Hi.

I have a combined registry of nearly 150 Corvair Forward Control trucks and vans (see CorvairKid Enterprises ). Of those 150 examples, almost all have the expected paint code format on the body tag, which is one of:

• a three-digit number beginning with a 5, sometimes followed by a letter
• or a four-digit number beginning with a 55, followed by two letters
• or SPEC

In the first case, it's a simple look-up in the color chart. The second case is the same after dropping the first 5. In the third case, one would need the original ordering info to see what sort of special paint was applied.

Four of the trucks, however, have something quite different:

• 747G (from a 1962 Loadside)
• 736F (from a 1964 Rampside)
• 0780-546 (from a 1964 Rampside)
• 0793-97215 (from a 1965 Greenbrier)

Has anyone out there encountered codes like these and, if so, found a reference to decode them? Clearly there appears to be two different types of non-standard codes given the four examples.

If one removes the "07" from the final example, it starts to look a lot like a Dupont paint formula number. The owner of that van is in fact checking to see if 93-97215 is a valid Dupont code. Here's a picture of that body tag just so you know I'm not making this up!

If you can point me to someone who might have info on this but is not online here, that's fine. I don't mind making a phone call or ten.

Thanks.

In case any of you are following this topic, we made progress on one of the items:

This turned out to be correct. 97215 is the Dulux (enamel) code for the '65 Chevy car color Sierra Tan. The regular Dupont number for that color is 4626-L. The owner of the vehicle compared a chip of Sierra Tan to some remaining original paint on the vehicle and got an exact match.

Here's a picture of part of the \'65 Dupont paint chart to validate what I'm saying.

Apparently in St. Louis, where this Greenbrier was built, facilities existed to spray only enamel.

I wonder what entity ordered this custom Greenbrier and for what purpose? I would have to assume more than one was ordered for Chevy to agree to do the custom paint job. I don't think of Greenbriers as being fleet vehicles like the Corvans were.

--Kent

Hi again,

More to report: the 736F code I reported for the '64 Rampside was in fact a red herring. I had an opportunity to investigate this truck's trim tag more closely and found that it was actually from a '61 Corvair truck or van that someone had, for no good reason, transplanted to the '64 truck. The '61 Corvair trucks and vans used paint codes in the 7xx series; 736 was Brigade (light) Blue with a white stripe. The real giveaway though was the engine size listed on the tag (145 CID): in 1964 the size was increased to 164 CID so it's clear the tag is not original.

Also, the 747G I reported earlier for a '62 Loadside was my mistake--couldn't read my own notes I guess. So we can cross that off the list too.

All that's left at this point is the '64 Rampside with the 0780-546 code. Does anyone have a Dupont paint chip chart for GM applications in 1964? I'm wondering if there is a code 546 in Dulux, similar to what we found for the '65 Greenbrier.

Thanks.