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I am new to this forum. First off, thanks to everyone who maintains and supports this web site. Most of my questions have been answered by reading the existing comments and following the helpful links. I have a 1952 3100 that is now my retirement project. My brother got the truck about 35 years ago, painted it, drove it for a little while and then parked it in a corn crib in Nebraska for 25 years. I bought it from him about 10 years ago and am finally getting around to working on it. A lot of mice lost a good home when I moved the truck to Iowa. The first step was rebuilding the brakes and replacing the wheel bearings. I put in new spark plugs, changed the oil, and put in a carburetor kit. What a thrill it was when it started right up and I was able to take my grandkids on a ride around the neighborhood.

I was originally going to do just enough to fix it up and drive it but then I got started taking things apart and couldn’t stop. Now I plan to restore to original condition as much as possible. It already has a 235 and has been converted to 12 volts. I am now down to the bare frame. I have a body shop that is experienced in restoration who will paint the truck and frame for me. The next step is take the frame and non-appearance parts to a sand blaster and the body parts to a media blaster. I have been researching colors and have come up with the following:

Exterior--Mariner blue
Cab interior--Champagne
Engine, manifold, and clutch housing--grey
Air cleaner--semi-gloss black
Oil filter body--orange
Oil filter top--semi-gloss black
Frame, springs, torque tube, rear axle--semi-gloss black
Heater--silver brown “hammered paint”
Grill inner bars-thistle grey

I have a few questions and would appreciate any comments or suggestions on my project.

Should the wheels be body color or black?
Should the running boards be body color or black?
Should I take the leaf springs apart and paint them individually?
I have a recirculating heater with a 6 volt fan. Should I add a resistor?

I changed the motor to 12 volt. You can buy a suitable 12 volt motor at Grainger for very little money. If you stay with the 6 volt fan, you need a resistor or you'll burn the fan up.

6 volt starter motors, OTOH, work quite well on 12 volts.

Welcome, Bob Cedar Falls!

Thanks for the overview of your project. Please drop a note (if you haven't already) into the Welcome forum. This is exactly the kind of information we like to see.

You've asked some great questions that others will benefit from. Recommend you do an abbreviated version of the one about the electrical issues and drop that into the Electrical Bay forum. Not everyone who pops in here has electrical on their minds, but you already got one great response. You may get even more hints in that forum.

We're here to help and welcome aboard!

Jim

Thanks, Jim. Hopefully I added a posting to the welcome forum along with a few pics of what I started with. I'm looking forward to getting to know some of you fellow Stovebolters!

I have the same truck ('52, Mariner Blue). I plan to paint the wheels black and I already painted the running boards black. The bumpers you did not mention and should be thistle grey as well as the hub caps.

I used Dupont Ful-Thane and can provide all the Dupont color codes for exterior, interior, thistle, etc. if you need them. I like the colors, but cannot guarantee a match to original (I don't think anyone can regardless of color or brand). Good luck.

Oh, I believe the oil filter lid should be blue, not black. I think there is a Tech Tip on the subject.

photo

I'm thinking the wheels and running boards were black originally. The wheels were pinstriped.

John

As posted by John, wheels & running boards black; and, pinstriped wheels - stripe colors are shown below.

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/chevyresto/52126.html