Just wanted to check what the proper color would be for the underside of our hoods. My car is OE pewter silver with the engine bay a satin black. The bay looks OE. Would that be correct? The underside of the stock hood is silver as well but the car has one respray. I picked up an all black L-88 hood, satin under and gloss on top. Should the underside of the hood for my car be silver or black? I'm going to spray it this spring.....

Thanks,
Dave

My 72 has been repainted also , but the underside of the hood remains black. I don't think BUBA touched it. Probably one of the few spots he left alone . I continue to find surprises almost weekly Big Al

Under the hood the Vettes have the outside edge body color but the entire center section is semi- gloss or satin black, as is the engine bay. Of course you can do what you want with your's. I kinda like when under the hood is gloss body color, but it IS more to polish!

|UPDATED|3/11/2014 6:13:17 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

BlueBarry am correct...the undersides of the hood should be a satin-to-flat black, with the outer edges having a ragged line of body colored paint. After the body was painted, they used a "mask" to block off the outside edge of the hood, and sprayed the blackout paint. The "mask" was basically just a piece of cardboard, with a jagged edge, so the paint line is NOT smooth and even. But...you can do yours any way ya want. If you plan on ever having it judged NCRS/Bloomington, you will need to do a crappy job of spraying the blackout on the edges of the hood.

Yeah, Joel, I've talked to people that were "marked down" because it looked TOO good under the hood! It's nice to know how "careful" they were back then!

|UPDATED|3/11/2014 2:17:23 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Its sooo hard to intentionally do a crappy job! The L88 is an aftermarket piece. Nice on top but chopper gun underneath. The flat black will look better on all that rough glass. So OE it is! I thought about smoothing it all out with additional resin but then was like...OMG, I want to drive this thing this summer! Paint it and be done. It does have the cold air box glassed into it. Maybe I'll gather up those parts some day. 

I have some really good pics of an un-restored '73 hood. I'll have to scan/upload them this evening, to show just how crappy the blackout paint really was. I went thru a lot of trouble to get my '74 painted to approximate the shoddy blackout on the bottom of the hood....

We are weird aren't we....us car people. I know guys with the Mopar bug who are artists at spraying half the engine's negative battery cable blue. When Dodge/Plymouth painted the engines the ground cable was already attached so they just shot most of it with the engine, valve covers, intake, edges of the all the compressed gaskets sticking out. Its the American way!

SMILE when ya say that, Pawdner!!!

And...speak for yerself...I'm quite normal meself...ask anyone........

There is a distinct difference between the restorers, and the show guys/gals. Restorers want it EXACTLY the way it was when it left the assembly line, flaws and all(and there were plenty of flaws). Some can be quite anal about it. Other folks just want to make it better, and prettier....ain't nuttin wrong with either side.
If your car has never been repainted(this is for anyone..just some info)....run your hand up under the body right behind the top of  the rear window on a '68-'77 car(the "sugar scoop" area)...chances are, you'll rub some skin off your hand. Why? Because that area is next to impossible to get to with a buffer after paint....so it doesn't get a very smooth surface. Also, on original paint cars, have a look up under the front fenders, right where they curve in towards the grill area....you're likely to see NO paint, or very thin paint coverage in those areas. The paint was applied by hand....not machine sprayers. Some of them fellers dint like bending down that far to get the bottoms of the fenders covered. Besides...you can't see it anyway, right?
Restorers will go the extra mile to duplicate all of the flaws like that. Others will go the extra mile to correct the flaws...
That's not weird.... that's just car guys(and gals)!

And this is why I'm re-glassing and drilling all those blown out screw holes on like under the sill plates, rear deck garnishes etc etc. You won't see it...but I will know its there and I cannot concentrate on driving when I know there is a stripped screw hole on that interior panel....ya I get it!