Latest work on the 53 Chevy 3100...

Last weekend I removed the bed and set it up on some sawhorses. Prior to removing it, my thought had been to replace the bed cross sills, both sides, front panel and tailgate due to rust. However, after removing it and getting a better look at the condition, my plan now is to restore all the original parts, except the cross sills, those are the only parts that are too far gone to save.

This weekend I removed the hood and radiator. I also removed the lower hood latch and the hood latch panel. To my surprise, the underside of the hood latch panel is blue. It looks like the Transport Blue color. The truck is red and has always been red...how did that blue paint get in there?

'53 3100 5-window
'57 Mercury Monterey 2-Door Sedan
Tim H