The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop 1952 Chevy 3100

I recently bought a 52 pickup and i am trying to stay completly stock but i am having trouble determining what i need to do. I have found the door tag (serial number) but i was wondering if pickup trucks had Fisher Body tags (like the passenger cars did) with all the body info.
Original exterior color
interior color
trim package
grille (chrome or painted)

welcome to the garage Chuck, you'll find a wealth of info at the manual site concerning original details .... no, there wasn't a Fisher Body tag, but most years had "trim tags" that help somewhat, for colors at least - chrome bits were options that aren't indicated anywhere

Bill

Bill thank you for the help. I have been all through this site already and can not find any locations for a "trim tag." And i have been all over the truck and can't find one.

So if it isn't indicated anywhere, if i want a chrome bumper just put a chrome bumper on and it will still be "original"??

Thanks again

https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=222711
maybe, or painted to be factory correct

actually it appears chrome was scarce in 52, but who's to say the original owner didn't go back to a dealer later and get some? it's unlikely the truck is entirely as it came from the factory now, unless you stumbled on a very pristine, low mileage truck, and most folks here will tell you once you start "restoring" the truck it will never be "original" again, so you should do it your way

I'm not up on the AD series enough to say when trim tags started, but see the GM restoration pack page 126 for info on possible colors and trim color patterns, and the 54 site linked above has other reference links that may help

Bill

There were no trim tags on trucks in 1952.

There were no chrome bumpers from the factory in 1952. A dealer or owner might have put anything on a vehicle.

Bill's last link to the 1952 truck specifications manual is the most useful documentation on 1952 trucks.

I was afraid someone would say there weren't any trim tags!

Ok so Anvil Gray bumpers and Thistle Gray for the hub caps and the inner bars of the grille? Am i correct in saying that the inner bars are the vertical bars that hold all horizontal peices together?

So is the Grille itself painted the body color?

If i open the hood, the fire wall is blue, i believe it is the Windsor Blue, but how do i know what the interior is?

Thanks for your help guys!

radiator grill color information (at the information-packed link that Bill posted above).

Yes thank you Tim but are the inner the vertical and the outer bars the horizontal?

Interior is easy they are all very similar from 1947 to 53', things started to change in 54 when other options for interiors became available. Basically you had one color for the interior paint (search on the site for details). Then the standard brown cardboard for door panels/headliner. Then here is where you could see a difference instead of chrome dash trim you could have painted. Then there are a few accessories. Arm rests, heater could be Air-flow or Recirculating, rear view mirror, cigarette lighter, right hand visor, radio, and perhaps turn signals. As described unless you have original owner paper work nothing will be documented anywhere on the truck.

I too have a 1952 truck, and have read a lot over the last five years as to what the interior was like. You have a Korean war era truck. As chrome was a war material, these trucks were pretty plain. That being said it depended on what was on hand at the various assembly plants. You might have a chrome front bumper or interior parts that was being used up from the pre-war period. It was also possible to order chrome parts from the dealer or aftermarket dealers. Unless you have ALL the paperwork from the original owner I don't know as how you could tell what was originally on the truck. As far as the grill don't forget the contrasting pin striping on it and the cab. You might do a search on this web site, as there has been a lot of dicussion on exact size and placement of the pin striping.