MTFCA Forum

the Ford Model T how was paint applied to the metal? Brushes, spray guns or dipping or what?

Go to the MTFCA home page and click on the encyclopedia. Go to painting and there you will find out lots of information about painting, paint application and the processes involved.
This is a great source for Model T information and most questions can be answered there.

There is a good description in the book "Ford Methods and the Ford Shops":

https://books.google.com/books?id=TcAqZ ... &q&f=false

Great sources fellows. The short answer is bodies were delivered painted with brushes before the moving assembly line (1913-14). When Ford began building their own bodies paint was flowed on in a recirculating system with a sort of “garden hose” apparatus. When color was once again made available in 1926-27, “pyroxylin” lacquer was sprayed on.

My question is what year did Ford start building their own bodies?????????????????????????????? Bud.

From what I gather, the moving assembly line was a benchmark wherein the transition began to bodies made in-house. I believe open car bodies were increasingly made by Ford through 1915-16 until most if not all were made in house by 1920. The enclosed styles continued to be supplied by outside sources even into the Model A era. When Fisher Body was acquired by GM (1919 ?) it put stress on Ford to build their own bodies to ensure reliable supply as production spiraled ever upwards.

Corrections by them as know are most welcome!

Rich

During the later twenties, Ford was stamping out body panels and shipping to branch assembly plants, the mostly all steel '26-'27 were made by Ford, assembled, upholstered, and painted at various branch assembly plants, exception possibly the Fordor, likely obtained outside, lots of wood in that one!



c.1919
1926

1926

One method was flow painting the body -
http://www.mtfca.com/cgi-bin/discus/sho ... ost=195547

This type of painting is called flow coating. Last place I saw it used was at Bush Hog. They then went to powder coating. Dan

My 24 Touring shows what I believe is evidence of the flowed-on paint method. These stripes in the very old paint are what I’m referring to. They continue around the entire body in a way that allows you to see exactly what the pattern was that the painter was following.

Also present at the bottom of the body panels are drips.

And, although the fenders and aprons have the same old paint, they do not show the striations, which tends to verify my theory (because those parts were not flow painted).

The car was thoroughly used up during its working life and is not a true preservation/originality type car due to the farm mods it received. However, due to it being stored indoors in West Texas , the body is nearly perfect and I believe the paint is original.

The org question was [how were model T bodies painted?] I think a better question to have asked would relate to what year,body mfg,body type,and where built.We are not all the same and neither were Model T"s Bud.

The book "Model T Service Bulletin Essentials" Has two articles bout how paint is repaired in the field. While not the way the factory would have painted, it gives a view into the past. The materials used, Types of paint, and its application are all outlined in these articles. The early paints make no mention of spray equipment, while the lacquers do.

Very different types of paint applications from the different factories of the day. Gravity flow painting was well suited to assembly line, Ford used that for bodies, and used vats of enamels for sheetmetal, along with drying ovens too. Later the steel bodies got spray painted by late 1925.

Other firms used spray painting very early, for enamels too, note this article in 1916.

Packard was spray painting colors on bodies.
The Automobile July 1916