Cuda Cowl Paint ?
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R4Sedan
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My '70 Challenger was blacked out on top from factory.
Rapidfire
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My 70 challenger cowl was also original black from factory!
Challenge360
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Mine is an early build (Oct.) '70, and it is blacked out. I heard that they stopped doing it, later in the year.
MoparCarGuy
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The 1970 Cuda received the cowl blackout from the August 1969 introduction through approximately April 27th of 1970. The engineering document pictured below shows:
COWL TOP BLACKOUT | 4/27/70
REMOVED
The timeframe coincides with the end of AAR Cuda production and it may have just been a cost-cutting measure for what is simply an aesthetic feature.
Original, survivor cars with Scheduled Production Dates (SPD) of late-April or early-May confirm the cowl blackout went away and never returned.
Also, note that under the MODELS section, it shows FG/BJ. I take this to mean F-Series (1970 models) and G-Series (1971 Models) of the Barracuda (B) and the Challenger (J).
Most E-body guys seem to like the cowl blackout feature. I am definitely in that group.
COWL TOP BLACKOUT | 4/27/70
REMOVED
The timeframe coincides with the end of AAR Cuda production and it may have just been a cost-cutting measure for what is simply an aesthetic feature.
Original, survivor cars with Scheduled Production Dates (SPD) of late-April or early-May confirm the cowl blackout went away and never returned.
Also, note that under the MODELS section, it shows FG/BJ. I take this to mean F-Series (1970 models) and G-Series (1971 Models) of the Barracuda (B) and the Challenger (J).
Most E-body guys seem to like the cowl blackout feature. I am definitely in that group.
Last edited:
MoparCarGuy
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More info I had saved a while back...
"From Moparts as relayed by Tavis King of E-bodies.org:
When E bodies were introduced, the top of the cowl was intended to receive blackout paint.
This blackout paint extended under the windshield so that no body color would show between the windshield and the dash pad, and it also extended up the inside of the A pillar pinch weld about 10 inches so that no body color would show between the windshield and A pillar plastic trim.
The blackout paint was applied after the body color, and it was not masked off, it was just sprayed freehand. This results in a soft foggy transition where the forward edge of the cowl transitions from horizontal to vertical, and sometimes overspray and runs can be found on the firewall. It covers the entire top surface of the cowl from fender to fender, sometimes with paint runs or small puddles running downward to the portion of the cowl which is under the fender.
Some darker colors, TX9-BLACK, EB7-MED DARK BLUE METALLIC, & EF8-MED DARK GREEN METALLIC, were not supposed to receive the blackout paint, but it wasn’t unusual for a line worker to forget and apply it anyway.
This was regular blackout paint, not Organisol.
The mid year introduction colors FM3 and FJ6 aren’t mentioned in the blackout engineering diagrams, but it’s assumed that they should have the blackout because they’re light colors.
Around mid to late March 1970, application of this cowl blackout became hit or miss. I don’t have enough data to indicate whether additional colors were intentionally being excluded from the blackout requirement, or if the omission was accidental, but fewer and fewer cars received it, until the requirement for cowl blackout was removed for all cars on April 27th 1970.
Transition dates may be different for the LA assembly plant, but a March 26th LA car is documented with the blackout, and an April 1st LA car is documented without it, so transition dates might be roughly the same, it could be hit or miss, or this could just be a coincidence. It’s worth noting that Trans Am Mopars were not built at the LA assembly plant.
In mid March 1970, the Trans Am Mopars (AAR ‘Cuda & Challenger T/A) began being built at the Hamtramck plant.
The Trans Am Mopars had a different cowl blackout procedure due to their Organisol black fiberglass hoods.
The cowl blackout on the Trans Am Mopars was applied before body color, and then masked off for application of body color. This masking resulted in a neater finish than other cars.
In addition to the cowl blackout, these cars received blackout on the fender bolt flanges so that no body color would show between the fender and the hood. This was particularly important on the AAR, which had black fender tops in addition to a black hood. This fender flange blackout was applied and masked at the same time as the cowl blackout, before body color.
Typically the cowl and fender flange blackout on the Trans Am Mopars is Organisol, but it’s not unusual to see regular blackout paint instead.
It may or may not be a coincidence that the original cowl blackout process became hit or miss when a new cowl blackout process was introduced. It likely caused some confusion to have two different processes. Expect more variation during the transition period. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few regular cars received Trans Am style blackout or vice versa, mistakes do happen. Always reference your own car’s original paint if possible.
After the requirement for cowl blackout was removed, the vast majority of late built 1970 E bodies and 71-74 E bodies, did not receive cowl blackout.
There’s a couple exceptions to that though.
The non-T/A cars with the extremely rare optional N94 T/A hood, did receive the Trans Am style cowl and fender flange blackout on late 1970 and early 1971 models.
The fairly rare 1972 ‘Cudas with V21 performance hood treatment (a mostly black hood), did receive cowl blackout.
Note: The assembly line usually built several cars of the same color in a row. If your car was the first car of a new color group on the line, then you may find that the line worker cleaned the previous color out of his spray gun on the cowl of your car before applying the correct body color and/or blackout.
The April 27th 1970 end date was posted on Moparts a very long time ago by Snoopy, who found it in the handwritten portion at the bottom of one of the engineering diagrams." <<posted earlier in this thread>>
"From Moparts as relayed by Tavis King of E-bodies.org:
When E bodies were introduced, the top of the cowl was intended to receive blackout paint.
This blackout paint extended under the windshield so that no body color would show between the windshield and the dash pad, and it also extended up the inside of the A pillar pinch weld about 10 inches so that no body color would show between the windshield and A pillar plastic trim.
The blackout paint was applied after the body color, and it was not masked off, it was just sprayed freehand. This results in a soft foggy transition where the forward edge of the cowl transitions from horizontal to vertical, and sometimes overspray and runs can be found on the firewall. It covers the entire top surface of the cowl from fender to fender, sometimes with paint runs or small puddles running downward to the portion of the cowl which is under the fender.
Some darker colors, TX9-BLACK, EB7-MED DARK BLUE METALLIC, & EF8-MED DARK GREEN METALLIC, were not supposed to receive the blackout paint, but it wasn’t unusual for a line worker to forget and apply it anyway.
This was regular blackout paint, not Organisol.
The mid year introduction colors FM3 and FJ6 aren’t mentioned in the blackout engineering diagrams, but it’s assumed that they should have the blackout because they’re light colors.
Around mid to late March 1970, application of this cowl blackout became hit or miss. I don’t have enough data to indicate whether additional colors were intentionally being excluded from the blackout requirement, or if the omission was accidental, but fewer and fewer cars received it, until the requirement for cowl blackout was removed for all cars on April 27th 1970.
Transition dates may be different for the LA assembly plant, but a March 26th LA car is documented with the blackout, and an April 1st LA car is documented without it, so transition dates might be roughly the same, it could be hit or miss, or this could just be a coincidence. It’s worth noting that Trans Am Mopars were not built at the LA assembly plant.
In mid March 1970, the Trans Am Mopars (AAR ‘Cuda & Challenger T/A) began being built at the Hamtramck plant.
The Trans Am Mopars had a different cowl blackout procedure due to their Organisol black fiberglass hoods.
The cowl blackout on the Trans Am Mopars was applied before body color, and then masked off for application of body color. This masking resulted in a neater finish than other cars.
In addition to the cowl blackout, these cars received blackout on the fender bolt flanges so that no body color would show between the fender and the hood. This was particularly important on the AAR, which had black fender tops in addition to a black hood. This fender flange blackout was applied and masked at the same time as the cowl blackout, before body color.
Typically the cowl and fender flange blackout on the Trans Am Mopars is Organisol, but it’s not unusual to see regular blackout paint instead.
It may or may not be a coincidence that the original cowl blackout process became hit or miss when a new cowl blackout process was introduced. It likely caused some confusion to have two different processes. Expect more variation during the transition period. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few regular cars received Trans Am style blackout or vice versa, mistakes do happen. Always reference your own car’s original paint if possible.
After the requirement for cowl blackout was removed, the vast majority of late built 1970 E bodies and 71-74 E bodies, did not receive cowl blackout.
There’s a couple exceptions to that though.
The non-T/A cars with the extremely rare optional N94 T/A hood, did receive the Trans Am style cowl and fender flange blackout on late 1970 and early 1971 models.
The fairly rare 1972 ‘Cudas with V21 performance hood treatment (a mostly black hood), did receive cowl blackout.
Note: The assembly line usually built several cars of the same color in a row. If your car was the first car of a new color group on the line, then you may find that the line worker cleaned the previous color out of his spray gun on the cowl of your car before applying the correct body color and/or blackout.
The April 27th 1970 end date was posted on Moparts a very long time ago by Snoopy, who found it in the handwritten portion at the bottom of one of the engineering diagrams." <<posted earlier in this thread>>
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1972CudaV21
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I can confirm this:
“The fairly rare 1972 ‘Cudas with V21 performance hood treatment (a mostly black hood), did receive cowl blackout.”
My 1972 ‘Cuda with V21 option received the cowl blackout. Most of the cars that are restored, with the V21 option, don’t seem to have them.
“The fairly rare 1972 ‘Cudas with V21 performance hood treatment (a mostly black hood), did receive cowl blackout.”
My 1972 ‘Cuda with V21 option received the cowl blackout. Most of the cars that are restored, with the V21 option, don’t seem to have them.
DaveBob
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Here's a picture of the cowl on my 70 Cuda, built in LA on 10/16/69. The car still has the original paint and the cowl is blacked out.
MoparCarGuy
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Great to see original cowl paint and the parting line from the firewall to cowl. Thanks for sharing it!
MoparCarGuy
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As it should be and it appears to have been sprayed black first before the yellow body color was sprayed. AAR's marked the beginning of the end of regular Cuda cowl blackout as an assembly line process.
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