Here are some reference pics and information for the blackout details on the 1970 Cougar Eliminator.
This information is correct to the best of my knowledge. If I have something wrong please let me know and we can investigate further, and correct / update the information here.
1970 Eliminator Exterior Blackout Summary
1970 Eliminator Black Trim
Headlight Grilles
Hood Nose Grille
Rock Guard (behind front bumper / below headlights) *underside is red oxide
Rear Tail Light Panel (behind the tail light housings)
Tail Light Bezels
Hood & Fender Trim (semi-flat black painted surface)
A good paint choice for these items is SEM Trim Black (SEM 39143, 20oz Aerosol)
Hood Scoop
Semi-Flat Black
Krylon Semi-Flat black spray paint #1613 gives a nice non-textured satin finish
The chrome reverse light bezels and trunk lid chrome trim piece on the 1970 Eliminator received blackout tape decals.
The quarter extensions may or may not have received some blackout paint along the inner edge.
*Notice in this example pic one extension cap has black paint while the other does not. It also appears to have been brushed on.
The entire front grille and headlight doors are completely blacked out, including the hood nose grille.
Again, original Eliminator grille pieces and headlight doors were never chromed, they were potmetal painted black.
While not unique to Eliminators, the following items were also painted black ~ and are commonly missed during restoration!
Rocker Panel Lower Pinch Welds
It is currently believed that “dark” colored cars did not receive blackout paint on the rocker panel lower pinch welds*
Painted black the entire length of the rocker panel starting from behind the front wheel / underneath the front fender and continuing to the end of the rear quarter behind the rear wheel.
If anyone other than a 3rd grader does it in your driveway with a rattle can then it is over restored and not considered “concours”. Great reference pics!
But to really get that factory look you need a very disinterested guy, no protective gear at all, cigarette in his mouth, half-assing it on a Friday before quitting time.
K01613A07 appears to be the new code. Krylon seems to now market it as an “industrial” paint. This seems to be readily available online from several vendors.
Looks like there is also a Krylon Semi-Flat black spray paint #5578, but I have no idea how it would compare with original or the #1613. Summit has a page for it, but Google shows other options for purchase.
Either of these may be worth a shot if you can get them cheap from your local auto parts store. Unless someone chimes in with other options.
I am restoring the gas door and I need some guidance on original finish of some of the details.
For example. I have the Cougar insert from the gas door removed and it appears that the background (behind the Cougar) should be black while the rest of the frame is chrome?
I know the edge of the bezel is bright chrome and the panel behind the cat is black but are the interior walls of the bezel bright chrome or matte silver?
I’m working on the taillights now. I’ve completed all but the housing itself and I have some questions about what and where to paint (using SEMA Trim Black Satin).
Here is the housing before anything has been done, other than to remove the old gasket material.
Arrow A points to the gasket channel which is not painted black.
Arrow B is the taillight reflector pockets which are silver and I will be leaving as is.
Arrow C points to the outer edges of the housing which I plan on painting Satin Black (using SEMA Trim Black).
Arrow D is my main question. Is this area also Trim Black or just gray like it seems to be in the pic above. There is a clear lens covering this area underneath the main red plastic lens but no apparent light from anywhere. What color should this be or does it even matter?
Arrow E points to a mounting hole for some sort of rubber bumper. Which bumper is this in the WCCC catalog? The left housing still has one but the right housing is missing. Sort of a tall, cylindrical piece.
The area “D” that you have some concerns about, is not painted in any color. It is just the bare pot metal, usually oxidized a bit from age. The clear lens you mention is merely a reflector at the end of the tail light housing. If the car is not running ( with no lights on ), then the reflector was required by SAE standards to be positioned near the outer edges of the car, to ‘illuminate’ the width of the car, when an oncoming cars headlights would shine on them. It is simply held in place by the red tail light lens, as it is sandwiched between the housing and the chrome bezel.
The reflectors have Ford p/n’'s : RHS = C9WY-13A565-A and LHS = C9WY-13A565-B
The gas tank ‘door’ rubber bumper goes into position “E” - it is the same as the mustang rear folding door / back seat ‘anti-rattle’ bumper. WCCC has it listed as : Item #: 26646 [ Original Ford hardware # 370374-S ( CC-20 ) ]
I recently received a picture of an original paint / unrestored '70 Eliminator that had the tail panel blackout paint applied by brush, and only along the lower and outside edges.
This car has a build date of January 13th, 1970.
Keep in mind that this is not the norm that we see, but still a good example to show that deviations did occur.
