Air grabber screen color

[69hemibeep]

Ok guys, lets put our heads together. Over on moparts there is a thread about 69roadrunner hood block off color which it seams to have come down to black. The discussion now is airgrabber screens. I have proof of red on mine along with others, others say they have black. It seams it could be a time of year change, hood treatment or plant and even hemi thing. What if anything have you found, is there any tech info on the subject?

 

[ACME A12]

My F3 RR was a 383-powered N96 car that I bought in the summer of 1980. It had been parked in the very early seventies by a young man that went to Vietnam and never came back. I bought it from his father who had decided that it was finally time to move on. Car had original paint & interior; the only mods were intake/carb/cam/headers. It had red Air Grabber screens.

Second RR was purchased in the spring of 1981. B3 383-powered N96 car. Original EVERYTHING. Never been touched. Red Air Grabber screens.

Don't recall EVER seeing a N96 car that had black screens except for when the owner acknowledged that he had changed the color due to personal preference. Once saw a X9 '69 RR N96 with orange screens back in the eighties - but again, the guy had painted them that color to set the car off and make it a little bit different.

Until somebody shows me Chrysler documents to the contrary they are supposed to be red as far as I am concerned. :cents:

:jester:
ACME

 

[69hemibeep]

Ray I'm with you, and all the sales adds show red. I'm waiting to see proof of the black claim, but there are one or two on the other site that say they bought their cars new and they were black?

 

[ACME A12]

there are one or two on the other site that say they bought their cars new and they were black?

Well, we all know to never say "NEVER" with Ma MoPar...but after 41 years I'd be more inclined to suggest that they just don't recall grabbing that can of black Krylon back in the summer of 1970 after burning a fat-boy rolled from Maui-Wowie and downing a couple of tall-boy Budweisers...

:jester:

 

[69hemibeep]

there are one or two on the other site that say they bought their cars new and they were black?

Well, we all know to never say "NEVER" with Ma MoPar...but after 41 years I'd be more inclined to suggest that they just don't recall grabbing that can of black Krylon back in the summer of 1970 after burning a fat-boy rolled from Maui-Wowie and downing a couple of tall-boy Budweisers...

:jester:

Oh Wow remember what

 

[moparstuart]

i've owned my car since late 84 and it had red sreens when i got it

never even seen a black screen either , the moparts dudes are nuts .

the only time i could see them maybe doing a black screen was on a red car with out hood stripes ?

 

[droptop]

My GTX was purchased from the original owner in '76 with 45,000 miles. It was 100% original every thing. It has red screens. I think the black screens is just something for the arm chair experts over on the parts to talk about.

 

[moparstuart]

 

[generaljmwlee]

any thing is poss with ma mopar back in the day! look at my car they put square fender mounted turn signals on it ,and the bird on the dash is on the wrong side of the roadrunner emblem.

 

[Hoosier Bird]

Red........

 

[3BIRDS1X]

R4 to be exact

 

[xs29j8]

Nuts HUH?... Arm Chair Experts HUH?...

I bought my 1969 Hemi Road Runner in December of 1976 with about 28,000 miles on the odometer, and it had faded black paint on the hood stripes... including the inlet screens. My RR was a St Louis built car with a SPD of "A15"... the other black screen cars were early cars too.

Attached is a Polaroid picture taken in December of 1976...

XS

 

[xs29j8]

Two more taken in the late 70s...

 

[george68hemirr]

Nuts HUH?... Arm Chair Experts HUH?...

I bought my 1969 Hemi Road Runner in December of 1976 with about 28,000 miles on the odometer, and it had faded black paint on the hood stripes... including the inlet screens. My RR was a St Louis built car with a SPD of "A15"... the other black screen cars were early cars too.

Attached is a Polaroid picture taken in December of 1976...

XS

now here is somebody who knows what he is talking about

 

[ACME A12]

Nuts HUH?... Arm Chair Experts HUH?...

I bought my 1969 Hemi Road Runner in December of 1976 with about 28,000 miles on the odometer, and it had faded black paint on the hood stripes... including the inlet screens. My RR was a St Louis built car with a SPD of "A15"... the other black screen cars were early cars too.

Attached is a Polaroid picture taken in December of 1976...

XS

now here is somebody who knows what he is talking about

...lots of opportunities for a can of Krylon to get used over the course of seven years...or maybe some G-built cars got black for some period of time...as perhaps there was a paint shortage on the line...or maybe this was just their standard practice at some point...absent a first-hand witness that worked the line we may never know. I personally know better than to say "never" when it comes to what Ma MoPar may or may not have done - my Windsor-built '70 Duster 340 is testimony to cars getting out the door that weren't even supposed to be built. :cents:


ACME

 

[george68hemirr]

or could be on monday thru thursday they were painted orange and black on friday.....any thing is possible.....who needs those stinkin screens anyway :toetap: :toetap: :toetap:

 

[moparchris]

Nuts HUH?... Arm Chair Experts HUH?...

I bought my 1969 Hemi Road Runner in December of 1976 with about 28,000 miles on the odometer, and it had faded black paint on the hood stripes... including the inlet screens. My RR was a St Louis built car with a SPD of "A15"... the other black screen cars were early cars too.

Attached is a Polaroid picture taken in December of 1976...

XS

Hi Allen welcome, I didnt know you were on this board.

 

[mcmopar]

Nuts HUH?... Arm Chair Experts HUH?...

I bought my 1969 Hemi Road Runner in December of 1976 with about 28,000 miles on the odometer, and it had faded black paint on the hood stripes... including the inlet screens. My RR was a St Louis built car with a SPD of "A15"... the other black screen cars were early cars too.

Attached is a Polaroid picture taken in December of 1976...

XS

now here is somebody who knows what he is talking about

...lots of opportunities for a can of Krylon to get used over the course of seven years...or maybe some G-built cars got black for some period of time...as perhaps there was a paint shortage on the line...or maybe this was just their standard practice at some point...absent a first-hand witness that worked the line we may never know. I personally know better than to say "never" when it comes to what Ma MoPar may or may not have done - my Windsor-built '70 Duster 340 is testimony to cars getting out the door that weren't even supposed to be built. :cents:


ACME

The only way to know for sure if those screens were originally black would be to strip them and see if there is any red on them. Of course, if they had been repainted they might well have been stripped at the time they were repainted. Who knows? Ma Mopar did do some funny things back in the day.
When was the build date on that car? Mine was built on May 16, 1969 right after a strike. If that car was built right after the strike it could explain a few things.

 

[moparstuart]

Nuts HUH?... Arm Chair Experts HUH?...

I bought my 1969 Hemi Road Runner in December of 1976 with about 28,000 miles on the odometer, and it had faded black paint on the hood stripes... including the inlet screens. My RR was a St Louis built car with a SPD of "A15"... the other black screen cars were early cars too.

Attached is a Polaroid picture taken in December of 1976...

XS

oh no i alerted allen of this thread on the b- body forum , now he is going to cut me out of the will for calling him a moparts nut :jester: still love you allen

 

[Big John]

I wouldn't be suprised if they came in both colors.

Think about it, Chrysler orders a few thousand screens from a couple different vendors. The guy on the line opens a box and they are black instead of red.... They just went on the car.... Or even if they were found by incoming inspection, they could write a non-conformance for color, and decide to use them anyway.

If you guys have ever been in an auto factory, you'd see exactly what I mean. Stuff gets used if it can be used.

When someone finds the original vendor specs, inspection and non-conformance records for that part etc, etc... then and only then will I believe anything is gospel.