The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Missing Body Tag on '54 3100

I recently purchased a '54 3100 half ton. While the person that restored it (unknown - done prior to the person I purchased from)didn't do it the way I would have done it, it makes for an easy re-do for me. The first thing I wanted to do was to see what color it was when it rolled off of the factory floor in St. Louis. When I went to get the codes off of the body tag, to my dismay, the only thing there were the 2 holes it mounted to. Is there any way to acquire the body tag info via VIN?
On a side note, I was doing some work on the dome light and found a pretty maroon color under the bracket. After looking at the paint chips, it seems the maroon was only on the 53's. Maybe it is actually Autumn or Russett Brown??

There was no body color information on the original "body tag".

Are you referring to a maroon interior color in a 1953 and/or a 1954 1/2 ton pickup truck?

Look on the underside of the hood. Sometimes there was written in grease pencil a hint to the factory color.
Check this link out for some pics that might be of interest.

http://talk.classicparts.com/showthread.php?t=12941

According to GM, the paint codes were on the body tag.
The maroon was found under the dome light.

Sorry Brandon no color or trim codes on the factory tags for the 54' you only get GVW and the factory serial number. Use the Search function for VIN tag information and you will find out everything you want to know about replacements etc.
Here is and original 1954 riveted tag, what you see is what you get.
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2494932310102454676wkVNYL

Did you notice the guy you quoted has posted here over 9000 times? I would think by now he should have a pretty good idea of what's on the tag. Are you sure you were not looking at Canadian info as GM Canada did put the paint code on the tags used here.

Brandon,

What model 3100 truck do you have? Pickup, panel, Suburban ??

Does the Maroon interior paint cover the entire interior?

There were two different maroon exterior colors between 47-53.

There was a maroon interior color used on some 1954 Suburban interior parts (but not on the interior roof).

And, an interior Maroon paint was supposedly also used on some 54/55 pickups/panels with a special/deluxe two-tone interior.

As Curt B. asked, where did you find this information: "According to GM, the paint codes were on the body tag."? Might you have a Canadian truck? I'll try to remember to check my 1954 Canadian Chevrolet Truck Shop Manual (and Truck Data Book) this evening.

As Brad posted, 1954 door post ID plate (vehicle serial number)

I have a pick up. The maroon was found only behind the dome light. As I mentioned, the person that restored it didn't do a very thorough job. They simply taped over the dome light when they painted the interior.
The GM info can be found on their Media Archive Site.

The sample body tags they show on their site can be found here. According to their samples, only the bottom is Canadian. There is a chance that I could be looking in the wrong spot maybe. I looked where the door post tag normally is and that's where I found the 2 holes where it should be mounted. IS the "Body Tag" located somewhere else? Also, there is a chance this truck doesn't have a body plate? There's nothing on their website samples that states that these were from a 50's era truck. I'm just going on a whim.

I'm not questioning any intelligence here. Simply seeking the facts. I don't disagree with Tim. All I know is that I read something on the Manufacturer's website and now I'm tossing it out here to see what I get back. I would venture to guess the Manufacturer would know as much about their vehicles as a forum poster would. Just a guess.

Thanks, Brad. I had a feeling this was the case as the GM site is not specific to this year model. Would have been nice for them to list the vehicles that did have these type Body Tags.

Brandon - if the ADs had a 'body' [trim] tag [Tim should know], it would be on the firewall, which is where they are for the TF series - what Brad means is the vin tag doesn't give any info other than the GVW & s/n, if your vin tag is missing likely a trim tag would have been removed as well .... and if you study those tags on the GM site you'll see the top one is for a 1965 truck, the CDN one is from 1979 earlier ones were simpler and didn't include any year info

Bill

Copy that, Bill. Like I said I was just throwing it out there to get the mass opinion. GM wasn't specific about which vehicles contained this info. All of this helps. If you look at the order form on the GM site, it requests the trim/paint codes. I know I can decipher the codes on this site but I'd like to know what other options came on the truck. There's patched holes for the heater, the dash was cut for a radio, there's mounting holes for arm rests in the doors. Additionally, Tim mentioned that a maroon interior could have been from a Deluxe model. All these questions I'd like to answer and I have little resource left on the truck. My style of restoration is taking it back to exactly factory spec (or as close to as possible with available parts). I'm a perfectionist when it comes to that.

Brandon - I think partly some of this thread is confusing because of the term body tag, I've always seen the one you want referred to as the trim tag, because it had the codes for paint and trim specific to the vehicle, and folks are thinking the body tag you refer to is what's usually called the vin number tag, mounted on the body - there should be a body/trim tag, as shown here [specific info mostly applicable to cars] - Tim will be able to confirm that was indeed normally added to the 54 trucks

Bill

I agree that there is no vehicle data on a 54 truck other than the VIN plate. As I mentioned earlier, you MIGHT find a hint scribbled on the underside of the hood. Some people have claimed the VIN was also stamped on the frame but you will not find it. I think trucks were considered to be utility vehicles and not given the same "need to know" weight that a car was of the same era.

Brandon,

Your best bet is to look at 1954 truck information, not general information about Chevrolet trucks.

People here have posted in this thread information specific to 1954 Chevrolet trucks. This information might not be the same for any other year truck (and for other model 1954 trucks). We are not always correct but we try get/give correct answers AND we try to politely correct each other when we are wrong (most of us know we all make mistakes).

There was no "body" tag or frame ID or any other tag anywhere on a USA Chevrolet truck, EXCEPT for the vehicle serial number tag that people have posted photos of here (and for which you have received a decoding of your tag in another post). This tag was riveted (in 1954) to the cab between the hinges for the driver's side door.

It sounds like the maroon you found in your cab is not original, unless you have two-tone colors in your cab (Beige and Maroon). If you have these two colors in your cab, post a photo of how your dash is painted. Greg_H and I can help you determine if that is original.

Agreed...with everything you guys have posted and thankful you are helping me out. I'm definitely not here to prove anyone wrong. When you have conflicting info from many different sources, it's hard to tell which is correct or how vague some of it might be. Always learning!

As far as the interior, it's all red. But that's because the person that restored the truck painted it that way. I have no idea what the original interior colors were. I've been under the dash trying to find bits of paint with no luck. Pictures of the truck can be found here. They installed a black pleated seat with grey door panels and headliner. I'm venturing to guess the seat was originally the standard brown along with the door panels. Again...just a guess.

Nice looking truck. I am working on a 54/55 GMC COE and it will be painted Commercial Red.

In case you are interested, the pickup cab's standard interior color in 1954 was Pearl Beige (PPG:21122; DuPont:93-72389).

Thanks! Pearl Beige...another tid bit I did not know. I will have to note that. Thanks!