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Apr 26th, 2026 | | AD Chevy Trucks  Over 6,000 pictures Brad Allen has an awesome collection of Chevrolet factory pictures that he has set up from film strips. Check them out!
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| | | | Joined: Jun 2011 Posts: 42 New Guy | | New Guy Joined: Jun 2011 Posts: 42 | Ok, so I'm trying to get my '51 half ton restored back to as close to original as possible. I'm having the wheels pinstriped and was wondering if these trucks rolled off the factory floor with one or two pin stripes per wheel. Can anyone tell me? Also, exactly where on the wheel?
Thanks,
Marc
| | | | | Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,270 Bubba - Curmudgeon | | Bubba - Curmudgeon Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,270 |
The GM Heritage Center has specification manuals for Chevrolet Trucks (search this discussion board for heritage.
In 1951, 3 wheel stripes for 15" and 16" rims (from the factory)
Jim Carter sells an instruction sheet with information on locations and width of stripes. The width of the stripes varied, perhaps by year, by factory, by striper, by day of the week?
| | | | | Joined: May 2007 Posts: 289 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: May 2007 Posts: 289 | Marc According to Jim Carter's instruction sheet they are to be 3/16ths inch wide. Here is a picture of the original striped wheels I had before repainting them. pinstipes Notice that the outside stripe is centered on the hole for the valve stem and the other two are inside the raised area. | | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,836 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,836 | Watching a pinstripe specialist at work is a real education. Back in the late 1940's, an employee of our body shop did all the striping for our business, and several others in the area. I was about 3 years old at the time, so I barely remember the guy. I've been told he could stripe a set of wheels freehand with a long-bristle camel's hair brush, and get the stripes exactly right, position and thickness, every time. It was done by mounting a wheel on the front hub without a tire installed, and turning the wheel against the brush which the painter held steady with the aid of a jack stand or other support.
Here's the tricky part- - - -the guy was an alcoholic, and he needed about three drinks before his hands got steady enough to use the striping brush! That problem finally got us out of the body shop business- - - -it was almost impossible to find a painter who wasn't a drunk. Fast-forward about 50 years, and the problem is similar, but most of them are dopers, as well as alcohol abusers.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
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There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
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| | | | | Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,270 Bubba - Curmudgeon | | Bubba - Curmudgeon Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,270 |
I have seen original pinstripes thickness range from 1/8" (on my Suburban's "beltline") to 1/4" (at a local Advance-Design salvage/dismantling/parts yard). These differences might be due to Jerry's observation.
| | | | | Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 1,424 ODSS President | | ODSS President Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 1,424 |
~ Cosmo
1949 Chevy Half Ton
Rocinante, like Don Quixote, he is awkward, past his prime, and engaged in a task beyond his capacities.
"...my good horse Rocinante, mine eternal and inseparable companion in all my journeys and courses." ...Don Quixote, Cervantes
"If you come to a fork in the road, take it."...Yogi Berra
"Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength." ...Eric Hoffer
| | | | | Joined: Jun 2011 Posts: 42 New Guy | | New Guy Joined: Jun 2011 Posts: 42 | Gents,
Thank you all for your input. Great photos and advice. I used a local guy here in Atlanta named Larry West. He does a lot of the restoration paint / pinstriping for this area. Larry already knew that there were supposed to be 3 pinstripes and also knew where to put them. He was able to match the paint color on the pinstripe around the cab.
I did however decide to go with only two pinstripes on my wheels. One around / near the hubcap and one centered around the valve stem hole. Just looked better to me. I'm trying to stay true to originality but sometimes I slip.
Will post pictures of the truck (almost complete now) to my Smugmug account soon.
Thanks,
Marc | | |
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