VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Body - Sheet Metal, Paint & Wood 1936 Paint Color Factory - Frame & Misc Parts

Howdy, I'm restoring a 36 Suburban and I'm trying to get as close to possible for factory colors on some parts. Here's a few that I have questions about:
- Frame - Matte, Eggshell, Semigloss or Gloss black
- Engine Splash Shields - I've seen both gloss black and Engine Grey.
- Air Cleaner/ Engine Accessories - Starter, Generator, etc. - Semi Gloss, Gloss Black, Other?
- Transmission - Engine Grey, Black and what gloss?
- Differential (Assume same as Frame) Is it different?
- Inside wood frame - I have 4 36 Suburbans - but only 1 in which the wood wasn't touched. I've seen 1 with the body color sprayed (light green) and others that have the brown interior - the body wood appears to be painted before the steel is put on and is brown.
- Seat Frames - I have original ones that are black and others that are brown - I suspect they match the exterior colors, but not completely sure.

Thanks for any insights you can provide.

Shawn
Saratoga Springs, NY

Hello Shawn,

Virtually all of your mechanical parts including the engine splash pans would be safe at being semi gloss black. That is close to the original finish. On the earlier models some of the wood is treated with what looks to be an older version of a wood preservative called cuprinol. It is a copper based thin wood preservative. After the wood was installed and before the interior was installed the body was painted its final color/s. My '29 coupe wood got over spray from that color spray. It was not coated as in being fully sprayed, just incidental. If it is going to be covered by interior components, or a fender, or ? why waist paint?

As for your seat frames, the question would be were these outsourced like so many other components were? AO Smith made the vehicle frames, Trico made the wipers, Harrison made the radiators, etc. It would be very difficult and not conducive to an assembly line to match the seat frames to a particular body color. It is entirely possible that more than one company made those seat frames especially later in the year. If the interior paint color of every Suburban made in March of 1936 was brown then I could see the seats being that color as plausible. If you have a good existing color as an example run with that. Quite often a good restoration will require some investigative work. Find a spot that is out of the sun or some other factor that may alter the color. Use the underside of the seat frame, or some spot that is covered with fabric.

In the G & D there are tech advisors listed for some model vehicles. While there is not a 1936 Chevrolet truck advisor listed, you might contact the 1935 to 1937 GMC advisor and possibly he will have some insight as to your model that he found during his research. Generally Chevrolet changed their truck models mid year. If during your research you gain more knowledge it would be nice if you would consent to share your info with like minded members. In other words your second year Suburban is kind of a rare model. Not many survived the long and rough duty they were subjected to, and many that did were hot rodded in the '60s, and '70s. That does not necessarily make it valuable just uncommon.

Please keep us posted as to your progress.

Art

Art - thank you for the thorough response and apologize for my delay. You mentioned about the March 1936 timeline. Do you know if they were made in 1 batch in 36 vs as ordered? I haven't seen any documentation. The most I've been able to find is people's belief there were 75 made in 35 and 100 in 36. My understanding is there was a fire at GM in the 1936s and the records were lost. Thanks, Shawn

I can not find any production numbers but my educated guess is that that were at least a few thousand made in 1935 and again in 1936.

The March 1936 reference was a nod to earlier paint codes that indicated some colors only being used up to a particular date. Like Gene said there were probably more made than can be documented, especially if their numbers were bunched in with the trucks. It could be that many were painted in what today would be considered a "fleet" color. The suburbans were utilitarian vehicles like the trucks and may have only been produced in a few colors. Similar to the US models of the '29 Convertible Landau Sedan only coming in one color, Crocket Brown and the Canadian models only painted a blue green color. I remember many GM trucks in the late 70s sent to the dealers in kind of a forest service green.

Keep tracking down info, it is an interesting model.