The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop What color is the bottom of the cab

When my 52 3/4 pick up left the factory what color was the outside bottom of the cab? Was it the body color or was the black primer

Most '50s Chevy trucks I've been under were a brownish color, somewhat like red oxide primer, only a bit more brown and much smoother/shinier finish. Not quite a glossy finish, but just a tad glossier than a satin.

That sounds right. From items on this a other sites the cab was in a red oxide (or red something) primer before being painted. and from pictures I've seen the cab was on a cart which would make it difficult to paint. thanks for the info.

Paul, do you still have those pictures? I assume that your are talking about the cab on a cart at the factory?
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny, I saw the pictures on the Vcca site I'm sure how set this up as a link but here is the address. I think you have seen these before

http://vccachat.org/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/112534#Post112534

Paul

Ok, that's what I thought you might have been talking about. Like I said in my replies over there, great photos and they do document that the interior was the first to get painted. But the first picture that mothertrucker posted still leaves the question open as to how they masked the interior when they shot the outside.
From what I have seen and heard the cabs were painted with red oxide primer. I thought they may have even been dipped at one time but I've never seen any evidence of primer on the cabs interior so that kills that idea.
There is a little splash of red oxide primer inside outer skins of the door, I assume that was for rust prevention where the rain ran down past the side windows. Now the original exterior Mariner Blue paint on mine has red oxide primer under its entire exterior skin on the cab. The hood and front clip has black E-coat under the Mariner Blue.
I just went out and crawled under the passenger side of the cab and took some pictures. It will take me a couple of hours to get them downloaded, edited and posted to my album, but I'll get them in there tonight sometime.
There is undercoating on the cab underside outside the frame rails. I cleared off a section of the undercoating on the right rocker panel and there is red oxide primer under it. This tells me that the red oxide primer was shot at least on the outer sections of the cab floor bottom. Outside the frame rails it was undercoated over the primer. Down the center of the cab floor bottom there is no evidence of any paint, primer or undercoating at all and it appears to have been delivered with the center of the floor in left bare metal.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny:I think that the second picture is the primer going on not the color coat I think that's bare metal over the door and in the back sail area. And I agree that the intieror was painted first and I'm guessing they had templates made to go over the window openings and they masking taped the doors and door opening or had canves cut to the openings and taped them into place(any way that's the way I'm going to do it).Now on my 52 out of Baltimore there was gray primer on the insides of the doors and behind the seat could it be that different plants use different paints. And this was war years could the red oxide been in short supply ( just thinking out loud).If you have any input on painting the interior I could use it.

Paul

You know Paul, I've looked at that picture a hundred times since mothertrucker first posted it and never thought of that. I'll bet it was the prime coat that they were applying. Good thinking. I'll bet they shot the bottom and then dropped the cab down onto the dolly, which does look to be the same width as the frame. The picture isn’t high enough resolution to see all the details but I’ll bet the cab tilted on the dolly or truck its mounted on to shoot the bottom and then back down to finish the rest of it. It appears to be on a turntable also. I wish we could get MT to post a high Res. picture so we could see more of the detail. I do see what you mean about the bare metal above the right door.

And yes, I've spoken at length here and over at Chatter II about there being plugs for the window openings, etc.

So the sequence seems to have been; Shoot the floor bottom outside of the frame and entire exterior with red oxide primer, shoot the interior color over bare metal, mask the cab and shoot the exterior color.

Sounds like a plan, think that’s the routine I’ll follow when I do my cab but I think I’ll shoot the entire bottom of the cab on mine with primer.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Paul, I only have three things to say about painting the entire interior, with these exceptions, the steering wheel, mast jacket, shifter and grill strips;
1) sand blast interior,
2) PPG DX-520 metal conditioner,
3) PPG Deltron DBU/DBI #27467 with NO clear coat.
Fin!
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny:While seating in the garage last night enjoying an adult beverage looking at my cab that's almost ready to paint and thinking about painting the inside first and what that would intail. The words of Mr. Spock came to me "That's just illogial".Opening another beverage I'm thinking how much easier it would be to paint the outside first. On how after the outside was done to that 3/4" masking tape to the edge of the door opening and to edge of the doors and with my paper machine to mask back from there then cover the rest of the cab with a plastic drop cloth. Besides that when I was taking it apart and looking at how the inside was paint I was thinking that the seat frame must have been in the cab when it was painted but I could be wrong on that.Any thoughts?

Paul

Don't know how you would keep the over spray off the outside with out closing your self up inside. Only way we will ever know how it was done at the GM plant is to have a séance and bring back the dead so we can ask the ones that did it.
Still say they had to use a combination of masking tape/paper and masking plugs.

Denny G

Denny: as far as for the over spray I'm thinking of use a product called collision warp the body shop use it to keep over spray off eastwood has it but I'm sure you can get at your local paint supply store
http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=21451&itemType=PRODUCT

Paul

Well better late than never as they say. Here a picture of the right rocker under the cab. The rough surface is the original under coating covered with clay, which I have been trying to wash off for almost two years now, the clay that is.
But anyway, you can see the red oxide primer under the undercoating that I removed to expose it.
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2033385350098611668umPpzR

That be wrap?? Think I'll just stick with paper an tape. I've found that plastic and paint film dont mix. The thin paint film just flakes of the plastic sheet and makes a real mess to clean up.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny: So do you think the undercoating was put on at the factory or was it done at the dealer for extra profit.Is the undercoating also on the frame rails. And you said that it wasn't in the center that would lead me to believe it was put on after the truck was assembled.

Paul

Shows where the undercoating ended.
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2600916940098611668zAmHkj

Other picture shows the bare floorboard center with surface rust. The bottom of the truck has not been pressure washed to get the clay that covered it off. The bare metal under the truck has surface rust but no pitting in any of the areas that I have cleaned with power wire brush so far.
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2906764370098611668AxjAVk

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

A comment about undercoating. My 54 cab has undercoating covering the entire bottom. The wheel well areas of the cab also have total coverage. The running boards are also covered, but not totaly. As well as the running board brackets. There was some undercoating on the frame but I think it was mostly over spray. My truck was built at the Southern California plant.

I suppose that different plants had different interpretations of the specs. The under side of the front fenders were also sprayed on mine, but just the front fenders, not the rear

These kinds of little details are impossible to pin down. Believing that each plant or each shift at each plant or even each line worker on each shift did things exactly like all the others is like believing that each snow flake is identical. The closest that we can come is to copy from one that we know to be factory original. There are certain things that common sense tells us that they would not have done because it simply varies to far from what a production line would allow.

But something such as a little extra undercoat under body or paint wrapping around a little further on one than on another simply implies that it was the end of the shift and they wanted to empty the gun or maybe kill an extra ten minutes before break time rather than start another one.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny,

I wonder if undercoating was dealer applied and not factory applied. I know back in the day, many vehicles were special ordered and could really throw a monkey wrench in the history of these old truck, but of the last two 54s I have had; one is undercoated and one was not. I have had many TF half and 3/4 ton trucks and not a one of them was undercoated.

I think for originality either way will do. Although many items were not painted; if I were restoring for points, I would paint everything. Even if the paint looked like bare metal. But I am not a purest and want to drive my truck, so I will paint as I like. For me that means, I will paint and finish as if it were customized in the 1950s. Even if some of the parts are not from the 50s; my hope is that it feels like a 50s mild custom.

I know in the early 60's when I was working for a Chevy dealer a guy would come and pick up cars and trucks and take them to be under coated and the cost added to the price of the unit with a mark up. Just like they did in the 70" with rust proofing and fabric sheild or the clear plastic seat covers in the 50's I think any under coating was dealer installed and not at the factory and that's my story and I'm sticking to it

Paul