Knowing that there is an astounding amount of knowledge available from the members here, I thought I'd throw this out there... Would anyone know what the factory color and finish on the wood parts of a stake rack body on a 1946 3/4 ton (model 3609) would have been? And was the wood used oak?
The metal parts of the flat bed may have been baked Dulux in black, but I'm not sure of that. The rear half of the wood panels on this truck appear to be original to the truck and presently show red stain. The front panels have been replaced and no longer have the rounded metal front corners. They are of course red also. The floor boards show no finish at all. And the truck is the standard Brewster green with black fenders.
The truck looks alright as it is... but I'd really like to know what it looked like brand new! Thanks all Ole
The picture from Chevrolet that I have (black and white) shows the platform in black and the curved corners, front and side matching the cab color. The stakes are described as being hard wood.
Thank you sir! So everything above the the platform should be Brewster green? Trying to visualize that... might actually look pretty splashy! Thanks again Ole
. . Having owned a 1946 3/4 ton stake that I got from the original owner, who kept it garaged, the wood bed and stake sides were painted black. I believe GM used Southern pine in the south-eastern states. I know they used ash in the West. They may have used oak in Canada. Take a scrap of what wood is left to local hard wood vendor. . . Mine was black with Gigalo Green belt and cream stripe. 1946 dark green would be Forest Green and not Brewster green. Lou
Thanks Lou! Your truck having the wood painted black would fit in with what Mr. Schneider said, that being that the wood was painted the main body color which in your case was black. My truck was built in Kansas City. Do you know where that factory might have sourced it's bodies and wood from?
As to the colors... I could be wrong but my information (including an original 1941, 1942, and 45 or 46 Chevrolet Gold Book) says the standard color was Brewster Green with Kildare Green strip and Emerald Green pin stripe. The fenders were Black unless requested to be body color. If the truck was ordered with RPO 234K, it was all Black with Emerald Green strip and medium Cream pin stripe. Ole
Hi Ole, . . I guess the parts book, gold books and paint chip books give different info. Very little info or chips are available for the body belts or stripe colors. . . Original brochures and gold books were artist's conception there fore not accurate. Lou
I'm not sure how this fits in, but... I have 3 sets of original sideboards for non dual wheel, factory , platform bed. I believe they are 6 ft. wide and 7 ft.long. I would have to check. They were apparently kept off trucks when the buyer did not want them. I guess them to be from 1950s but I am not sure. They have the same fasteners as those illustrated in my 1936 Gold Book. The point of all this is that one set is blue, one set is black and one set is green. These are from a square corner bed, not the round front style being discussed here.
Hi Mike I think it does fit in as it suggests a continuation of the 1940's practice of painting the bed black and the wood racks the cab color as set out by Mr. Schneider above. All three of the colors you have were available cab colors during the 50's. I dug out my 1942 Gold Book again and flipped through it. On page 24 I found a fold out page with an "artists rendering" of the 1942 3/4 ton stake truck and several other stake trucks as well. And they are in color! It showed the beds in black and the stake racks in the same colors as the cabs... just as Gene said they ought to be. In my opinion, your side boards go a long way towards verifying the accuracy of those "artists renderings". Thanks for your info. Ole
