I have a '70 Chevelle, what is the original color of the fire wall, black or body color? I am smoothing my firewall and want to know which you one ya'll like. Thanks for your input and opinions.

Black
Body Color

I like the painted body color for show, but for a daily driver, black for toughness

I like black

Rob

I like it painted the same as the body. I think it looks cleaner.

Mine's the body color. Looks good but it depends what you're trying to achieve and what's cool for you.

Go with the body color. Are you using a smoothing kit for this ?

GM chassis black is what I prefer. Firewall, inner fenders, underside of hood, will all match and look great. My preference.

I have the same prob not sure what to color to paint, black or body color. I am leaning towards black if you ever change car color then you will have to repaint firewall. I smoothed out the firewll welded on patch panels were the heater goes. vintage a/c will take care of the rest.

I prefer the look of black. Black helps what is truly important under the hood stand out, the Engine.

Body color can be nice if done right. Don't forget about them wheel wells.

Mine is painted the body color looks real nice.

Back in the '60s the GM Oshawa cars had body color firewalls.

I like black.I think it looks great with chevy orange.BDJ

Thanks for the input. The inner fenders, frame, suspesion and core support are going black. I purchased the smooth kit from Metal Works. At first I was leaning towards the body color but didn't want to paint anything else body color. I think I'm going to paint it what ever it was from the factory. Thanks again for the input.

I had the firewall and under hood painted body color, and the inner fenders gloss black. I like it, and it's holding up well.

They both look good depending. Ill go with Pitt1979's post.

Pretty straight forward. Black is correct if the intent is correctness.

I like black in most cases. IMO body color is acceptable only if the design incorporates body color throughout. Body color firewall alone shows confussion about what you intended to do.

Thanks for all the input. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with black. I knew that some of the 1st gen camaros we're body color as well as most of the '70's pickups. Thanks again to all and have Merry Christmas.

The correct color is 30% gloss black on US built cars. Some Canadian cars were body color in I believe 66-67??

I think both looks good it just depends on the look you are going for. Mine is black.

i didn't think ahead. i wanted to paint body colar, but bought plastic inner fender(thats what mine had) so now i want to go all black with the motor standing out as body color. i am scared the last motor i painted body color just pealed away. i voted body color. good luck with the black, and i hope that is what you want.
jamie

Canadian built cars were body color, interestingly the cars I stripped that had black firewalls had body color under the black. It seems the black may have just been a skipped step in the Canadian process.

Canadian built cars were body color, interestingly the cars I stripped that had black firewalls had body color under the black. It seems the black may have just been a skipped step in the Canadian process.


I think what you may have been seeing was overspray. My wagon had one repaint in its life and there was ALOT of red paint under the white from when they painted the interior.

I like the body color, but in my world its eventualy gonna get scratched / scraped / brake fluid on it ...........something. Semi black hides alot of sins and is easy to touch up to boot.

I like body color, it's your car do what YOU like !!!! here is a pic

Bill

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4712&d=1165971272

The correct color is 30% gloss black on US built cars. Some Canadian cars were body color in I believe 66-67??

I thought it was 60% gloss or is that on the metal dash area only?
Is that for the fender skirts, radiator support and underhood also?

Body color on a show car/garage queen. Black on a driver.

Thanks for all the suggestions and opinions. Since my car is not going to be a trailer queen and I was leaning a little more towards the factory color, looks like I'll be going with black. Looks like the majority of the poll is leaning towards the black as well. Thanks again.

Man do what you like, not what WE like ~ !

Back in the '60s the GM Oshawa cars had body color firewalls.

Not my 69... Built in Oshawa.

I like the "do what YOU like!" comment... so I endorse that!

However, for a non-original build my preference is body color. Black is so... plain... where as the body color on a smoothed firewall really gives the engine compartment a truly custom look.

[Note]: I think doing just the firewall body color and leaving the inner fenders black does create some confusion.

Anyone know the web site to Metalworks, firewall sounds interesting.
Thanks

I had the same dilemma. Painted it silver first, then re-did it in black. For my application, I like the way the black turned out. And as said, it's a nice backdrop for chevy orange and chrome.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/Out66Cast/FireupthemotorSept24-07.032.jpg

I like gloss black and the engine painted body color....especially if the body color is bright such as yellow or gold.

I like black, but that is my opinion.

I didn't vote...

depends if you are wanting that "all original" look or you going custom

I have two monte's, one is going to be "all original" and one custom

here's a picture of the custom

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/7540/img0329al9.jpg

smooth firewall, no heater, black
http://pic16.picturetrail.com/VOL636/4139585/17673840/281854924.jpg

Boy, that looks sharp!!
Last time around I went satin black which looked clean, this time I smoothed it and went body color with black inner fenders and frame. Thought about doing the innner fenders body color but dont wanna deal with scratches and touch up. Hopefully the POR-15 (gloss like the frame) resists a dropped wrench occasionally (sure it will)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/kalthoff1/storage002.jpg

OK, I did my in chassis black. Powdercoated all the suspension, the inner liners, core support. I painted the underside of the hood same as the car.

Nice pics guys. Here is the web address for Metal Works, www.metalworksperformance.com . Here are some pics of my firewall in progress.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e170/chris454ss1970/SmoothingFirewallOnVelle001.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e170/chris454ss1970/SmoothingFirewallOnVelle003.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e170/chris454ss1970/SmoothingFirewallOnVelle013.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e170/chris454ss1970/SmoothingFirewallOnVelle018.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e170/chris454ss1970/SmoothingFirewallOnVelle019.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e170/chris454ss1970/SmoothingFirewallOnVelle020.jpg

I know have paint on it and have since put the motor in. I'll take some more pics and post them in a few days.

I like the firewall painted both ways . But for my car , I wanted to do something out of the norm from what I have always done . So I decided to smooth it out and paint it the same color as the rest of the body and I could not be any happier with the results !

no decision on my 67, it's triple black, but i do like the simi gloss black most of the time.
pics of 67 engine.
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/DSC01712-1.JPG
leon

Thanks for the web addy

O.K., I give up. What's a firewall smoothing Kit?

When Chevy built these Chevelles in the mid 60's, wasn't the dash and firewall painted the same satin black at the same time?

I have mine painted body color and smoothed and when it's clean it looks very very nice but when it;s dirty it sucks big time.

Looks like Oshawa started doing the black firewall thing in '69. I had two '66 Beaumonts with body colour firewalls. A friend's '68 SS Chevelle has the body coloured firewall as well. I'm in the process of stripping the firewall and cowl on our Baltimore built '69 Chevelle. The firewall appears to have just the black elpo coating. No primer under the black. The top of the cowl plenum has the red oxide primer. Then the beige/yellow seam sealer was added then the black paint was sprayed on over top. The black goes out to the side of the plenum. The side of the cowl area is body colour. The cowl wasn't masked at the sides, just sprayed. I have taken lots of pictures for reference.

I like body color also. The question is, are you planning to do this painting yourself or pay someone to paint it. If paying, choice is up to you, or if you have access to a booth. But, if your like me and planning to do it yourself without a booth at home, black is the best way to go and can be done easier without paint equipment.

What is a Smooth Kit and How does it work? The inside of my firewall is painted black and all rough?

What is a Smooth Kit and How does it work? The inside of my firewall is painted black and all rough?
pieces of preformed sheetmetal that attach to your original firewall

I painted mine black with some industrial paint that is for tractors. I live in CA so I bought it from out of state (no hippy laws) and it is bullet proof! It went on THICK. It is for the buckets I guess so it does not chip eaisily.

The hell with what the world likes, What do you like.??

Ok here are a few more pics of my firewall. What do you think?
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e170/chris454ss1970/DSCN3115.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e170/chris454ss1970/DSCN3121.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e170/chris454ss1970/DSCN2790.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e170/chris454ss1970/DSCN3117.jpg

Looking good! :hurray:

Black is my vote, too much color under the hood may contrast with Orange Engine.....

I like the fire wall on the cars I build as my toys to be body color and the inner fenders and radiator support to be black wrinkle finish.It looks great but its hard to keep the black wrinkle clean.On the cars I restore for show,its back to factory specs

Black is like the padding in the ring box.

I like seeing the firewall black when the inner fenders and under the hood is black. I also like seeing the the firewall the body color when the rest of under the hood (inner fenders and under side of the hood is also the body color, especially since you said that you were going to somoth the firewall out. Just my opinion...