The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors 1941 deco seat upholtery color

Hey all,

Looking to get a consensus of original seat upholstery colors used. The vendors claim that there was black brown and ironically that is the colors they have. The vendors also happily sell many original equipment reproduction parts that don't fit or work... Looking for a "restoration" color not a "reproduction" color. Have you all recovered any remnants from a putatively "original" seat? My 41 seat springs had what looked to be original bits of upholstery attached to the frames and it looked to be a black leatherette type of material. Any evidence will help.

Thanks in advance.

Paul

So are all of you guys with 1941 trucks just sitting on lawn chairs or Dodge minivan seats?

Paul, I believe they used both black and brown, but I am not 100% sure. My '39 GMC had original seat material in it and it was brown. My 1940 Chevy was purchased new by my grandfather and it was black from the factory. It was my understanding, especially through the war years, that the factory would use whatever they could get their hands on.

The upholstery in my 1941 is brown. I have not seen one with original black upholstery, but I haven't seen all of them.
I couldn't find correct replacement seat covers from the parts places; the piping on the bottom cushion was in the wrong place. Also, the reupolstery kits come with a piece of carpet underlayment for under the bottom cushion cotton padding where horsehair was originally used.
Here is what my original seat looks like:
Click

Interestingly, Alkay's 1940 shows some original interior details which are usually overlooked during restoration: The inside firewall is painted interior color, and the headliner and kick panels are painted interier color instead of dark brown like the reproductions.

Black & Brown were the two colors available.
The seat color should be the same for the cardboard headliner, & kickpanels.

The metal part of the headliner around the back glass should be dash & door panel color.

I believe the seat kits that Jim Carter's sells are the correct ones, from what Ive read.

The ones in my 45 GMC were Brown.

That contradicts the research I have done. In my 1941, in all the other original, unrestored 1941s that I have looked at, and in factory photos, the headliner and kick panels are painted a similar color to the metal interior parts, not dark brown.

Original kickpanel in my 1941 truck
Headliner in somebody else's unrestored 1941 truck
Original factory photo
Modern brown headliner for comparison

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the input, but it still seems like shark infested murky water as to which color should/would have been used originally. One thing is clear in that it was black or brown! I suppose I will just make a command decision and go with it. My rig is a prewar 41 military, and I have seen both brown and OD green headliners. Perhaps I can try to decipher the different shades of gray in the technical manuals...

Alkay3, I love the provenance of your old family 1 1/2 ton truck. I think it may have a stronger pedigree than I do!

Paul

Thanks Paul. I wish I had more of the trucks, and cars for that matter, we used to own. My grandfather had a fairly large oil company and had hundreds of trucks. From a large number of '40 Ford pickups, to 48 WWII GMC CCKW 6x6's, large Internationals, GMC's, Oshkosh, etc. When I was born in 1959 my dad drove a 1956 Belair convertible and my mom a 1956 Corvette. They sold the Corvette because of me, so my Dad still blames me! It is still nice to have the '40 and it was one of my most valued possessions.

alkay3,

Did your grandfather use any 1941-45 4x4 surplus GI Chevy trucks in his business? If so, do you have any images? I heard Chevy's and the CCKW trucks were quite popular in the post war oil industry. I would very much like to see some at work "back in the day".

Paul

Paul, Look at the attached image. My grandfather bought 48 of the GMC CCKW 6x6 trucks right after the war along with a large White 950x6 truck. They took the beds off, moved the winch from the front to behind the cab, lengthened the frames and installed the oilfield beds. Then painted them gray and black and sent them to the field. Most of them had oilfield beds, a few had pulling units mounted on them and one was a tractor with 5th wheel. They also had a couple of Chevy 1-1/2 ton trucks with welders mounted on them.

http://i892.photobucket.com/albums/ac122/alkay3/Coralena%20Oil%20Company%20Trucks/CoralenaGMC.jpg

Any images of the Chevy's with the welding rig?

I'll have to dig through some pictures. I'm sure I have some somewhere. I'll let you know.