The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Waist Strip Color for 53 1/2 ton

I have my grandfather's '53 1/2 long bed, original exterior color was Twilight Blue, PPG code 10162 which is still a good code with PPG. I'm having difficulty 1) determining the waist strip and wheel strip color and 2) offset (current matching) paint code. I'm guessing when I say the proper accent color is Polar Gray [old & obsolete code is 30118]. For GMC in '53 there appears to be only a couple usable colors for the trim (badges, grill, strips, trim piece on hood) Polar Gray and Sea Bubble Gray. Polar Gray looks best! Need help.

Maybe this tech article from Jim carter will help on your paint colors for your GMC. GMC paint On my 52 which is Narva green, the guy who did my bronze gold pinstripe mixed One Shot sign painters paint by eye based on a photograph of an original I had. In 1953 you likely would had had painted hubcaps, grill and hood badges which would have been an off white color as opposed to the gray that Chevy used. On my 52 I used the paint that Jim Carter carries for this and used a mixture of reds from One Shot for the recessed areas and then sprayed a clear coat for added protection and to cover the brush marks. Here is also a tech article on GMC paint colors from OldGMCtrucks.com paint. Carter also has a brochure on pinstiping GMC and Chevy trucks and he lists a few body/pinstripe color combinations. For the 47-55 GMC the only blue body color listed is Ferrara Blue with an Overland Blue stripe.

I've since read that an "off white" as you suggested is the appropriate color to go with the Twilight Blue. There's no question regarding Twilight Blue because it's still original paint under the headlight rims and upper firewall. PPG code 10162 matches exactly and it's listed as a '53 truck color. Thanks for the articles, every little bit helps.