Does anyone have their original factory gas filler panel for the 70's Eldo?

[collector]

I got my NOS one today and I dont know if it is supposed to be natural gray or paint to an argent silver color? It looks like it is supposed to be natural. Can someone with an original tell me for sure. I actually doesnt look that it would hold paint as it a different material than the original body fillers.

[Mike Josephic CLC #3877]

It's supposed to be a "silver" color.  Ted Holcombe had some NOS ones some
years ago, but the original color is a silver / grey metallic shade.  Don't know what your
replacement is made of, but if it's a replacement (usually ABS plastic) you can repaint
it without using a flex agent that was used in the original urethane panels.  So,
get a can of silver spray paint and that should do it.

Mike

[collector]

No, Mine is NOS original GM. It isnt silver but grey and non-metallic. It actually is the color of all my NOS replacement fillers that was came with a factory primer finish. The top side is smooth and almost has a rubber finsih and high gloss. I dont know if it would even take paint unless I sanded it and then used bull dog then used an argent paint on it. The underside is not smooth and doesnt have a shine like the top side does.

[Mike Josephic CLC #3877]

They look grey when not painted -- that is the factory primer.  They actually
were black under the primer.  My NOS gas filler came painted, but I had to
redo the silver color.  I found a shade very close to the original -- looks great
but I don't remember what I used.  It was acrylic lacquer, however.

However, mine is a 1973 Eldo -- don't know what year you have so there
could be a difference.  Some of the pieces on later cars were body color.
I've owned this car since new -- and the color was silver on the original.
I had to replace it do to the well known cracking problems with this material.

If you do have NOS pieces, they would be urethane (flexible) vs. most of the
aftermarket that are ABS (rigid).  If they are urethane, you should add
a flex agent with the paint.  A "very light" sand with 1000 grit wet paper will
be enough -- too much and you go right through that primer.

I redid all of mine about 6 years ago using a mix of NOS and aftermarket.
I didn't use a flex agent and have had no problems on the urethane --
you don't need it with the ABS parts.

HTH,

Mike

[Lars Kneller 8246]

I am going to offer a differing opinion.  I have bought NOS ones from the dealer in the past and viewed a lot of original cars over the years, and I think they were NOT painted.l  I do agree they are somewhat of a silver color new, but I don't think they were painted.  A mistake often made is to paint them the same color as the car.  When I judge I only knock off points if they are painted to match the car, not if they're some shade of silver/natural color.

[76eldo]

I remember the color from when the cars were new. It's like a silver-grey, non metallic. I made a decision to paint mine black when I installed the rear fillers on my car because it is a black car, and to me, it looked more pleasing to the eye to not break up the lines of the body on the rear.

My car is a great driver, and I have won awards with the car.  I always prefer originality, and this could easily be changed back at any time.

Brian

[Mike Josephic CLC #3877]

Brian:

Really nice Eldo -- congrats.  It's beautiful.  Always wanted a mate for my '73
Dynasty Red coupe in a convert and never found one yet that I liked.

Now to clear up a few things.  You guys had me thinking I was getting forgetfull
in my advancing years -- so when all else fails -- check the manuals (I have all of
them for '73 that they printed).  I'm the original owner of the car so I kept
all the bits and pieces of info -- just had to go look it up.

Paraphrased from the shop manual:  "All urethane filler replacements are supplied
prepainted from the factory in two colors -- code 11 (Cotillion white) or code 81
(Harvest Yellow)." (I have seen some supplied just in gray primer also -- this may
have come after 1973).

"If neither color matches your application, then they must be lightly wet sanded and
repainted the color necessary. Be carefull not to sand through the primer coat (the
substrate is black) or you will have to reprime the component".  It goes on to
mention the flex additive addition, etc. that I already mentioned in a previous post.

So , as you see, the urethane part out of the press is "black".  All of these parts
were painted.  Also, I remember now after reading up on this that the NOS pieces
I bought from Ted Holcombe were white (body trim parts) and the license plate
trim and "pull up" on the plate were silver.

BTW, Brian, I see from the pics that it appears you have the original tab on your
plate -- the trim piece in the bumper should match -- it's the same color (should
you ever wish to repaint it).

As to the "metallic" I mentioned, I was incorrect, it's a plain silver.

Best,

Mike