The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks Wrong Hood and Multiple Primer Colors

I have a 61 1/2 ton (please see link to picture in my signature). Is it normal for the primers to be different colors? The hood has clearly been on there a long time, because the paint fade is the same. The farmer I bought it from says thats the hood that came with it. He bought it new.

Is it possible for that hood to have been a dealer swap?

Like maybe it was a leftover 61 and the farmer bought it in 62 and wanted the different hood?

It's either that or it was in a wreck that he either forgot about or didn't want to tell me about.

You can see the differeing colors of primer though.

There is also a repair to the frame on the front drivers side crossmember.

Anyways...thoughts??

That's a 62 hood, and maybe fenders too. 60 and 61's had an "eyebrow" hoods. They seem to be in good shape though,
Scott

May have ben in some sort of accident when it was relatively new. The '62 hood was the service replacement once the '60-'61 hoods were used up.

I would believe the farmer. First hand knowledge trumps speculation every time.

A lot of strange things happened at GM during "late in the year" production runs. If your 1961 was one of the last ones to roll down the assembly line in the 1961 model run and they ran out of hoods it is very likely they would use the 1962.

What else could they do?

By the way, love your truck. The way the paint is worn is killer. Don't change a thing other than keeping the mechanicals safe. Very, Very COOL!

John

Thanks for the compliments I do love the old truck. I think that I am gonna make it a little faster with a v8! But yeah the fade and look of the truck is really cool, I get a lot of compliments...

I agree with Hot Rod John it's probably the original hood. I worked at Peterbilt back in the 70's and they did the same thing all the time. Material shortages led to early implementation of some components. Also if a press release showed a new feature like chrome headlight buckets or low mount door handles, customers would place a hold on their order until they got the latest version. That's not likely regarding your hood unless it was exchanged by the dealer. More likely they just ran out in production. Nice truck by the way.

or the truck could have arrived at the dealer w/a damaged hood and/or front clip(happens all the time) towards the end of the year & what you got is what replacement they could easily get...Joe

It's still a 62 hood!
Scott

I actually love the look of the 60-61 grill with the newer hood I might be biased because my truck has always been that way i guess.

I think that the old girl is a beauty...whats that saying...

"She may not be the prettiest girl at the ball, but she'll turn a head or two"

Anyways, i am so glad to have a 60-66 forum...freakin' awesome!!!!!

It is a 62 hood on a 61 how or when or where it got put on who knows. It is still a cool ride. I like the paint job! Old jeans always trump D&G jeans hahahhaha.

Fort Knox,

I got the same thing only in a Stepside. I too love the grill/hood combo.

Sweet ride ya got there.

NorthDM
My 61 Project

I've also got a '60 grill in my '62, because I love that 4-headlight grill.

Regarding your hood: I know I read at one point that the '60-'61 hoods had a bad problem with rusting, and the dealers were instructed to replace them with the later hoods. If that truck arrived at the dealer damaged, someone stole the hood off the lot (hey, stranger things happened), or it was at the end of production and the plant was out of hoods, it would have gotten the '62 hood.

Sweet looking truck! I dropped a crate engine (dressed like a vintage 327), 4spd OD manual trans and 3.42 gears in the Dana in my '62 Suburban. Just got back from a 1,400 mile round trip to Joplin, MO in it.

(Note to self... next year, the truck has to have solid floors, some sound deadener and weather stripping!)

-Brad

To be clear, my truck is a 61. It just has the wrong hood. I do agree with the love of the newer hood style though. i can't imagine my truck with the early hood...it would look weird.

I sure do love the 60-66 lines and style though. It's the first time they switched to the more conventional and modern pickup body.