I’m getting ready to choose the paint color for the interior of my truck.

The outside is some shade of Brewster Green (could use a good color code)

Is the entire cab painted the same color... inside and out?
The outside color is used for the jams, floor, seat pan, inside firewall etc... underneath the trim panels?

Are the inside trim pieces, door panels, back wall panels, dashboard all painted the same color?
What is the most common color?

How about the headboard? Was that painted the interior color?
What would the color be? If not painted, what does it look like?

The instrument gauges are painted a tan color (or decal color).
What color is the surrounding plate?

Should that be the same as the other painted trim panels and dashboard?

Thanks,

Mike

Hi Mike
Jim Carter has what looks to be an excellent page addressing nearly everything you are asking.
You'll find it here: http://oldchevytrucks.com/blog/index.php/2010/02/exterior-and-interior-colors/

If I'm reading it right, with all cabs from 1940-46 all parts of the cab that were welded together as the cab assembly were painted the exterior color. The screw on panels at the bottom of the door openings were also the exterior color.
The floor board and the toe board were painted black.
Essentially every other strip and panel attached in the cab and to the inside of the doors was coated with the interior color, which in most cases was the difficult to describe color of "hammer tone" paint.
There is no specific mention of the headliner or kick panels, but in my 46 they appear to be the same color as the rest of the interior. They are definitely NOT grey, brown, or black.

Carter sells paint they claim replicates the color and texture very well but I have no experience with it. Maybe others here have?
Anyway, they have a page describing it here: http://oldchevytrucks.com/blog/index.php/2010/02/hammered-paint/

Gauges and the trim around them are another matter. I'm pretty sure the 1940's and maybe even the 1941's had a lighter shade of brown on the gauge faces than the later trucks. The trim piece around the gauge cluster I can't help you with, but I'll look at my 46 later.

Hope this helps!
Ole

Ole,

Thanks for the help.... it’s a good start. ????

Mike

Hi again
I may be wrong but I think the cabs from 1940 to 46 were pretty much the same, and all may have even came from the same plant in Indianapolis. that said, I went out and took a look at my 46 truck and most of what the Jim Carter page says seems to be true. But I noticed a few things.

First, as said before, my gauge faces are the darker shade of brown (yours will be lighter), and the panel they are set in is a lighter brown. The bezel around the gauge cluster has the outer edge chrome (or stainless, not sure) and a broad strip of dark brown matching the gauge faces inside of that. That strip MAY match your gauge color on your truck.

The metal at the base of the seat and the strips screwed on at the bottoms of the door openings are definitely Brewster green as per J Carter.

Here's the strange part. Contrary to Jim Carter, the back side of the firewall appears to be lightly sprayed with the same hammer tone paint as the rest of the interior of the cab! It's hard to tell for sure without scrubbing things clean under there and better lighting but I'm pretty sure I can see a light coat of Brewster green covering the inside of the cowl area and behind the kick panels, with the hammer tone lightly sprayed on the firewall with overspray onto the green around the edges that are beyond where you can see without actually crawling in to look.
If you'd like, I can crawl in there with some polishing compound to verify once farming slows down a bit, but this may be peculiar to the later cabs anyway.

There is another small peculiarity regarding the interior paint, but I want to look at it closer to determine if it is probably original before I say anything more about it.

I got called away before I could get more details such as color of the steering column and it's support, or if the gear shift and brake levers are all black, or what color the brake and clutch pedals are.
If there is something else I can look at for you, or try to get pictures of, let me know. I will of course have to try to fit it in around harvest pressures!
Ole

Ole,

All of that sounds great. I will be interested to see what else you find. ????

Thanks for helping.

Mike

Hello again
I took a few pictures of my 46 interior (excuse the dirt, grime and rust... it's pretty much untouched).
Hopefully you can see the color of the firewall and the over spray onto the green in the lower left corner of the cab.
Also the color of the headliner and kick panels.
And the colors on my gauge cluster.

And here is one showing the steering column and support (yes I just replaced the speedometer),
and one showing clearly how the doors etc are green, but the panels screwed on are interior color. Apparently they were painted laying flat and installed later.

I also found pictures on this page: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1946-chevrolet-6400/
of what appears to be a mostly unmolested 2 ton that seem to verify the originality of the paint on my truck.
I hope I'm not breaking any rules by posting a couple of the pictures (at least I'm acknowledging where they came from).
A couple of notable differences:
The bezel around the gauges doesn't have the brown strip.
And the steering wheel, column and support appear to be flat black. Mine are brown.

Maybe someone with more knowledge than me can please weigh in on these differences?

And finally...
I found this: http://classicoldcars.net/1940-chevrolet-truck/photos.htm
I can't say how authentic the interior on this truck is for 1940, but the gauge cluster appears to be as I understand it should be.
The gauge faces are a lighter shade of brown than later ones like mine, and the brown strip on the bezel matches that color.
Hope this helps.

Thanks Ole,

Good shots of the truck. At least I now have a handle on painting the cab.
The correct interior paint still alludes me. There are so many different opinions out there.
And even finding the “correct” color or textures seems daunting. I contacted Jim Carter’s and they have colors for 1939 and 1941 but no 1940. And I can’t even get a sample of those colors without buying a quart of the paint at about $60 a quart!!

Thanks again,

Mike

Hi Mike
That's kind of strange.
The 2 Jim Carter pages I linked to above say the color for Chevrolet truck interiors was the same from 1940 right on through to 1946.

I have one of their catalogs in hand and they list the hammer tone interior paint in rattle cans with part # PT106ES for $17.95.
They list the same paint in quarts as part # PT106 for $58.95.
I called some time back to ask about the rattle cans for use on new headliners and at that point they said it was on back order and unfortunately they couldn't ship it across the border into Canada anyway.

Your truck is a Chevrolet and not a GMC right?
I ask because they list a paint color that covers 1941-46 GMC's which suggests that GMC trucks had a color change between 1940 and 41.

I also just noticed that the Carter catalog lists a brown paint for steering wheels and columns for 1946 only, and the catalog says that for 1941-45 they were black.
That validates the color on my truck, but leaves me wondering about the pictures of the 2 ton I posted above?
I wonder then if the wheel and column were both black in 1940 then as well?

I'd call Jim Carter again and ask about the rattle can PT106ES. Maybe you were just unlucky and talked to the wrong person the first time.
Ole

Ole,

No PT 106 on their website. I called and asked if it was different from the 1938, 1939, or 1941-1946, they said yes, and it was no longer available...... mmmmm...... and they do not have the formula for it..... it was sold to the paint company when the sold that part of the business.... and of course, they went under.....

Mike

Well that's not what I wanted to hear...

I think I read somewhere that the 1938 and 39 cabs had the "brown crinkle" paint, so they were definitely different.

It's only a couple of weeks since I talked to Carter's and ordered parts. At that point they said they still listed the paint but were out of it and it was back ordered. And they sent a catalog with the parts that has the paint in it. So apparently there have been some developments since then! I was going to have paint sent to a relative across the border and drive down for a visit and pick it up. So I guess that's out.

So has anyone found and used another paint they were happy with?

Ole

I asked around a while back and Chevy Nut replied with this.

“The 1940 truck was the first to have an interior in a color.
The Engineering Manual says the instrumebt panel is dark gray with a mottling of pearl gray over the top.
the steering wheel and column goodwood biege, That color is about the same as a 1940 passenger car.”

A dark hammer tone product from Rustoleum seems to be the closest I can find to that description although it is not very dark.

I have sent a PM to him asking to clarify the paint issue for me.

Mike

The 1940 Engineering Features describes the instrument panel as dark gray wit a mottling of pearl gray.

the 1941 book does not mention a color.

Any idea what the goodwood beige translates into?

If I use the dark colored decals on the instrument gauges, what color would the panel be? It appears to be the same color but a lighter shade.

Thanks,

Mike

1939 was the last year for the black steering heel and steering column. 1940 was a dark tan abot like a 1940 passenger car color.

Many years ago, I acquired an all-original (except for one exterior re-paint in the same color) 1940 1/2 ton pickup. The interior colors were very much what Ole has outlined in his posts above and has shown in his pictures. Unfortunately, my interior paint, while good enough in many places to show the original colors, was generally a mess, so I decided to re-paint the interior. I bought a quart of paint from Jim Carter and happily it matched very closely the original color. As I said, this was many years ago, and as I recall, Carter simply called it "hammertone."

I'm not sure what has transpired with Carter in terms of this paint, but I can tell you of a more recent incident with paint from Carter. I am currently restoring a 1951 Suburban and in restoring the heater, I noticed that Carter advertised the correct "hammertone" paint for the heater--$14.95 for a rattle can. I ordered the paint, thinking that it would be a special mix prepared specifically for matching the heater color. When I received the package, I was shocked to see that I had paid Carter $14.95 (plus shipping!) for a can of hammertone Rustoleum that I could have purchased at the local Menards for $5-6?!?!??!? Carter had placed a small label on the can, saying "1947-54 Heater Paint" or some such thing, but it was simply one of the now standard hammertone shades of Rustoleum, available in most any good hardware store. I should say that the color was, indeed, a very close match to the original--so it served my purpose, even though I didn't appreciate paying $10 extra for the simple information.

I think it's worth noting that over the past 10 years or so, Rustoleum has developed many paints beyond their standard offerings, such as this "hammertone", which is actually VERY close to the original color used by Chevrolet. I think you would probably be pretty close going with their bronze colored hammertone (not sure of exact paint name) for the interior of a 1940. In that connection, I can say the same for 1937-1938 interior truck cabs. I have restored a 1937 and a 1938 truck, both of which originally had "brown wrinkle" paint. When I did the 37, Carter offered a brown wrinkle paint that you had to apply, then apply heat in order for it to "wrinkle." I managed to achieve a pretty good finish, though almost asphyxiating myself in the cab of the truck, while trying to apply sufficient and uniform heat to make the paint wrinkle. Many years later, when brown wrinkle paint was nowhere to be found and I was doing my 1938, I discovered that Rustoleum had come out with a "textured" line, and that one of the shades of brown (if I recall, it is called "Autumn Brown") was remarkably close to the original wrinkle brown. It came out beautifully, and it was a million times easier to apply than that original wrinkle paint. So, bottom line, Rustoleum has increased its product line to include paints that are very close to original Chevy colors (and textures)--so much so that even Jim Carter can sell it as an "original" match!

So, now I’m confused.

Chevy nut :
“The 1940 truck was the first to have an interior in a color.
The Engineering Manual says the instrumebt panel is dark gray with a mottling of pearl gray over the top.
the steering wheel and column goodwood biege, That color is about the same as a 1940 passenger car.”

I have found this gray under the glove box moldings.
Could the dashboard be a different color from the rest of the truck?

If not, I’m confused now as to the color I should use. We’re there different colored interiors?

It also seems that 1940 trucks could be different from 1941-?

Mike

there was a only one interior color.

The instrument panel COLOR could and probably was used on the instrument panel only as it was too complicated of a color process to be used on other areas.

Could you give me a better idea of the color Goodwood Beige ?

I can’t seem to find a reference to it.

Thanks,

Mike

Also, to be clear, the dashboard and the interior panels were painted the same color?

Thanks,

Mike

See my last post. The instruent panel was apinted in a different method than the dash..Simular color but not mottled finish.

The steering wheel and column color is cost to what the assenger car had in 1940.

So, to beat a dead horse, if I use the dark hammered grey as the interior and dashboard color to simulate the old gray texture, I should paint the instrument panel a similar but non textured gray.

The steering column and steering wheel should be Goodwood beige or a medium tan.

Not the same gray as the instrument panel.

Is that correct.....???

Sorry for my brain density.....

Mike

Hi Mike
I just bought a rattle can of Rustoleum Hammered paint in "antique pewter" and one in "rosemary" and held them up to my interior. Don't know how close the actual color will be to what's on the outside of the can, but neither is very close. I'm going back to get the bronze colors and check them out.
I also just got new headliners from Jim Carter's in "pearl beige". The originals are slightly darker than the original hammered paint on the metal surfaces, and the new ones are just slightly lighter than the paint. Good enough for me. The old ones may have darkened from dust and dirt etc anyway.
So... back to beating that dead horse... :-)
Assuming the 1940 and up cabs were the same interior color with the exception of the instrument panel... and just now seeing how lighting can play tricks with my perception of color... every removable part inside of the cab appears to be more of a very light bronze than a grey. That would include everything except the metal under the seat (which of course isn't removable) , the door sills, and the floor and toe boards, the steering column and wheel, and instrument panel. And the headliner and kick panels match but don't show the hammered texture.
Steering column and wheel are the dark tan (almost a brown to my eye) Mr. Schneider describes above. This color is also on the trim around my 1946 instrument panel but I think yours will be different. Probably lighter.
Gauges themselves are a lighter tan and lighter than the gauge color used from mid 1941 to 46 according to my parts books.
Instrument panel and the trim around it I can't help you with. Mr. Schneider says it is grey (a flat grey I assume)*, which surprises me given the gauge color... unless the 1940 interiors were indeed more of a grey hammered paint than a bronze. What color was the instrument panel in a 1940 car? Was it possibly the same?
Anyway, minutia can be fun can't it? Sometimes.
Ole
*See my post below

Just reread Mr. Schneider's post above about the color of the instrument panel.
Definitely was not "flat" grey.
I'm wondering if the "pearl grey" he speaks of is similar the "pearl beige" on the headliners I just got from Jim Carter, just a different descriptor?
Would that indeed mean the instrument panel color was the same as the rest of the cab but the texture was different?
I think we've got everything else figured out but I'm as confused as you over the color of the instrument panel.
Ole

My last post is in error/ Should read " then the dash" is incorrect.... should read than the interior panels".

I’m beginning to believe that a 1940 truck is a one of a kind. When I went to look at paint from venders, they have it from ”˜41 on and until ”˜39 but not 1940. Same goes for many parts.

The colors I have found under the moldings on the dash and the back of some interior panels lead me to believe that the dark gray with Perl like splotches.... (using hammered paint to simulate) is correct for the 1940 Chevy PU trucks... as previously stated gratefully by Chevy Nut.....
The correct tan/brown for the steering column and wheel still leaves me wondering though. I have a sample of Perl Beige from Jim Carter. It might look ok, but it doesn’t seem to be brown enough to be “correct”. The Perl Beige is definitely not the same as the Gray.

I beginning to believe that the instrument panel color is similar to the dash color but not with the “texture”. The instrument gauge color seems to be either a dark “brown” or a light brown/tan depending on if it’s a GM (light) or a Chevy (dark) at least according to the venders catalog.... and the decal colors they sell.

Here is a picture I took of the Gray I found under the glove box molding. Notice the white splotches as Chevy Nut mentioned. I tried scanning it but it just comes out as an average muddled gray.

It’s been stated that the Brown is similar to what is used on the 1940 passenger cars.

Exactly, what color is that ?

Mike

If it were mine I would paint the general interior (not dash) a semi-glosss gray/ brown color Keep it in the toned down colors as bright colors were not used.

Hi Mike
In some ways 1940 was a one of a kind. Mostly superficial though.

In my experience you can't necessarily trust parts and paint suppliers to have everything right regarding year cut-offs etc. Case in point:
https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/447263/1937-to-53-motor-mount-problem.html#Post447263

I just looked in my 1938-46 Truck parts book and see that Chevrolet made the change from light brown gauges to dark brown gauges DURING 1940.
The 1940 "first jobs" were "light brown" and one part number, and the 1940 "after jobs" and 1941 to 46's were "dark brown" and another part number. All descriptors taken right from the book.

So it would appear that DURING 1940 the color scheme changed.
That might make it easier for you! :-)

Gene,

Your comment implies that the dash is one color with texture and the rest of the interior is a different color with no texture.

So if I paint the dash a hammered gray, I should paint the other interior parts a gray/brown.

Can you help me finding the gray/brown you referenced?

Also, thanks for all your comments on this....

Mike

Ole,

Thanks for the comments on the gauge color. That helps.

You are right on the problems with suppliers. Makes things confusing. The issue of the 1940 truck being an orphaned truck makes things hard.

I had thought that the dash and interior panels were painted the same but according to Gene, that might not be so.

Because I found the “gray” index the dash molding, (see picture). I’ll probably go with that using a hammered gray. I’m trying to keep it as original as I can.

I now need to find some reference to the gray/brown that Gene mentioned.

I’ll see what you come up with....

Once again into the breech.....

Thanks,

Mike

Hi again
Jim Carter does still list this:
https://www.oldchevytrucks.com/cart/product.asp?prodid=PT136&i=10631|||||

Not cheap at $39.50 a pint but they claim it is the right brown specifically for the steering column and wheel.
Again they get the years of application wrong though, as Mr. Schneider says it was not only used in 1946, but right through from 1940 on to 46.
Might be worth a call to inquire.

Not saying this is the "right" way to do it, but if it were me, I'd paint the steering column and support, and the wheel with the brown linked to above... and maybe use it on the instrument panel around the gauges (behind the glass) as well. I'd paint all of the interior panels including the dash with the hammered gray you found in the protected spot... as I think that is how Chev originally did it. I'd paint the firewall under the dash the same hammered gray. Floor and toe boards I'd paint black, along with the gear shift and emergency brake lever. Metal under the seat and the door sills I'd paint exterior body color. No one seems to supply the decals for the lighter brown gauges so hopefully yours all work and can be cleaned up to look good. Parts suppliers have headliners and kick panels in gray and they should match the hammered gray nicely.

What ever you decide to do, I'd really like to see the end result!

Hey,

I managed to find a gray/brown paint on the Jim Carter site as well as the brown paint you mentioned. Being that I will be ready for paint in the coming months, I decided to buy them both so we shall see when I do a test.
So the interior choice is between the entire inside panels and dash as hammered gray or the entire inside panels painted gray/brown with the dash painted hammered gray. In both cases, the steering wheel and column painted brown.

The firewall under the dash is prob the same as the exterior color...

I believe the entire cab, inside and out was painted the exterior color. I seem to recall that they painted these all at one time and wouldn’t have bothered to mask off a small area for a separate color. Panels that were attached later like the floor board and toe board were painted separately. Just like the engines, they assembled them and then painted them manifolds included. Distrib, carbs, generators, starters.... removable parts were painted separately then added.

The dash could have been painted differently because it was added later..... and for that matter so could the interior panels.... that could lead to all kinda of color combinations.

I found a supplier for the lighter gauge decals at the filling station supply house.

Mike

Ole,

I bought some of the paint from Jim Carter that was the gray brown.
I don’t know, it looks really dark. I also bought some of the recommended steering column.... the dark brown. That looks really dark also.

I’m uploading a picture of the dashboard with some of the sample interior colors from Jim Carter recommendation.

The first color is. Perl beige. The second is a part off of a old singer sewing machine... on top is a brown vinyl I’m thinking of using for the seat. The next color is the gray brown from Jim Carter. The last is just a test sample of something I thought might work. The dash is painted rust oleum hammered dark gray. The bottom tube is the steering column with a test color.... it’s not the brown from Jim Carter... his color was really dark.

What do you think? Comments are welcome....

Mike

Hi there
I have come to realize just how much lighting can influence my perception of color.
That said...

Looking at your picture, I actually think the color of the old Singer part is closest to what my truck looks like. :-) And jmmmn37's post suggests he thinks the pictures I posted matched what he remembers his 1940 was originally like.

In my opinion the Jim Carter gray/brown is way to dark to match anything.

Your test sample on the right does look like it will work.

I think my steering column is darker that your color. How dark was the Jim Carter column paint?

I know Mr Schneider's information says the panel around the gauges should be a mottled gray, but that seems oddly out of place with the rest of the colors, including the gauge colors themselves. Maybe you could private message jmmmn37 directly and ask him specifically about what he thinks of the instrument panel color?

I like the seat material. I like it a lot. I have come to believe my seat covers are not the originals, although they are very old and predate vinyl seats. They are actually very close to the seats in a 1952 Mercury truck I know to be original, as Dad bought the truck in 1957.

I am going to bring up your picture on my laptop tomorrow and take it out to the truck to compare in daylight. If it isn't snowing. Really. Our forecast: https://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/sk-40_metric_e.html

Your picture made me think of Mom's old Singer sewing machine. If I remember right it was a hammered paint and possibly a close match! If it wasn't 110 miles away I'd set it in the truck to see!

By the way, could you share the source and kind of material you've chosen for your seats? Thanks!

This is what I found with regard to seat material.
It comes from Keystone Bros
Here is some info on them and their product. I think it’s about $18 per yard. It’s nice material and Sew’s well . I made my own seats out of it.

They have a whole line of this type of material.

Also, here are some pictures of the bench seat I made. Excuse the wrinkles, it hasn’t been mounted on the frame yet. I think I have the piping correct.....

So...
I took my laptop out and compared your colors to my 1946.
The color of your gauges matches mine so I'm going to assume the other colors are reasonably accurate as well. On that, you appear to have the darker brown gauges used in later 1940, which is good because they are easier to find.

The pearl beige on the left is a little light but matches the pearl beige head liners I just got from Jim Carter. They are a little lighter than my interior side by side but certainly are good enough for my headliners and kick panels.

The Singer sewing machine part appears to be the best match to my dash and interior panels and is actually very very close.

Your test sample on the right would seem to be the second closest to my eye.

The Jim Carter gray/brown is way too dark to match anything I have.

I like the hammered gray on your dash but it seems odd to me that they would have used brown gauges with the gray. The two seem slightly out of place with each other to me. I believe I have read somewhere that GMC used hammered gray in their trucks (which used identical cabs) and so your dash color may be close to that. The gray instrument panel certainly looks right for the hammered gray dash, but again, seems a little incongruous with the brown gauges. Just as a matter of interest... and Mr Schneider or another member can verify or correct me on this... I think the 40-46 truck instrument panel was essentially the same panel and color scheme as used in the 1940 car with a few small cosmetic changes. That panel was I think mostly the same "light brown" background as mine in the picture below.

Your steering column color is lighter than mine. My column is darker and about half way between the browns on your column and your gauges.

Your choice for your seats would look fantastic in my truck! Please let me know what it is and where you are getting it from.

Hope this helps!

You posted above while I was writing...
Thanks very very much for your info!!
I think your seat looks great and I think you do indeed have the piping correct.
Want to do another one? :-)

Bring your seat down when that snow up there get 10 ft high and I would be glad to do one for you in our nice sunny weather.....????????????

You might be able to get the material shipped to you in Canada. If not, let me know.

Mike

Mike and Ole,

I've been following this thread since its inception with some interest, seeing that, as I've mentioned, I have a very original 1940 pickup. As I said in a previous post, I did re-paint the original interior with paint sold by Jim Carter, probably about 20 years ago. I recall at that time that the color match of the Carter paint to the original interior/dash color was VERY close--perhaps a bit "brighter", but that is probably largely due to the fact that the original was 50 years old--it has been my experience in restoring a 37 and a couple of 38s that the original colors tend to fade a bit, and this is particularly true of gauge colors (the glass cover of the gauges probably intensifies the light on those portions of original paint). I saw that phenomenon dramatically illustrated on my 38 coupe pickup, where I closely examined gauge colors that were hidden by being covered by trim, etc., vs. those that had been exposed to decades of sunlight.

Not to throw a monkey-wrench into your deliberations, but I don't think the grey hammertone paint shown in Mike's last posts is very accurate--my original dash was nothing like that color. I will attempt to attach 3 photos that I just took of my dash/interior. Unfortunately, I cannot presently move the truck into daylight, seeing that I recently stored it for winter (we had 8 inches of snow in MN yesterday?!?!) and it's back in the shed. I applied some light to the interior--this is the one that is less "bronze" colored; the other 2 pics were taken with the flash, which rendered them just a bit more "bronze/gold" colored than reality. The actual color is a bit more bronze colored than the 1 with light applied, and a bit less bronze colored than the pics with the flash (Ole's observation that these colors can change dramatically in different light situations is right on). That is why I previously commented that I thought the bronze-shaded Rustoleum hammertone would be close to the original, not the grey. Incidentally, you can see from the gauge panel how the background color seems to have lost a lot of its pigment, almost appearing a creme or tan color--as far as I know it's original unless a PO sometime changed it out.

I have one other suggestion that might help you come to a satisfactory conclusion--have you tried calling or writing Barry Weeks, the VCCA technical advisor for 1940 trucks? I know Barry well; he has owned MANY 1940 trucks over the years and I'm sure he has on more than one occasion encountered one with original interior paint. If you asked him to comment on this thread, check the pictures, etc., I"m sure he would be able to offer sound advice. He's a great guy, and has always been helpful to me in any way that he can. You should definitely contact him.

I'll try now to add the pics. I hope this helps rather than confuses the issue.

Good luck!

Jim

Hi Jim
For my part I want to thank you for an excellent post and taking the time to take pictures and document what you have!
Some day I would really like see both yours and Mike's trucks.

A question:
I notice your gauges (the actual gauges themselves) are the darker brown. Are they original gauges? If one or more of them is/are... is your truck an early or a late 1940 truck?
Just wondering if we can verify what the parts books say about light versus dark brown gauges during early and late 1940.

Also, knowing that computer screens don't always render colors well.. which of Mike's colors in his above post would you guess to be closest?
I thought maybe the Singer part.

One more thing
My grandfather grew up near St James and we still have cousins farming there. So I know about the snow, and half the corn is still out. Not good. We are white with snow up here in Saskatchewan too. But at least the crop is off.
And that spells the end of my fun with my truck too. :-(

To reboot.....
Here are some pictures. One from a hidden place on the dashboard showing a “hammered” gray and the second located behind the back panel.
I don’t know if these are original but they are old and were hidden so......

One picture contains the Jim Carter gray/brown for the interior and the Jim Carter steering column brown as suggested.
Both are very dark.
Jim Carter Brewster green and that is very dark also.

I have tried to create my own version of Brewster Green from the accepted color codes with modern offsets. It appears very green....


The light brown Is something I was fooling with.

The steering wheel/column brown is left of the white, the gray/brown is to the right.
My Brewster green I’d on the bottom and Jim Carter’s I’d on top of it.
The gray is rust oleum hammered gray.


Comments?


Thanks,

Mike

Ole,

Thanks for your reply. The answers to your 2 questions are, 1) my truck was built at the Janesville WI plant in the latter half of 1940, hence it would qualify as what you discovered in your research to be an "after job." Given that fact, the dark gauges would seem to fit the puzzle (N.B. I can't swear that these gauges are all original, but I didn't replace them and their uniformity would suggest originality); 2) my color appears to me to be close to the "perl" in Mike's picture, or the Singer color, but the closest of all seems to me to be the color of YOUR dash, as shown in the picture that you posted on 10/19. The color on your dash as illustrated in that picture (and on earlier ones you posted) is, as I recall, just about exactly the color that was on my original interior, and very close to the paint that Jim Carter developed a couple decades ago to match the 1940 interior, which is currently on my interior. I made this same point about 2 pages earlier in this thread.

Given what I have seen of your truck interior, and what I know and recall about my original 1940 interior, and the fact that Jim Carter researched and re-produced essentially the same color and sold it as original for the 1940, I strongly believe that the color of your dash (and of my re-painted dash) is the original color; in fact, I would wager that your interior is reflective of the original paint scheme in toto.

As suggested in my last post, if still in doubt, I would try to confirm this with Barry Weeks. As for me, I've made this same point a couple of times alread, so I don't have anything further to add.

Good luck.

Jim

Thanks Jim. I have made a call to Barry. Hope he will contact me about this so I can get it resolved.

Ole, any idea what colors match up to your dash and interior?
Also, I can go by the vinyl place and pick up a sample card if you want.
Let me know....

Thanks again,

Mike

Mike
I haven't done any experimenting with paint colors as I don't plan on repainting my cab.
But I did buy a can of the Rustoleum hammertone bronze (which I believe is the paint Jim wrote about above) in case I needed it for new headliners and kick panels.
If things warm up a bit I'll shake it up and try it on a scrap piece and let you know how close it looks to my interior.

Here is a picture of some paint samples.
Starting from the left...
Rust oleum metallic bronze
Gray/brown from Jim Carter
Brewster Green from Jim Carter
Top is Perl/beige from Jim Carter
The light gray Rustolium hammer gray
The rest are my attempts ....

I'm back...
The pearl beige in your last post looks significantly lighter than the one in your previous post of 10/18/20 08:34 PM . Are they supposed to be the same but different lighting?
After comparing (on my screen at least) it looks like the Jim Carter pearl beige in that previous post of 10/18/20 08:34 PM is very close to my color. See below.

Regarding Brewster Green...
It is actually quite dark and definitely not "bright" green or a "green" green, so don't discount the Jim Carter color on how dark it appears..
You really notice the darkness of my truck from some distance.
I'll include 2 pictures for your own comparison, but if I had one recommendation, I'd say be careful not to go too bright with the green.
The picture of the edge of the door and my avatar picture probably show the color most accurately as it appears to the eye.

For the steering column...
I'd use a brown half way between the brown you used on your steering column and the color of your speedometer and gauges in the below picture.

The steering wheel and mast jacket are always the same color. May be very slightly different due to different types of paint used, Same color for horn button also.

Agreed
My wheel has worn and faded quite a bit, but you can still tell that what Gene says is correct.

To put things together in my mind, how about this synopsis.....

According to this article from Barry Weeks, the “instrument panel is a a dark gray with a mottle of Perl gray”. Since the article also references the color of the “instrument cluster”, I assume that the “instrument panel” is the dash. That color goes along with what Gene says.
So I’m looking at keeping the dash gray. At least that’s written down by GM........

Olie mentioned checking out Carter’s for the period paint. Carter’s had a Perl/gray for 1941-?. Maybe they had the date wrong? Jim put a lot of faith in Carter’s research and it looks like a vote for what Carter suggested which is Perl/gray......

Gene also mentioned using Perl/gray for the interior although the color I found under my interior panel does not show that color(previous picture) The entire truck had been repainted at one point except under moldings and underneath the interior panels

Looks like a lot of votes for Perl/gray.....

Gene mentioned the steering wheel, column, button are all the same color and are brown.... Ole’s picture seems to verify this....

I took some new pictures of the dark brown paint for the steering wheel assembly, and the Perl/gray both offered by Carter. (Bronze on the left, Perl/gray on the right)I also have one of the Brewster Green Medium I created (the center color is actually a different test from the two other ones). Seems to match up to Ole’s truck color.

Lighting sure makes a difference....

I’m still conflicted about using a gray dash.... maybe 1940 was an odd year....?

Comments?

Still conflicted.....

Thanks,

Mike

Regarding your interior...
I think the most important and reliable post, pictures, and information comes from Jim's post on 10/21/20 06:06 PM.
He's the one who had an original unmolested 1940 to begin with, and recreated just that. I think if you base everything around his information you will be as right as you can be.
That's really where I was going with my previous posts.

I have seen cases where published preproduction information didn't quite match what eventually came off the production line.
I have to suspect this to be the case with the "dark gray" dash. Especially as I really can't see Chev using a brown instrument cluster from the 1940 cars and brown steering column and wheel in an otherwise gray cab. Not when you consider how well they put colors together in the rest of their vehicles.

Maybe there was a color change midyear... but if it were me, I'd stick with what Jim has to offer.

Agree, but how do I reconcile the fact that when I removed the glove box molding, there was the gray with mottled Perl underneath? .?? ????????????

Mike

Don't know.
Only 2 things I can think of are:
There really was a color change midyear.
Or maybe GMC parts??

There must have been a color change.
Look at these:
http://classiccardb.com/chevrolet/7...ed-in-kalispell-montana-runs-drives.html
and
http://car-from-uk.com/sale.php?id=58372

Specifically at these pictures from the above:

But then there is this:
http://topclassiccarsforsale.com/chevrolet/178978-1940-chevrolet-1-12-ton-truck.html
with the pictures below:

So it looks like your interior probably WAS gray and later 1940 trucks used pearl beige.

Nooooooooooooo !!! Will this ever stop???

Ok, Ole, you mentioned that you thought that the gauge background color changed from light to dark mid year.... maybe that’s not the only thing they changed. I believe Gene made a comment about having a hammered gray dash and a non hammered gray for the interior.
That would seem to fit... the older pictures you posted seem to show that.

Mike

Yup
I think it really is settled and you should go with that.
Your truck is early and should be gray.
Jim's truck is later and is pearl beige. :-)

That's our story and we're stick'in to it!

Well, so according to the present theory, the gauge color in the beginning of 1940 was dark as shown in the picture...... changing sometime later.....

Maybe during the transition, the colors did not change all at once.....

So, the steering wheel assembly should be dark brown at least according to Gene who proposed the gray on gray to begin with.....

Mmmmm


Mike

I doubt very much that there was more than one 1940 truck interior colorss but is possible that Canadian trucks were not the same as US.
The 1940 parts book does not list more than one seat, etc or other interior parts.

Gene, respectfully...
I didn't think so either... but look at my 2 posts above.
Two of the three trucks are gray and appear original. One is pearl beige and also looks original. And Jim's truck was positively pearl beige.
My parts books show a change in gauge color between 1940 "first jobs" and later 1940 trucks. Light brown in early, then the common darker brown after. They are even different part numbers.
Isn't it at least possible that the gauge color change was done along with a change from hammered gray to pearl beige on the interior panels?

Doesn't that all seem to sort of fit together and make some sense?

As for trucks up here in Canada,
I'll have to look at my brothers 1946 2 ton again, but I think they used "wrinkle brown" up here.

Thee gauge colors have nothing to do with it. The same gauges were used in passengers cars and they had no dash color change.

My master parts book shows different numbers for cars and trucks.
Only my 1938-46 truck parts book shows the change between "first jobs" and "after jobs" in 1940.
Later books make it look like there was no change due to a "one size fits all" approach.
I don't have a 1940 or 41 passenger parts book to know if the gauges actually changed or not during that time in the cars.

Mike
Have a look at these

The picture to the right of the dash looks great.

Hi Mike
Sent you a PM with some interesting info.
Hope it's warmer there than it is here!

It’s always warmer in Florida.... the temp hit the low 70’s .... almost froze to death!!

Mike

What do you think of the lighter paint color... it’s listed as brown/gray... one of the suggested colors for the interior.....
.??

Mike

That would be my choice for every thing except the dash.