originalchuck, below are some snips from the 1954 and 1955.1 GM Heritage Resource PDFs that I think help shed some light on your painted or not question. In a nutshell:

1954 front bumper color spec listed as "Anvil Grey" in the basic info. 1954 accessories info lists the bumper guard for 3100 & 3600 as "painted or plated".

1955.1 front bumper color spec listed as "Bombay Ivory" except "White" when the main body color is "Pure White". Bombay Ivory listed as the color for the 1955.1 grille assembly. The 1955.1 accessories info lists the bumper guard as "painted or plated".

From what I can tell from this info, "plated" would have been when the trucks where ordered with the "Deluxe" equipment package. If I missed info or misspoke, others should be along to clear up what I found.

Hope this may be of some help. wink
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~ Dan
1951 Chevy 3 window 3100
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