VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 Canadian paint codes

Hi I've been a long time visitor to the site but this is my first post.
My question is I'm trying to find what color the code on my id tag is but thus far have had no luck the paint code is 840 the car was built in Oshawa Canada any help would be really appreciated.

IF YOUR CANADIAN BUILT CHEVROLET IS 1945 AND UP , VINTAGE VEHICLE SERVICES CANADA, WILL SELL YOU A PACKAGE FOR $60.00 THAT INCLUDES EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO IDENTIFY THE CODES ON YOUR FIREWALL PLATE, PLUS ALL KINDS OF DATA ABOUT YOUR YEAR CAR.

THEY CANNOT HELP YOU WITH 1945 AND DOWN

1-905--440--7697 GEORGE


MIKE LYNCH

sorry forgot to say its a 1938 2 door sedan Master

I have not yet found information showing what colour the paint code relates to for 1938 Canadian models.

I do have GM Canada 1938 paint chip samples across all model lines but there is simply the colour sample itself and the "name" of the colour, but no correlation to the firewall codes themselves.

The best you can do is hope to find someone with a Canadian 38 with the same code as yours. ALL GM Canada models used the same colours in 1938 - Chev, Pontiac, Olds, Buick...
I can tell you the colour is NOT Oshawa Blue which is almost black with a hint of blue as that is my cars colour and I have a different code.

Have you looked at the paint overspray inside your doors?

Maybe all owners of Canadian 1938's could chime in with their paint code and what the colour looks like and we could piece together a list of codes.

Are you sure the # is 840? I've got a list of GM codes but it runs from 800 to 836. There is no 840. Can you post a pic of your tag?

I think the numbers above 836 were for special colours. Mostly they were used for fleet customers that bought enough vehicles to have their unique colour set up in the GM system. I once owned a Canadian made 1938 business coupe with a high number that was the fleet colour code for the T. Eaton company.

well to replay back to what color was hiding under trim 1 door and parts of the fire wall and hood where a granny smith apple green but all of the rest of the car inside are what look to be black.

id post a pic but not sure how on this forum

the tag reads
Model 8-12-11
Serial 8121103970
engine 1268003
Body No# 1915
Trim 231
Paint 840

great info!

thanks for all the help, I'm starting to wonder it it was a mistake made when the tag was punched any way thanks again for all the help I'm sure I'll have many more questions as the restoration back to original progresses.

Interesting info! Thanks! I've checked a handful of the codes to firewall tag images I have and they seem to match car colours.

I've been trying to find my actual GM Canada paint chip sample from 1938 but haven't found it yet (too much car crap lol!). It's always confused me since it only shows 7 colours for 1938 in Canada but when I've checked firewall tags on various cars, it always seems like there are more codes than the 7 samples the chip card of mine showed.

I find it surprising that this info shows 15+ colours. Canadian models have always been low priced and basic so 15+ colours has me scratching my head. Including 5 shades of blue?? hmmm. I like having a Canadian post where I can spell colour correctly lol...

Did the USA models have this many paint colours in 1938?

just to add a side note, I recently picked up a 39 dealer album from CANADA and it shows more fabric options than the USA dealer book. so maybe you guys got more to pick from when ordering your car

Note that the colors were used on just about all the GM cars so there may be blues that were used on say a Buick and not a Chevrolet for example.

In 1939 US Chevrolets had three interior fabric choices. A mohair for the Master 85, a different mohair for the Master Deluxe and an optional Bedford cord flat cloth for the Master Deluxe.
Chevrolet refered to the mohair as Canda cloth.

Here is another version of the 1938 Canadian color codes chart. This includes separate listings for the Duco and Dulux codes and also shows the wheel colours and stripe colours that go with the paint codes.
Unfortunately it only lists standard colours through #836. The 840 code is likely a special code for a fleet customer.
This chart is from the January 1939 edition of the Canadian GM Service News.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ywg683g1qvvg6wp/1938%20GM%20Canada%20color%20codes.pdf?dl=0

I am surprised they used
dulux on passenger cars as it is an enamel. The Duco is lacquer which all US GM cars used. Trucks were always enamel.

This is a great chart Headlighter. My stack of service news ended in December 38 so I didn't have this one.

I was looking at another book I have "Canadian Automotive Information Handbook 1939" and it shed light on the topic a bit as well.

Appears GM Canada had their standard pallet of colours that were used across all model lines - so if you ordered a Canadian Buick, Olds, Chev or Pontiac you got the same basic colour choice.

GM Canada also sold a few models that were "imported as ordered" from USA. These were low volume units but obviously came with the US colour pallet.

So if I ordered a 1938 Pontiac new I could get an inexpensive one built from a chevy with one of the standard Canadian colours. If I had deep pockets I could order a USA model to be imported and choose one of the standard colours being used by Pontiac in the US. On paper this would make it look like many colours and fabrics were offered in Canada.

Wonder if enamel was cheaper or perceived more durable (since it was used on trucks) in our "harsh" climate lol?

Enamel was cheaper in terms of labor. The lacquer paints required buffing with compound to make it smooth and bring out the shine.
As far as durability goes there was an advantage for both with lacquer less resistant to sun in hot climates.