigarguy

Active member
Joined
Oct 16, 2015
Messages
35
Reaction score
0
Location
Florida
My Car
71 Mach 1, 351 Cleveland
Hey All,

Did the hoods from 71-73 come with optional sheen finishes for the black section, or did they only come with one type? Mine has a repaint with a gloss sheen and it looks pretty bad. From the pics I see online, they mostly look semi-gloss or satin.

--Todd

20160602_195639.jpg

 
The factory finish was never glossy. It would have come from the factory in a matte finish. Some guys prefer it to be glossy and some guys prefer it to be matte. If you decide to respray it in a matte finish be careful which products you use. It may come out looking chalky. If you go on the 429 mustang cougar megasite, there's a decent write up on the blackout hood treatment.

 
There have been a lot of great posts from Pastel Blue and others on this very subject including the correct shape of the blackout, which is VERY important for the car to look right. I suggest researching those posts.

As for paint, I used SEM HotRod Black, which comes as a kit and I used it for all my black areas. This was recommended to me by a Mustang restorer as it closely matches the original finish. There is also a SEM HotRod matte clear that can be used over it to give a bit more resilience. Tip here is NOT to let the paint build up too much, especially on the hood.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
These hoods are a PIA to get right today. There is a graphic available from a company called something like Graphic Design in South Florida, where they used an original blackout hood to come up with the graphic and now sell it to the public for around $50. A good investment if you are looking to go stock design appearance. From what I have heard, applying the graphic will take some patience to get it right.

In my case, I was fortunate to have the factory original blackout still on the hood, so I used this as my template. I made measurements that I could decipher... and transplanted these onto the hood for the layout.

As for the paint... difficult to find a perfect match out there. The 429 web site gives one example, but we could not locate that paint as being available where I live, so my shop had some "special" paint... that as the story goes may have been used on a GM car restoration ... from the early 70's vintage and we played around with the sheen until I made the decision, go with that...

Good luck in this quest...

Hood Final Final Blackout Paint3 (2).jpg

 
Actually, in addition to the gloss the shape's all wrong as well. :whistling:

Here's the most recent discussion regarding the TuTone Ram Air hood black-out treatment: http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-1971-mustang-ram-air-hood-option-black-paint

I think the best picture we have currently would be this one from a low-mileage, non-restored car:

attachment.php


Hope this helps!

 
These hoods are a PIA to get right today. There is a graphic available from a company called something like Graphic Design in South Florida, where they used an original blackout hood to come up with the graphic and now sell it to the public for around $50. A good investment if you are looking to go stock design appearance. From what I have heard, applying the graphic will take some patience to get it right.

In my case, I was fortunate to have the factory original blackout still on the hood, so I used this as my template. I made measurements that I could decipher... and transplanted these onto the hood for the layout.

As for the paint... difficult to find a perfect match out there. The 429 web site gives one example, but we could not locate that paint as being available where I live, so my shop had some "special" paint... that as the story goes may have been used on a GM car restoration ... from the early 70's vintage and we played around with the sheen until I made the decision, go with that...

Good luck in this quest...
A bit more onfo on this. Graphics Express I believe is the company you are referring to. That is where I got my stripe kit and stencil which is " Ford Licensed" (whatever that means). As for the paint mentioned on the 429 site, it was that person who told me he now uses SEM Hotrod black, but that too might have changed by now as that was 3 years ago now.

 
I just remembered I have an original 1971 PPG color card for the Mustang. It lists PPG9381 as the number for Hood scope and black-out areas. No idea if there is still a cross reference or if this number is still good. I believe this number is also a Ditzler number as well according to the sheet I have.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
These hoods are a PIA to get right today. There is a graphic available from a company called something like Graphic Design in South Florida, where they used an original blackout hood to come up with the graphic and now sell it to the public for around $50. A good investment if you are looking to go stock design appearance. From what I have heard, applying the graphic will take some patience to get it right.

In my case, I was fortunate to have the factory original blackout still on the hood, so I used this as my template. I made measurements that I could decipher... and transplanted these onto the hood for the layout.

As for the paint... difficult to find a perfect match out there. The 429 web site gives one example, but we could not locate that paint as being available where I live, so my shop had some "special" paint... that as the story goes may have been used on a GM car restoration ... from the early 70's vintage and we played around with the sheen until I made the decision, go with that...

Good luck in this quest...
A bit more onfo on this. Graphics Express I believe is the company you are referring to. That is where I got my stripe kit and stencil which is " Ford Licensed" (whatever that means). As for the paint mentioned on the 429 site, it was that person who told me he now uses SEM Hotrod black, but that too might have changed by now as that was 3 years ago now.
Thanks. My reference was to the actual combination of paint that is still listed on the 429 site. If this is the same guy, then it makes sense that the paint is no longer available hence the switch to hot rod black today. I remember all of the discussions on this paint issue back in the day on the 429 site. We were learning something new every day, they were a good group of guys and some very knowledgeable "C" and "J" code people and one very knowledgeable "R" code fellow as well.

 
These hoods are a PIA to get right today. There is a graphic available from a company called something like Graphic Design in South Florida, where they used an original blackout hood to come up with the graphic and now sell it to the public for around $50. A good investment if you are looking to go stock design appearance. From what I have heard, applying the graphic will take some patience to get it right.

In my case, I was fortunate to have the factory original blackout still on the hood, so I used this as my template. I made measurements that I could decipher... and transplanted these onto the hood for the layout.

As for the paint... difficult to find a perfect match out there. The 429 web site gives one example, but we could not locate that paint as being available where I live, so my shop had some "special" paint... that as the story goes may have been used on a GM car restoration ... from the early 70's vintage and we played around with the sheen until I made the decision, go with that...

Good luck in this quest...
A bit more onfo on this. Graphics Express I believe is the company you are referring to. That is where I got my stripe kit and stencil which is " Ford Licensed" (whatever that means). As for the paint mentioned on the 429 site, it was that person who told me he now uses SEM Hotrod black, but that too might have changed by now as that was 3 years ago now.
Thanks. My reference was to the actual combination of paint that is still listed on the 429 site. If this is the same guy, then it makes sense that the paint is no longer available hence the switch to hot rod black today. I remember all of the discussions on this paint issue back in the day on the 429 site. We were learning something new every day, they were a good group of guys and some very knowledgeable "C" and "J" code people and one very knowledgeable "R" code fellow as well.
Yes, that's the one

 
I just remembered I have an original 1971 PPG color card for the Mustang. It lists PPG9381 as the number for Hood scope and black-out areas. No idea if there is still a cross reference or if this number is still good. I believe this number is also a Ditzler number as well according to the sheet I have.
a few pics

 
Here is another link to some more conversation on the subject. My car is the brown 5H Mach 1 original owner, 12,000 mile barn car. http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-hood-graphic-measurement

Like has been stated, lots of communication on the hood black or argent paint.

I have an original car and a couple original hoods with the black. I have never really seen any paint that looks like the original. There is no shine at all to the black. It is used for the Decor Group lower paint, hood, around the front side marker lights before installing stripe on a 73, around the gas filler and on the edges of the tail lights to blend with the black panel in the back. Also rear spoilers had the same black and on light color paint cars the rear bottom edge of the hood where the cowl is were also painted with it.

It has a texture to it not really rough but not smooth or satin.

NEVER WAX THE AREA THAT IS BLACK OR ARGENT. It will not come off. If you only wipe your car down with clear water and micro fiber towel you should not need to wax for several years. Lots of wax will actually do not good. Remember the 73 convertible that just sold for $40,000 was never washed with a hose and never waxed so paint will last inside without wax that proves it. I do not use a hose to keep the water out of the insides of the doors, quarters, cowl and places that love to rust like the tail lights and around the rear of vert tops.

The hood on the Brown car in the pic had not been washed in over 30 years and I took clean water and micro fiber towel and wiped it off to do a rub off for the member here to get his made by. It still looks decent but for sure not like new. It is my guess that they used a lacquer base in the factory since this was done going down the line in less than two minutes if within the cycle of the line.

My friend that does restorations was doing a 67 RS, SS 396 Camaro the other day the black along the bottom I wish I had his spray a sample I could compare to the original Ford to see how they look side by side. Will do on one of the next Camaros he has going.

 

Latest posts

Back
Top