GMC chassis..colour?

[Jack]

What colour was the chassis of a GMC when it left the the factory?

 

My truck seems to have a real tough undercoat of black....is the right or wrong?

[Guest matt]

The black undercoat is correct,it was also used on Dodges. when the truck left the factory the black would already have been over sprayed OD.

 

Matt.

[Jack]

The black undercoat is correct,it was also used on Dodges. when the truck left the factory the black would already have been over sprayed OD.

 

Matt.

 

Matt, you a dam good man 8) and boy, isn't that stuff hard when you are rubbing it down, they knew how to make undercoat in those days.

 

The bulk head has about 8 layers of paint on it :cry:

[mcspool]

The black undercoat is correct,it was also used on Dodges. when the truck left the factory the black would already have been over sprayed OD.

Hi Matt, was that black bitumen-based undercoat? Or black paint?

 

Cheers,

Hanno

[armydriver]

The stuff I have come across is almost like tar. It is real tough and adhears to the metal real well. Unsightly to say the least but keeps out corrosion very well. I had a GPW that was undercoated with the stuff and there was very little rust out at all on the gas tank sump or tool boxes. No ruined crossmembers or supports on the jeep.

[mcspool]

The stuff I have come across is almost like tar. It is real tough and adhears to the metal real well.

 

That's not a factory applied coating

[Guest matt]

Hi Hanno,

 

The stuff I have found on GMC's and Dodge's has a smooth shiney finish and I would say it's got an etching quality.

 

Jim,I'd say someone has used an underseal on your Jeep,it's good stuff so long as it does not get chipped because it then allows moisture to get between the underseal and metal and you can end up with just an outer shell of underseal,I have seen Land Rover chassis's which look good but are in fact just a shell of underseal in places. the reason for this is underseal sites on the metal,but the factory chassis paint is like an etching primer and bonds with the metal.

 

Matt.

[mcspool]

Hi Hanno,

The stuff I have found on GMC's and Dodge's has a smooth shiney finish and I would say it's got an etching quality.

 

Hi Matt,

 

Apparently some of the truck manufacturers during WW2 used common practice to paint their chassis black, after final assemble an overcoat of Olive Drab was applied to the whole vehicle.

 

It seems Jack's GMC has had bituminous undercoating applied by the Norwegian Army (over the Olive Drab top coat). My 20-cwt trailer, also ex-Norwegian Army, has the same type of undercoating.

 

Jack, have you tried removing some of the paint layers on your chassis. You should find black undercoating, olive drab and then black base paint?

 

Hanno

[Jack]

Hi Hanno.

 

The chassis is pretty much that, painted with bitumin by the looks of it. If you rub the paint down to bare metal then the undercoat is black and it is hard as nails but has done its job over the last 60 years very well 8)

[mcspool]

Hi Hanno.

The chassis is pretty much that, painted with bitumin by the looks of it. If you rub the paint down to bare metal then the undercoat is black and it is hard as nails but has done its job over the last 60 years very well 8)

Alright then, to get back to your original question: the chassis had a black undercoat plus OD top coat when it left the factory.

[Jeroen Sleijpen]

Sorry guys but there was never used a black undercoat!

All factory picture from General motors, DPCD group, white, autocar, federal, mack etc show that the bare metal is sprayed with a red or green oxide primer and recieves its final layer of OD.

The black "glue" jack refers to is typical post war norwegian preservation.

[Guest matt]

Hi Jeroen,

 

I must differ on that,I have two Dodge WC's which have black undercoat on the chassis under the factory OD and neither of these trucks were in European service nor were they rebuilt post war.

 

There are also original GMC factory photos of CCKW chassis in black prior to them being sprayed OD.

 

Matt.

[Jeroen Sleijpen]

Remember that the GMC CCKW truck was assembled from different factory production units. the black you talk about is a transport protection coating.

Remember also that directly after the war all vehicle units went back to motorpool units for repair/overhaul and from there directed back to units or lend lease programs. So sure thing that also your 2 dodges are rebuild somewhere in the past 60 years.

[Guest matt]

I doubt very much that my Dodges have ever gone through a rebuild,the WC-56 was sold as surplus in 1946 and used as a garage recovery truck in South Wales,it still carries it's original unit markings to the 1229th Quartermaster Co (AVN) who disbanded and returned to the US in 1945. I have the command cars full history from it's factory build sheet to photos of it in 1944-45 which were sent to me by the former commanding officer of the 1229th.the only major work carried out on it while with the 1229th was a repaint in 1944.

 

The WC-52 has a similiar story,served with the engineering section of the 854th Bomb Squadron,Eighth Air Force during WW2,sold from Chalgrove in Oxfordshire in 1946(still has the lot number painted on it) and registered to an estate in Worcestershire in 1947,there it was used as a shooting brake. I bought it in 2001 from the same estate and it still carries all it's original markings.

 

Matt.