I am restoring a 1948 Fleetmaster convertible. Would I lose a significant amount of points if I were to paint the bottom of the car black? What about the wheel wells? Do these areas need to be body color? Richard Jenkins VCCA 56126.
Rick, I am not the tech adviser for this era of Chey but there are many things to look at and ask yourself. Is there an original surface on your undercarriage left to assess what was done at the factory? Many assembly plants used a "chassis black" paint to seal the floorboards and frame rails. Chassis Black is a flatish/satin black. The VCCA Judging Manual states, "As delivered from the factory to the public." That is what our judges follow at our national meet. I am not sure if some assembly plants used red oxide primer on the floor boards as they did in the 55.,56,57 Chevrolet. However, if the surface is totally rusted and the rust is removed you need to paint the surface for the sake of preservation, if nothing else. A chassis black is a safe and protective cover. Be careful not to use a high gloss black. It looks nice but over restoration can be a source of point deductions as well. There are many sources you can search for chassis black paints. Also, here is a link that I have used to use as a reference in your restoration. http://www.1948chevy.com/index.htm
Tim, as long as there is documentation from GM that a Medium Gray was used there should be no issue with the judging team. If the owner has this documentation with them on the judging field that is extremely valuable to the team captain. If a judge sees this grey and is not sure they need to ask the owner about it and not just take points off because they "think" it isn't right. When in doubt, ASK!
Indeed would be super easy with documentation. How would you ever get GM documentation for something like this?
Most of these details on the older cars comes from guys finding evidence of original items and sharing it on forums like this. We are currently discussing a modern correct looking replacement insulation for the underside of a transmission access panel but unless someone has a virgin car nearby for comparison, these types of details just don't seem to be officially documented anywhere. Even worse for a low production (270 total) Canadian car but boy if it's documented I'd sure like to find it for restoration lol...
I've kept copies of discussions on items like this but it's still not GM documented. Is there a way to GET something like this documented?
1938 Canadian Pontiac Business Coupe (aka a 1938 Chevy Coupe with Pontiac shaped front sheet metal - almost all Chevy!) 1975 4-speed L82 Vette
A Pictorial of Chevroley History 1940-1954 has a GM photo of the under side of s 1940 and athough it is in black nand whie it is plaint to see the under side is not black. My 1939 was gray including the toe board below the firewall. Also the models from at least 1934 and up with side opening hood have the under side of the hood in gray. Other than that I have never seen a GM statement on thid subject in any of my piles of literature.
With the underside of the hood a different color to the outside on the late 30's they must have masked the vents or did the let the body color overspray on the inner? Tony
I can't speak for other years or plants, but I got to looking thru a 1948 plant preview brochure for Los Angeles and it states here the frames are coated black
1942 Chevrolet Fleetline Aerosedan 1942 Chevrolet Fleetmaster Cabriolet Daryl B.
