VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 1955 1st Series Chevrolet Interior questions

Hi

I posted this earlier on another section of this forum, just wanted see what people's thoughts were here

I am looking for information on the interior for a 1955 1st series Chevrolet 3100 pickup. I would like to install the maroon color seat material and I need some help on the following:

What would the correct color of the door panels be(maroon or the color of the headliner)?

What is the correct color of the dash, is that pearl beige for this year of truck or were there other options? Was the dash just one color or were they two toned?

Were the windows clear glass or did they come with a green tint?

Did the wing window frames in a deluxe model come painted black or were they chromed?

What were there any color options for the rubber floor mat or were they all black?

In addtion to the interior what were the tire rims painted. We have decided that Ocean Green will be the exterior color. Would the rims be the same? Was there a beige stripe in the Ocean Green or not?

Thank you for your assistance. I just got started on this project and I am trying to figure out what interior color options would be best with the Ocean Green exterior paint

Walter

This is a good time for you to join VCCA .... there are technical folks available plus the G & D monthly publication. You can't go wrong !

Bob

Deluxe interior got you chrome vent windows, two tone interior, Pass side visor, and more. Perhaps so,eone here can point you in the direction of Roger and Mary James' 54 deluxe cab truck. It was the cover truck of Generator and Distributor magazine a couple of months ago. I tried to search past covers but it does not show up yet. You may also check ot Tim Lederman's site. It is mostly 54 but has some 55 1st info also. http://1954advance-design.com/

I have no info. on the 1955 1st design. Did the Deluxe version use the late 1954 Deluxe interior?

I want to avoid an incorrect reply and have some one jump down my throat

You are wiser than I am. I think the deluxe cab two tone interior option came later in the production year so the ASUMPTION would be that it carried over to the 55 1st. There are some differences between the 54 and 55 1st that go un noticed much of the time such as the accent color on the chrome grilles. As mentioned earlier, there are a couple of experts listed in the VCCA on the 54-55 1st trucks, and again, Tim Lederman has put together an incredible amount of research and info on his site.

I agree with Greg....
Tim has amassed more factual info. on his site regarding the 54's & 55.1's than we can ever cover in this thread.

http://1954advance-design.com/

Hello Walter,

Greg_H let me know that you have a few questions regarding 54/55-1st Chevrolet trucks. My knowledge is mostly related to 1954 Chevrolet trucks but maybe the answers are the same for your questions about 55-1st trucks.

Greg has covered/answered some of the topics that I cover below.

The seat material was maroon sides with gray top-panels (on the seat and the back cushions).

Door panels were maroon and the metal rims around the panels were maroon.

Pearl Beige was the standard interior color on standard cab trucks (panel body trucks were different) and Pulsar Gray was the deluxe interior color (the interior sheet metal was one color and some other interior parts were black). There were also 4 two-tone interior-color options that were available in standard cab trucks by the end of 1954 (and most likely were available until the end of the Advance-Design line in the 55-1st series trucks).

Clear glass was standard but EZ-EYE (green tinted) glass was available as an option.

You ask about chrome window frames. Are you referring to the vent window frames (which was painted standard black but could have been chromed in some of the deluxe options) or are you referring to the exterior frame around the door window (garnish molding?, which was painted the exterior color in standard trucks but was stainless steel in some of the deluxe options).

Some people have reported that colored rubber mats were available - if they were, they would have gone over the standard black floor mat. The Master Parts Catalog does not show colored mats for trucks but does show colored rubber mats for 1954 cars (to go over the colored carpets).

The rims were standard black but Greg and I have seen documents that show exterior color rims in some deluxe options.

The stripes color on Ocean Green trucks was Cream Medium.

By the way, I might be wrong about 1955-1st trucks, so I'll accept anyone jumping down my throat (it would be nice if they have documentation, or course).

Tim

Thank you all for your answers to some of my questions.Your input is very helpful

I have been in conversation with the Filling Station about the color of the seat. They show only three solid color options for the seat, maroon,brown and black. I think they get them from Carter. Do you have any leads on who makes the two tone seat covers that you refer to? The Filling Station has the metal trim for the door panels that would need to be painted maroon.

Can someone enlighten me on the accent colors for the chrome grill. That is something that I am not aware of

For the vent windows I am referring to the vent window frames themselves. I have the stainless trim that goes around the door windows and the front window. It sounds like the individual vent window frames were chromed. I think that I will go with the tinted windows

I take from your posts that there was only one color,Pulsar Grey, for the interior and that any two tone interiors were on standard cabs only. I believe that the steering column and the steering wheel were black. Who would have information on these two tone interior colors for 1954?

The Filling Station sells only black rubber mats for the floor so I will go with that. The rims I will paint body color.I have a complete set of the optional full wheel covers which cover the whole rim.

I have heard about the cover picture and the article on the 54 Deluxe truck in the Generator and Distributor Magazine. I will try to hunt down a copy of it.

Tim I have read and viewed your internet site regarding these trucks and have found the information to be very informative.

I live very close to the Filling Stations Store and Steve there has been helpful, but when he was telling me yesterday about the various options it was time to seek help.

Thanks to everybody who pitched in. I don't want to become a pain in the a_ _ but feedback like this is great

I would appreciate any additional info

Walter

SMS Fabrics http://www.smsautofabrics.com/ has the correct seat material for the deluxe interior seat coverings.
The accet trim on the chrome grille is a painted area on the inner sections of the grille bars.
Here is a link showing the interior of my 54. As you can see, it is the deluxe dab with the two tone blue interior. You must ignore the seat material as well as the door panels but the crome vent windows, the dash paint colors and combination is original and correct, and as tou can see, the steering wheel is the darker of the two colors. Another noteable difference is that he "chevrolet" lettering on the dash is the lighter blue instead of white lettering, and the jorn button on the deluxe interior has the center painted the dark blue instaed of standard black.



My truck was originally a 3 speed on the column and I have dhanged it to a hydra-matic frame and driveline so if you search some of the later albums, you may see some incorrect colors on column shifter parts.

Walter,

"Thank you all for your answers to some of my questions."
Which questions were not answered? We'll keep trying.

"Do you have any leads on who makes the two tone seat covers that you refer to? "
I have never seen anyone selling the maroon/gray upholstery (are those the two-tone seat covers you are referring to)?

The chrome grill, as describe by Greg, had white on the interior of the two middle chrome "bars", and white on the interior of the bottom painted "bar". Note that the bottom "bar" and the two panels that the front parking lamps are attached-to were not chromed (they were painted body color). The CHEVROLET letters on the upper grill bar are white.

"I take from your posts that there was only one color,Pulsar Grey, for the interior and that any two tone interiors were on standard cabs only. I believe that the steering column and the steering wheel were black. Who would have information on these two tone interior colors for 1954?"
- Pulsar Gray was the one-color deluxe interior option, and Pearl Beige was the one-color standard interior option for cab trucks.
- The steering wheel, steering column, and the 3-speed shifter column, shifter handle, and shifter knob were black. The turn signal housing and handle-knob were black.
- Two-tone interior options supposedly were only available on 3000 series cabs.
- Jim Carter has some blue/blue two-tone interior parts and some green/green two-tone interior parts. I'll be checking with SMS fabrics (who Greg refers-to) regarding making the Pear-Beige/Maroon upholstery sets.
- What information are you looking for regarding 1954 two-tone interior colors. Are these scans helpful: http://1954advance-design.com/Web%20images/1954%20two%20tone%20deluxe/

Except on the two-tone interior trucks in which the column was the lighter color, the steering wheel and the hub were the darker color, the shift lever was lighter color.

Greg,

Off-topic: Did you notice the black running board and black front license holder in the photos at the link I posted? Also, notice where the upper and lower colors break. That is where I'll break the yellow/white on my Hydra-Matic.

Walter,

If you looked at the photos, you will have seen the details of the chrome grill.

Tim

Good stuff here guys.....
I am still waitin' for Chevy NUT to chime in on this topic.

Greg/Tim

Those latest posts are amazing.They have literally stopped me in my tracks. I need to go back to the drawing board and relook at my exterior color. My first thought is will this dark and light green interior two tone color harmonize with Ocean Green or am I better to look at another color. I have a 1955 Ford Crown Victoria that is painted snowshoe white and Mountain Green that has an original dash color that is a two tone green like in the truck pictures. Determining what the correct formula for the interior paint on that car was a challenge. Where would I find the formulas for the light and dark green as shown in Tim's post for the Chev truck.

I will contact SMS in Canby OR. I live within an hour of them so I will go there and see what they have for seat material and headliner material.

Greg what is the make on the dual intake on your truck and are the two air cleaners original to the 55 pickup.I was wondering if two of the original air cleaners would fit with a dual carb setup

Thanks again guys. As the one poster correctly said this is good stuff. I have learned so much this afternoon. I can see now that this little old pickup will be a beauty when I am done

Walter

Tim

I read your post with the color formulas late last night and missed the link with the interior color formulas for the different combinations. Please ignore my request for info on formulas. I will take your info to the paint people and see what they can come up with.

Thanks Walter

Walter,

Here are Dupont paint codes for the interior colors .
(you did not miss this - I added it this morning)

That page is a scan from Roger James, the writer of the VCCA of the G&D (49, 5) article on a 2-tone (interior and exterior) 54 truck. If Roger does not want me to post this, please email or PM me and I will remove it. I also have Greg's scans of the G&A article but it is copyrighted material.

There are, as usual, small inconsistencies in GM (and Dupont) documents (and artist drawings) regarding some details of the exterior two-tone options (color of running boards and the location of the exterior color "break" lines between the colors, for examples).

It should be noted that the two-tone interior (cab only) and two-tone exterior options (cab and panel) were different options and could be ordered alone or together.

Walter,

Good luck getting a match for the Dupont codes. Please let us know how it works out for you.

At the bottom of this page is information on how to try to get modern codes from PPG. The PPG people do not seem to have much interior color information (and, they might not even try to help you without Ditzler/PPG codes).

As far as the dual carbs go, that was never an option. Just something that found it's way onto my truck in my youth. It is an Offenhouser intake and valve cover. It originally had 2 original style Rochester carbs but since then, I have installed the more modern Langdon's carbs. For both, I had to remove the firewall to fender braces. My intention now is to re-install them but make needed clearance modifications. Another "youth modification" was tube headers and an Isky cam. Both of those items are sheduled to be removed in favor of a more stock cam and a more period correct corvette split exhaust manifold that will give back the intake heat.

As far as the paint colors on the interior, I took my truck down and had the original colors scanned in some of the better preserved areas. Jim Carter sells both of the two tone green and blue paints but I have not seen them.

We have managed to pull in some pretty good sources of info on this thread and I hope you as well as others have gained much useable info from it. Thanks for starting this thread.

Walter,

Two of the original 3100 Rochester carburetor air cleaners (spark arrestor or oil bath) will work with any of the after-market two-carb set-ups. You can also convert the original air cleaners if you use non-Rochester carbs.

Tim

I was curious how that would fit. I have two matched Rochesters to go on a offy dual intake and would like to use the original oil bath air cleaners. The truck will get a 261 from a 1956 Canadian made Pontiac and I have the dual split exhaust from a 1954 Corvette to go with it. Just putting the engine back together now. Complete refurb on the hydromatic is about two weeks out.

I am concentrating now on the interior. I talked to SMS today about interior samples for the seat material. They think they have what I need in stock, hopefully that is true.

What is your opinion on how the dark and light green interior will harmnoize with Ocean Green on the exterior. Have you ever seen this combination?

Thanks

Walter

Walter,

Chevrolet must have thought the green/green interior "harmonized" with Ocean Green exterior - that was one of the Regular Production Options (in the two-tone photos link above).

I sounds/looks good to me. Go with it, if you like it.

Have you compared SMS pricing to Jim Carter's pricing for two-tone green/green upholstery (which would match other two-tone interior parts that JC sells). He also sells the paint, I think.

The Corvette exhaust is a good choice.
The hot set up lately is to use the standard "Flying Saucer" air cleaners on the dual intakes.

MT,

I ran that set-up for a short while on my Suburban's 261. It's a nice lean "period" look. For a while, those "spark arrestor" air cleaners became so popular that the price raised considerably (until JC started selling reproductions).

My 261 now uses dual Carter-Weber carbs (Fenton intake) with adapted oil-bath air cleaners (from T. Langdon). It is more reliable than the two Rochester's (and, has no leaks) but the performance is not as strong.

T.C.

I am with ya there on the problematic Rochester carbs.

I am now working on converting my fleet over to the Zenith carbs.
http://www.zenithfuelsystems.com/documents/RR15P68-71.pdf