The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Running Board Color

Hi!

I entered into a discussion yesterday with a fellow who seemed to know alot about AD's. He smelled like a brewery and behaved like a bee that had eaten too much spoiled fruit so I had to take what he said with common-sense caution. He said that all running boards on AD's were painted black at the factory. The running boards on my '48 1/2 ton Chev have always been the color of the rest of the truck. My father bought the truck new in '48 and that is the way it has always been. Are my memories clouded with wishful thinking? Also, is there a possibility that there might have been two pinstripes around the cab? A thin one over a thicker one? I don't remember that detail with much clarity.

Thanks!!

He's right, although if your grandpa ordered a custom color from the factory they may have painted them for him. Pinstripes are thin over thick.

Thanks for your reply 4ontheFloor!

I had a vague recollection of there being 2 beltline stripes but can't find documentation mentioning more than 1 single stripe. 54 years passing fogs the memory a bit. I guess I could scrape paint off to the original coat to find out............

I believe fleet models or special orders did have the option of having body color running boards, I saw an orange suburban in Colorado with orange running boards. Looked original, and the owner told me it was originally with the highway department.

But cab pinstripes were only a single stripe originally. Josiah seems to disagree, what do you base that on, Josiah?

O.K. Brian, this truck was part of a small fleet of plumbing trucks purchased around the same time.
The sales receipt says model 3104 - C.C. Box. What is a C.C. Box?

My guess is Chassis Cab Box (3104)

3102 was Chassis and Cowl (no cab or box, but it had rear fenders)
3103 was Chassis and Cab (no box, but it had rear fenders)

O.K. tclederman, that makes sense. Thanks!

3104 is standard pickup, perhaps it has some sort of dealer intalled box option. None of my references lists a "CC box" as factory equipment. I also concur with Brian, my references show only 1 stripe for '48.

I dont have the GM papers for 48, but the 47 one states all running boards were black. I dont see any place were you could get some other color, but have seen trucks with matching orginal running boards. Puzzling, maybe its some kind RPO thing. The strip is listed, but it dont say anything about one or two, just beltline strip. Also a lot of plumbers trucks used Powell beds on them. Mostly you find them on 3/4 and up, not the 1/2 tons

It has 5 windows and is trimmed out in stainless. Could it mean custom cab?

All cab models could be ordered with RPO 390, which included bright metal (stainless) windshield and door reveals, and, for a few Advance-Design years, bright metal interior door window garnish molding. Through 1951, chrome grills were also part of the regular production option #390.

3104 would have come with cab, cowl, and box/bed, even with fleet options (which, in your case could have been any style of painting). Does your truck have a standard bed?

One belt-line stripe was standard, but I bet that any number (and sizes) of stripes would have been available with a fleet paint job.

Thanks again TC for your input. Even though I have had this truck a long time, there is still alot I don't know about these old bolts. Thanks to the kind and generous folks here, I am learning alot since I joined the board!
Oh, the truck has a standard 6' bed.
Just got my Resto-Pack in the mail - Neat!

The pinstriping probably varied from year-to-year and factory to factory.

Josiah
I wonder where you got that opinion. The restoration packs from GM clearly state the look of the pinstriping on these trucks, I seriously doubt the factories had THAT much leeway in how they made the trucks. Maybe whether or not to use clutch head screws or phillips head screws, but not something major like pinstriping.

Just went out and looked at my 48 3/4 ton. The running boards are the color of the body with only one stripe on the cab.

Some one remind me how to get a hold of a Resto Pack... again Please.

Thanks

Hello 'Still At It',
Follow this link for the resto-pack:
www.stovebolt.com/techtips/GMRestoPak.htm

Cheers!