The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed Bed Bolt Color

Original '53 bed wood and metal were black, from the factory. What color were the carriage bolts which held the metal wear strips and the bed wood? Seems like they would have been black also, but I can't find reference material on this item.

yes black, the whole thing was painted assembled

Bill

Thanks Bill, that makes sense.

My Dad bought a branny new '57 3200, bright red. I was 12 years old and loved that truck. I distinctly remember the bed, it was heavily painted entirely in a thick black paint. I remember thinking, man, that doesn't look very good? We proceeded to haul many cords of firewood to customers with that truck, and the bed, well, we never gave it another thought.

1953 (47-55st): What about the color of the angle strips attached to the bed sides and the bolts that go down through the angle strips?

1957: as per Jim Carter: bed wood planks: "Beginning with the 1955 second series, they were given a protective weather seal and often sprayed body color over this." But, they could also have been painted black, as described by capnduane.

Discussion around this last couple weeks here. I still think we need a really low mile original for a benchmark.
https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1040138#Post1040138

Here's a picture of an un-restored, low mileage 1949 GMC 1/2 ton long bed truck that shows the fender bolts unpainted and the side angle strips body color. '49 bed The bed itself had been repainted so it is difficult to tell what the actual color of the bolt heads were.
On the bed bolts, I have spoken with Jim Gebhardt, who is the VP with the national VCCA and judges for them and also owns a shop here in the Atlanta area selling classic cars and trucks. I took my recently completed '52 GMC (on which I had tried to do a "factory correct" restoration) by his shop for him to see and one of his comments was the bed bolt heads that secure the strips should be painted black. I believe he also told me that the ones actually securing the bed to the frame would have been unpainted. I do want to get a copy of the VCCA judging standards and review them before I paint the bolt heads - just to be sure.
Mike