Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-06
MOTORISTS EAGER
FOR RUSTLESS AGE
Alloy Metals Expected to
Make Paint, Enamel and
Lacquer Unnecessary.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
DETROIT, Mich. April 5.-The
rustless age, which has been predicted
as the result Of the use of stainless steel
in motor cars. may bring with 1t auto
mobiles on which neither paint, enamel
nor lacquer will be used.
The possibility was envisioned in a
paper read before the recent meeting
here of the American Society for Test
ing Materials.
A research expert pointed out that it
was not out of the way to expect that
alloy metals may be produced that will
allow the manufacture of automobile
bodies requiring no finish other than
Furnishing. From this it is evident that
the eXperimenters are on the track Of
methods to give sheet metals contrast
value in brilliancy to replace the rain
now are used.
Color Life Question.
Blue for steel and gray for iron are
familiar terms and the scientists are
certain to seize the opportunity Of see
ing what they can do to give metals
more color life. If metallurgy can pro-
duce two-tone or three-tone contrasts
that can approach present lacquer hueS
garded as a step forward.
It will mean that lacquering and
enameling of bodies and tenders can be
dispensed with. The cost Of an ex-
pensive process which has to be safe
guarded from fire while it is being done,
may be eliminated. The time of manu-
featuring car can be cut down.
All this, possibly, can be subtracted
from the cost Of the finished model,
rryikI 1aA hot win
made and passed along to car buyers.
The logical development for such a
trend would be in the present class OF
sport cars. In these the lighter-hued
lacQuers now are combined with bright
work in nickel and aluminium shades.
For some types that are custom-built
and therefore cost more than stock
models, we have entire bodies finished
in the hue Of aluminium, to which con-
bumpers, hub caps and other parts with
either chromium or nickel. This alumni
mum is paint, not metal.
Body Building Changed.
Plating metal all the way through, as
now done in stainless and non-corroSive
steeis already in use, eventually may
prove to be an even more important eco
nonic advance in car manufacture than
body finishes. These finishes Of various
kinds composing the lacquer family
revolutionized body building. Their
quick-drying qualities cut down the time
in which body could be color finished
to one day.
Prior to that it took four to nine days
and 20 different operations, as compared
to 10 now. This Improvement began in
1928. The process cost more than the
former painting method, but the saving
In time more than compensated for this.
The advent of lacquers also brought
hard-surfaced finishes that withstood
weather without streaking or fading.
Likewise, they were impervious to injury,
with the exception Of alcohol drip from
radiators in Winter.
BY similar progression, chromium,
which is the chief component of the al
10y resulting in stainless steel, virtually
has ousted nicked plating from the mod
ern car. This began to happen three
years ago. Engineers admit that chro-
MUM plate has advantages over nickel,
although, like the lacquer, it costs more.
Its chief superiorities are harder and
better wearing surface than nickel, TO-
gether with lnirror-like brilliancy that
makes it more decorative.
(Copyright, 1880, North American Newspaper
Alliance,)