GM LETTERS Mounted on the front of the Futurliner are
very large "GM"
letters. When the Futurliners were refurbished by GM in 1952 they
changed the color of these letters from natural aluminum to
"gold". Originally these were thought to be anodized but
after some inquiry Fred Carpenter is was discovered that local people
here in West Michigan could not anodize
aluminum castings. However, he did find out that they could be powder
coated with gold paint. He then contacted Reliance Finishing Co. in Grand Rapids and then
paid them a visit them. They immediately stated that
they could powder coat the "GM" letters and that they
would do the job as a contribution to the project.
Later that day Fred, Al, Del and Don visited Mary
Mosey at Reliance Finishing and picked out the correct gold
color.
We thank Fred for doing all the
"selling" as well as the foot work to not only find
someone that could do the job but get the job done as a donation. We
also thank Mary at Reliance for their generous contribution.
Parts are placed in basket and are now ready to undergo pretreatment
to prep the parts to accept powder coating.
Parts have been successfully pretreated and are now heading into a
small oven to be dried off.
Pretreatment operator (Ovet Leija) dips basket in various chemicals
(soaps, acids, etc) to achieve desired pretreatment finish.
Ed Niles places a silver basecoat onto each of the letters. A translucent
gold topcoat will be applied in the same manner before parts are
finished.
A successfully basecoated letter.
Letters are placed into a batch oven to gel the powder.
A close-up example of the gas-out experienced by both parts.
Finished parts after gold topcoat has
been applied.