1966 Coronet 500 detail question

[chignikred]

Question for long time Coronet 500 owners. See photo of the rear finish panel. Is the 'black out' in center of panel a factory choice?. Parts book only lists one pn, and I know an unpainted center is common. The paint in this panel is very factory looking, as the masking is too perfect.
Please no 'guessing' in stating your experience or knowledge. Do any owners of 500's have this color on theirs?

 

[patrick66]

I've only seen unpainted chrome in that area. The red is correct, though you'll see many cars have that gone, as it is anodized and tends to fade irregularly. I steel-wooled my red off my car in the mid-'80s.

I've owned my current '66 500 since 1980, and have owned 16 '66 Coronet 500s over the years. Not one had the black.

It is possible you have an oddball factory bit there...possible.

That black looks great! If the whole part is in that good of shape, I'd leave it and install that part on your car.

 

[JSCORONET]

I can't find his information anymore, but there was a guy who was making 1966 Dodge Coronet 500 rear finish panels out of billet aluminum. they looked incredible, I wish I could find his information again. My father and I both need rear finish panels for our Coronets.

 

[moes]

the paint is factory, you can still see black paint around the lettering and the rest is faded

 

[patrick66]

Going through 40 years of photos of various '66 Coronet 500s I've seen at shows and such, I found none that had the black trim panel. None of the '66 magazine ads, dealer brochures, or my '66 parts book, show a panel with black. Not saying they don't exist, but I'm guessing these were either freaks of nature from the factory, or they were done by skilled people after the fact.

 

[moes]

Going through 40 years of photos of various '66 Coronet 500s I've seen at shows and such, I found none that had the black trim panel. None of the '66 magazine ads, dealer brochures, or my '66 parts book, show a panel with black. Not saying they don't exist, but I'm guessing these were either freaks of nature from the factory, or they were done by skilled people after the fact.

disagree all you want but obviously a few cars snuck out of the factory with the black paint on the tail panels, I'm sure there is more. One thing I've learned over the years is that you never know what Ma Mopar was doing sometimes. I've seen things on Mopar cars that should not have been on them!!!!! The rear panel came painted black from the factory so I would call it factory done. The car was restored and the rear panel was not touched, as you can see the panel was not repainted, the black or the red. It was sold to a guy in the States.

 

[chignikred]

Well, I am listening, and hoping that clarity will come out of this. I am not assuming anything, and I do not know the facts. I do think it would be a logical mate to the black out grille of the 500's, but that doesn't prove anything.

 

[patrick66]

disagree all you want but obviously a few cars snuck out of the factory with the black paint on the tail panels, I'm sure there is more

Read carefully...my exact sentence...Not saying they don't exist, but I'm guessing these were either freaks of nature from the factory...

Also, I posted in replying to the OP: "It is possible you have an oddball factory bit there...possible."

By the same token, my previous post holds true. I've been around and have owned '66 Coronet 500s for nearly 40 years. I have LOTS of dealer brochures, magazine ads, dealer order book, etc. Lots of pictures of cars at shows and such from 1980 on. NOT ONE shows a factory black-out tail piece. Not. One. I'd tend to believe that. Were it factory, wouldn't you actually SEE more than one or two out there, of the nearly 75K Coronet 500 cars built? My car was built September 1, 1965, as a factory show car to show off the new '66 models in a display at Stapleton Int'l Airport in Denver. Each new Dodge was on its own rotating pedestal (Dart, Coronet, Polara, Monaco, truck). Wouldn't it have made sense to show this very panel on a new Coronet for a show? BTW, no Charger, they had yet to be introduced.

 

[moes]

here is another one would you like more!!!!

 

[patrick66]

Go for it. You could've painted that, too, we don't know this, do we?

 

[moes]

Nice move. I guess you know everything about 66 coronets

 

[YY1]

The first photo shows what appears to be a vertical bar type of texturing in the black area.

Is that correct?

 

[patrick66]

Nice move. I guess you know everything about 66 coronets

Pretty much. You can either read and learn something, or type and gripe.

@YY1 - What vertical texturing? I see the horizontal lines only.

 

[YY1]

Sorry. That's what I meant.

Was thinking one and typing the other.

Is that plastic or some kind of texture in the paint?

 

[patrick66]

The pot metal chrome tends to pit. Painted over, it can look textured, to an extent. I'm assuming that is what you're speaking of?

 

[YY1]

Evenly spaced parallel lines?

 

[patrick66]

It is ribbed horizontally, yes. I thought you were talking about the pitting that occurs, my bad. All of that is metal, no plastic anywhere.

 

[moes]

Nice move. I guess you know everything about 66 coronets

Pretty much. You can either read and learn something, or type and gripe.


AH, did I hurt someones feelings!!!Man you must have some big head for all that knowledge on 66 Coronets!!!! You must have worked for Chrysler back in the sixties to have all the knowledge and know everything that Chrysler did!!!! You might learn something!!!! You might learn something or type or gripe!!!!

 

[chignikred]

To clear up any speculating on the 'texture', there is no texture, other than the ribbing that the part comes with. The paint is not textured, it is smooth satin finish. There is some pitting on the right side of panel, and it comes trough the paint. The paint is not over any pits.

 

[patrick66]

Pretty much. You can either read and learn something, or type and gripe.


AH, did I hurt someones feelings!!!Man you must have some big head for all that knowledge on 66 Coronets!!!! You must have worked for Chrysler back in the sixties to have all the knowledge and know everything that Chrysler did!!!! You might learn something!!!! You might learn something or type or gripe!!!!

You'll get over it, I'm sure.