Hi All. Can someone please tell me what the stock color is for the hood hinges? I have a Cortez Silver 70 SS and the resto is just about completed -the body shop painted the hinges black - is that wrong?

Thanks,
Paul.

Black is wrong. They should be gray phosphate plated.
Heres a link that will help.
http://www.chevellestuff.com/qd/paintinfo.htm

It's funny how certain topics show up and are discussed for a while and then dissapear, only to be replaced by another topic that's "in vogue" for a while.

There's been a lot of threads lately regarding hood hinge finish. Gray Zinc Phosphate is definitely the correct finish but many TCer's have turned to a variety of finishes including chrome, powder coating and paint. If you do search, you'll find a variety of opinions. This is especially true of paint. In doing a search, you'll find a number of references to various Eastwood finishes. I've tried Eastwood's Zinc Phosphate and found the color to be too dark - as in charcoal gray. It's not wrong, just too dark for my tastes. (Zinc phosphate can be anywhere from dark gay to light gray and be correct.) I wound up using Eastwood's Detail Gray. The color makes for a nice contrast to the black underhood finishes while still being "correct" color wise. And if the spray bomb is held far enough away, the texture of the finish is spot on.

One thing that has alway facinated me is that there has been a lot of threads posted about the finish of hood hinges and ten times as many replies, but no one ever mentions hood latch mechanisms - which should be finished the same as hood hinges - gray phosphate!

Thanks for the education!

Paul.