On a 1946 Chevrolet 1/2 ton truck, I just had my steering column completely rebuilt. It was returned to me with the gearbox painted correctly and the column primed (to have final coat) applied by me prior to reinstall. The question on the table is… A recommendation for a supplier of the BROWN color originally used on the column?
Even a particular product recommendation would be greatly appreciated. Randy
Attached are two photos of the Rustoleum Dark Bronze hammer tone paint I used on my ‘46 Chevy 1/2 ton.
One of the photos shows a side by side comparison between a remnant of the original paint and the new paint. It’s a very close match, IMO. It also shows the product number.
A second photo shows a completed interior part painted with the new paint.
Too bad your shop already primed the column. If you have any remaining interior parts with that brown, you may be able to take them into a body shop and have them scan the part. With the new colorimeters, they can probably come up with a mixing formula, but it all depends on if the part itself has a decent section of paint in good shape and not faded excessively. Second, it you know the name of the color and or paint code, you can check with Tower Paint as they have vintage paint in rattle cans..I was able to buy some cans of 1951 Trophy Blue from them a while ago.
Check with your 46 truck tech advisor as he may be able to assist you.
Last edited by styleline51; 04/08/2309:16 AM.
Rick
"Never time to do it right the first time, but always time to do it over."
I have been researching steering column color for my '45 1/2 ton. Made screen shots of about a dozen pix of other trucks shown on-line. About 1/2 of them are painted black. The other 1/2 are painted the same as the dash. On my dash color (as well as other colors on truck), I initally did a whole lot of academic type reseach about old color numbers, etc. Finally, I did the right thing, I took truck panels (color samples) into my local Wesco Paint store. They cater to hobbyists like us. The attendent kept my panels for several days while he matched the colors by eye. He did a very good job.
You seem to be sure your column is supposed to be brown. However, if it was the same as your dash, you probably wouldn't be asking the question.
My column was stripped when I got it, so I don't know what it was. However, some of my research has shown that it was originally the same dark brown as the trim on my Guage Cluster. I had mine rebuilt by a company that did a beautiful job. They saw the original color and matched it with KRYLON, COLOR-MAXX, SATIN LEATHER BROWN. I think I'm going to paint my column this color.
The steering column is painted the same color as the steering wheel. Convential trucks fom 1940 and up has "colored" steering wheels. have never seen an original truck with a dash colored steering wheel. The steering wheeland column is NEVER painted with a metLIC OR HAMMERTONE TYPE PAINT. THE COLUMN IS PINTED WITH A GLOSS ENAMEL by the company/division of GM thay Made the steering gear.
The column being painted by the division that produced the steering gear... and the steering wheel being painted elsewhere... explains the difference in color between the wheel and column in my truck. So now the difference isn't so surprising anymore. Thanks!
