How are career-mode configs and freeroam configs handled differently?

Doing some code-spelunking tonight in hopes of replicating the "unpainted panel" function from career mode in freeroam, and have come to find that career-mode vehicles are saved as .json files, which is different than the .pc filetype used for freeroam. Seems like there is a config inside of the .json file which corresponds with the parts applied to said vehicle. However, the "partsConditions" portion of the .json is outside of said config. Have tried bringing partsConditions over to a .pc config with no success as expected.

With this in mind, how are the two handled differently? Moreover, how are the .json's loaded in career mode, and is it possible to load them in freeroam?

 

I would like to see the career style configs in freeroam too. However I have no idea how to do that. I've translated my career configs to .pc files before but without the other parts of the file.

 

id really like to know how you can do that, would save me from creating new materials or skns for unpainted configs