I recently purchased a 1970 Chevelle. I was looking at the cowl tag and where the paint code should be it has two dashes --. Any idea what this means?
Thanks,
Steve

What color is it Steve? I'm sure that means special order color.Someone will correct me if I am wrong.

Yeah ,special order color.

Cool!
Give us more details. You can usually find original color in fairly easy to find locations. If doors are original, they will probably have the original color behind the door panels.
Take some pics of you new toy and show it off.
We like!

Dan

Ditto, special color option. It could be any color available from DuPont or any other OE supplier other than one of the standard 1970 Chevelle colors. Could be from another GM division such as Buick or Pontiac or it could be a Ford or MoPar color or even a generic fleet color. No way to know for sure exactly what color without the build sheet. Finding a remnant of the original color as noted above would give you some idea but not the exact color. The build sheet would probably show the DuPont mixing formula as well as the ZP3 special paint option.

One neat thing about it is you could paint it any non-1970 Chevelle color available at the time and technically be correct.

With the two dash code can I assume the car was built at Atlanta, Baltimore or KC? It is known they use this method to show special paint.

Ditto, special color option. It could be any color available from DuPont or any other OE supplier other than one of the standard 1970 Chevelle colors. Could be from another GM division such as Buick or Pontiac or it could be a Ford or MoPar color or even a generic fleet color. No way to know for sure exactly what color without the build sheet. Finding a remnant of the original color as noted above would give you some idea but not the exact color. The build sheet would probably show the DuPont mixing formula as well as the ZP3 special paint option.

One neat thing about it is you could paint it any non-1970 Chevelle color available at the time and technically be correct.

With the two dash code can I assume the car was built at Atlanta, Baltimore or KC? It is known they use this method to show special paint.
Dale, I belive freemont also used the -- on the tag.My 69 elco has -- on cowl tag.I belive it pontiacs verdoro green

Brian, Got a pic of your cowl tag?
We love pictures!!

Dan

Dale, I belive freemont also used the -- on the tag. My 69 elco has -- on cowl tag.I belive it pontiacs verdoro greenTrue for 1969, from what I've been told. I don't have any samples from Fremont with special paint in 1969, El Camino or otherwise. I'd like to have a photo of it for my chevellestuff.com site.

This, though, is a 1970. Fremont quit making Chevelles after 1969 and Van Nuys started for California in 1970. FWIW, all the 1970 Van Nuys tags I've seen for special paint use the DuPont mixing formula such as 926-99616 for Monaco Orange or 926-98371 for the light blue commonly called Carolina Blue. :thumbsup:

ok dont hate on me. but i was under the impression that -- was for stripe delete, does it have a cowl induction hood and hood pins...my car was just blank nothing there, and was a special color. i thought that it was a stripe delete car but was told it would be -- or xx. but you have a good one to say the least. either way its still cool.:D:yes:

did you find any of the original paint?

yes sir i did. if you have the car torn apart meaning the interior and headliner. you will find that above the dash where the sunvisers go you can get a good look at what the original color should or could of been. it will also be around the quater glasses and the rear package tray area. you might be able to get it scanned. normally those areas will only be repainted if the car has had a total paint job. it mainly is over spray from the factory paint job. so you will have to look real close to the edge. and also dont use a buffer to polish it. use your hand. the original paint is delicate. mine was code 53 CAMARO GOLD. it was not scannable but since my uncle drove the car on the first day it was sold i cant argue with him. and i have newspaper articles of the special painted cars from my dealership. it came from. so get busy ripp it apart and let us know.

Stripes were never coded on the trim tags.

- - , blank space or other than normal year color codes indicated "Special Painting Instructions".

(Anniversary) Gold was very a popular color. I was used many years from the 1962 on the Anniversary Edition Impala and into the 70's on many other cars.

dash dash means paint delete or special paint as others have stated. I have a friend with a '69 Camaro Z28/JL8 car that is a dash dash paint car. It was originally painted Chevy engine orange, if you can believe that! :)

dash dash means paint delete or special paint as others have stated. I have a friend with a '69 Camaro Z28/JL8 car that is a dash dash paint car. It was originally painted Chevy engine orange, if you can believe that! :)I've never seen a car come through with no paint. Believe 'paint delete' might not be a correct term; special paint, yes. :D

From some other posts here (http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=111187&highlight=chevy+orange+engine+paint&page=2), the orange offered by most as Chevy Orange is no where near correct. The 69 Camaro was famous for its 'Hugger Orange' (Monaco Orange to other 69 Chevrolets), hard to believe someone would order a different orange. Is there a build sheet or other paperwork showing the special ordered color?

Stripes were not coded on the trim tag because they were not applied by Fisher Body. Chevrolet had its own paint shop on the final line and they painted the hood, fenders and all the front end sheet metal as well as applying the D88 hood and deck lid stripes. Fisher Body painted the car from the firewall back.

I agree that no car were shipped paint delete. It was easier for them to paint a car than to bypass that operation because once the car started down the line there was no way to stop it from getting the corrosion baths, primers and final paint plus going thru the bake ovens for thermal re-flow of the paint. There was no logical reason to want a car without paint as it was part of the cost of the car.

Whats more primer is NOT a moisture barrier and the sheet metal would start rusting right away so that would be a foolish idea.

[QUOTE=DaleM;2212007]I've never seen a car come through with no paint. Believe 'paint delete' might not be a correct term; special paint, yes. :DQUOTE]

Paint delete

[quote=DaleM;2212007]I've never seen a car come through with no paint. Believe 'paint delete' might not be a correct term; special paint, yes. :DQUOTE]

Paint deleteSince the DMC was built with stainless steel panels and was never offered with paint it can't be a 'paint delete' now can it? Let's keep on topic, shall we? :yes:

[quote=prefectca;2212276]Since the DMC was built with stainless steel panels and was never offered with paint it can't be a 'paint delete' now can it? Let's keep on topic, shall we? :yes:

l:)

A friend of mine has a 72 "W" car with -- on the trim tag, the car is and has always been black. Black wasnt an "avaliable" color for 72 Chevelles.
Ron

I once owned a '72 ElCamino SS (402) that had the "- -" code and it was Black w/ White stripes (part of cowl induction option). Also, it came without the vinyl top, kind of rare.

Did Chevrolet have a set price on a given special color or was there some sort of price quote system for customer depending on the color they were intrested in?

This is from Jim Mattison himself, from Yenko.net, back in '02...

The pricing for a solid color "Special Paint" would vary between no charge and $125.00. Volume would dictate the pricing.

If the customer was a fleet account, or if the dealer would order multiple vehicles in the same color, the pricing would be n/c. However, if the dealer would order a single unit, the pricing could go as high as $125, with various prices in between, based on many other factors.

the special paint on our 70 chevelle was $42.17