seat rail support paint question….

[Greg Stout]

For my '60, T-5 coupe….I have used my grinder wire brush to remove the majority of the surface rust from the two supports for the door sides of the seat rails….I see NO evidence that they were ever painted….but a PO could have stripped them ???? their 14mm nuts, DO have some residual black paint on them.
Should the rail supports be painted black, or left bare metal ?????
Help !!!!

Thanks, Greg

[Mike Wilson]

Greg:

To get this conversation going, I'm guessing a semi-gloss paint on the pan, seat supports and generally any other parts like floor board channel, etc. Bare metal = rust.

[Greg Stout]

Thanks Mike….I was feeling the same way….but was puzzled not to find a speck of paint on the rails…..
This is NOT a rusty car. So it will remain a mystery as to what was done in the past.
I'm going to go Semi Gloss Black….as suggested

greg

[Mike Wilson]

If you are referring to the bases held in place by the nuts, they were painted. The rails were chrome. On my car, currently being reassembled after a bare-metal restoration, any bare metal was primed and painted, seams sealed, etc. even under sound deadening and carpet.

[Doug McDonnell]

Seat rail originally had Nickel finish not chrome. Source: Brad Ripley. Seat bases I think were gloss black on Cs. Maybe onT5 and T6 Bs also? If done gloss black it sure adds "pop" when you open the door. I will bow down before an expert who chimes in.

[Greg Stout]

I am referring only to the far left and right rail SUPPORT brackets (held with those 14mm nuts)…. All I can guess, is that for some reason, a PO stripped their black paint of and neglected to replace it. It sort of had me stumped.

Thanks to all for responding….I'll hit them with semi-gloss black.
The rails are decent with their nickel platting intact.

Greg

[Doug McDonnell]

Bruce Baker's take on them: "Both the A and the early B risers as well as the more substantial T-6 versions were more gloss than flat black, more of a 'sheen' that came from an industrial coating, and yet the later they got, the shinier they got....the T-6s were the most like a 'gloss' but I have seen variation in originals of those, as well.
(Different vendor, different paint sprayed by a different person, etc, etc.)

I'll tell people that those type of things just should not look like a shiny black exterior base/clear paintjob, but not quite back towards "semi-gloss/flat-black" either....like engine tin black....it varied so much that anything is "correct." "Sorta shiny, more or less."

Personally, I like that stuff to be touched up when nicked .....with a black Sharpie....... " I tried to paint mine but they were all chipped up and finally gave up. I basted them clean then powder coated Gloss black. They look great and are good enough for the girls I dance with.

[Wil Mittelbach]

For my '60, T-5 coupe….I have used my grinder wire brush to remove the majority of the surface rust from the two supports for the door sides of the seat rails….I see NO evidence that they were ever painted….but a PO could have stripped them ???? their 14mm nuts, DO have some residual black paint on them.
Should the rail supports be painted black, or left bare metal ?????
Help !!!! Thanks, Greg

Perhaps helpful and relevant to your T5 coupe, herewith a photo of my`65C cab's original seat rails and supports. The supports are gloss black with cad bolts.

[Brad Ripley]

Doug McDonnell says I said the seat rails were nickel plated. Not true.
Perhaps that came from where I have said in the past that T-5 and earlier rails were nickel plated.
But, T-6/911/912 rails were clear zinc as correctly discussed above.

[Max Handley]

T2 seat rail bases were semi gloss black, actually no primer on the ones I restored,that were factory originals.

[Doug McDonnell]

This link is about a T5 Brad. Which is why I wrote what I did and credited you as my source. Here is why I wrote that: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=38082&hilit=seat+rails I just didn't want him chroming them as someone said above in this link. Brad you are one of the experts I bow down to. You have forgotten more than I will ever know. But if you have forgotten you look it up.

[Max Handley]

T2 & T5 seat rail bases are the same, change came with the T6 model

[Jim Nelson]

Note: if you have your T5 seat rails plated nickel, you have to guide your plater about the finish. We just got a pair back that has a very high gloss, and that's not right. The repros we've seen have what appears to be almost a matte finish, and that's not right either. If you have access to a good early seat rail take it with you to the plater.

[Max Handley]

That's correct Jim, my originals (T2) almost look like chrome where the original finish is still in good condition. I doubt only the true purists would care though ,but certainly worth mentioning.

I can take a picture of my originals if anyone's interested.

[Edwin]

Doug McDonnell says I said the seat rails were nickel plated. Not true.
Perhaps that came from where I have said in the past that T-5 and earlier rails were nickel plated.
But, T-6/911/912 rails were clear zinc as correctly discussed above.

Brad, I agree with you that the T5 and earlier rails were nickel. Are you sure they were "plated" though? I believe these were chemically coated/dipped. Surfaces treated this way tend to be more wear resistant than those electro plated. For seat rails this would make sense. Appearance can be varied more this way too. Weren't the rails somewhat dull originally rather than high gloss?