1969 charger RT hood Question

[resq302]

Something to consider, I know on semi flat parts that I have tried to clean with either a cleaner wax or a polish, it ended up leaving a shine on the semi flat black parts if I took off the cleaner wax or polish before it had a chance to haze up really good.  On the other side, if you leave it on too long, it will turn the piece a milky whitish color.

[scottmiller]

Great question on the indentations.  I learn something new every day on this site.

When I got my car in the late 80's, the signals were missing and I picked up a pair at the local junk yard (I think I paid like 10 bucks for them.. oh how times have changed!).  They had chipped black paint on them like the previous photo, I thought it was just a sloppy tape job on a repaint or something not knowing the indents could have come in a different color.  My hood indents were painted along with the body and I never really thought about it.  I have seen cars both ways and never really knew if the painted indentations were factory or not.

So, the question is... was the blackout a seperate factory option or specific to the R/T's and/or hemi cars?

-Scott

[tan top]

Something to consider, I know on semi flat parts that I have tried to clean with either a cleaner wax or a polish, it ended up leaving a shine on the semi flat black parts 

                                               but would the decals turn gloss by doing this  , 

Gene's pic is definitely flat though.  Can a semi-gloss fade to a flat?  Could a gloss first fade to a semi and then a flat?  The car I took the pic from had 15k miles on it.

good question (ghoste)    my charger had  spent all is  life in Texas , with most of it in the s/w area i believe   ,  if the decals were      (  fade-able )  with sun light / weather   wouldn't the sun have  done a number on mine   

[Ghoste]

Lol.  I don't know.  Two weeks ago, I would have sworn they were gloss just going off the cuff.  Now I'm not so sure what they should have been.  I'm going to stay with semi gloss just because it's a fence sitting answer.  A little glossy, a little matte.  (is a little matte like a Charger punk?)  (sorry, bad pun)

[TylerCharger69]

I thought those stripes were standard on all R/T's  and optional on everything else....

[resq302]

From what Performance Car Graphics told me, they came on every car.  Often cars have the wrong color on them as other places sell them in matte black, gloss black, and I have even seen White.  Dave said that the only color that was on the cars was the matte black.  Again, just going by what he told me.

[Ghoste]

So I wonder what he'd say about the pic I posted?

[resq302]

Its hard to tell unless you are the original owner and know exactly what you did to the car.  Like I mentioned earlier, either a wax or a polish could have been put over it to give it that shine but who knows.  I know on a Jeep that I had, I had a satin vinyl decal made by 3M and when I waxed the Jeep, I got a little on it and made a sheen  to it.  The only way to make it uniform in appearance after that was to do the whole decal and take it off right away other wise it could have left it chalky white.  Made that mistake with my moms woodgrain side decal on her Caravan.  Needless to say, dad did not like the new "aged look" that the white film gave the vinyl wood.

[Ghoste]

Well I'm not the original owner (wish I was but that's a different story) but it is a well known car in the hobby so I can vouch for it being unrestored but not what's been done to it over the years.
I can't ever recall seeing a flat black one though until Gene's pic.  I suppose for me I remain a skeptic even though I'd quickly add that Dave knows far more about the subject than I do.

[tan top]

yeah i believe you guys      i should of taken a picture  before i  peeled them off    no make that wire brushed them off , when i stripped the paint , as they had been on there since new  they were stuck like glue . i had seen  a few  other  unrestored  chargers with -  i would not say   matte but looked semi matte decals , and thought hmmm ..  mine had gloss originally  and ordered a set from year one ,  thought know more about it until this thread ,  the  more i'm thinking about it  i wonder if  the  black decals could of  been polished up  to look like gloss    
                     

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

I always thought they were decals as well in satin/matte black.  thats how I have mine.

I dont however have my signal lights painted black to match.  I never liked the look with the decals & the lights painted....they dont seem to "flow" together
Now the pic that Ghost posted with the what looks like the painted depressions looks like it "matches"

Below is the declas with the lights painted....mine without them painted and an NOS set.....

[Ghoste]

Now the set in the green car look flat and the lens itself looks semi gloss to me in that pic.  I just keep getting more curious about this.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Mine are a matte finish

[Ghoste]

Lighting has a big role too huh?  Yours look a lot flatter in that pic than the first one.

[resq302]

One thing to remember too about the green car is that vinyl decals and the plastic painted lens have two different color backgrounds.  The lens has an amber background with black paint on top of it.  I guess it is like painting one car red and using a gray primer and another car the same color red but using a white primer.  The red car with the white primer will have the red paint standing out looking brighter than the car with the red paint and gray primer.  There is a lot to take into consideration, age of the decal, exposure to the elements, what kind of care it might have received (garage kept vs. abuse to the weather 24/7).  It also might be possible that Mopar used two different vendors and because of that, there were two (maybe more) different dye lots for the vinyl decals.  

[Lord Warlock]

My factory ones were flat or matte colored, not glossy.  In fact it matched the stripe in the back.  But when I stripped the paint, I had to use a wire brush (on a grinder) to get the black surface off.  I really don't believe mine were decals, because they didn't peel off even around the edges where the vinyl rear stripe would fray and tear.  The hood indentations were hard as hell to get off, if it was a sticker it would have come off easier. 

[Carl1]

What about if the car didn't have the hood turn signals. Was the black stripe still used? I recently got some block out plates and they were painted black, they looked original, I didn't think anything of it I asummed they were off a black car until I read this thread. Any insights?

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Good question...I would assume black to match the depressions

If you look at this 69 RT/SE that MCR restored....they painted the depressions

[MM1R/T]

There's an NOS set on eBay right now. Item number 220059746022.

Someone could buy them and the mystery would be solved.

[tan top]

My factory ones were flat or matte colored, not glossy.  In fact it matched the stripe in the back.  But when I stripped the paint, I had to use a wire brush (on a grinder) to get the black surface off.  I really don't believe mine were decals, because they didn't peel off even around the edges where the vinyl rear stripe would fray and tear.  The hood indentations were hard as hell to get off, if it was a sticker it would have come off easier. 

                     mine were defiantly decals , i could  pick at the edges of the decal   and tiny bits would  come off   while heating it   with a hot air gun , took too long so  out came a wire brush on a drill  . 
         

There's an NOS set on eBay right now. Item number 220059746022.

Someone could buy them and the mystery would be solved.

         
                  good idea     , no seriously though  mine were defiantly gloss , as all the votes are for  semi or matte  from more knollage able guys than me  , mine must of been shined up some how ,( no the hood never had a coat of clear over it ) it was original paint .
              looks like i'm going to be  ordering  some   matte  decals  now

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Or if you add the V21 option you wouldnt need any

[Lord Warlock]

If they were decals, they had some damn good adhesive on them.  Mine never peeled or fell off.  Of course the tape stripe on the back didn't peel off either, split in a few places over the years though.  I'd be tempted to buy the NOS ones on ebay then take them to a sign shop and have new ones made for resale.  I'm considering the v21 visuals on the current repaint.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

 

. I'm considering the v21 visuals on the current repaint.

That makes 2 of us