[GMCNUT]

Originally Posted by bigblockv6

They were painted argent silver PPG # 8568 period. For the skeptics out there I will post a pic of my father 62 K1000 fenderside that he bought brand new in one solid color Delta Green with white hub caps, wheels and grille. From 1955-69 the argent silver was used. In 1970 silver was replaced with white. Trucks are old and even repainted but after many years of weathering it can be hard to distinguish if it's original paint or not. If the letters are white then 99.9% chance it was repainted the wrong color. What I see is a lot of little details in paint background behind the grille and upper hood grille completely lost. Years ago on Jolly's site all these details were brought up to attention and now it's all forgotten.

With respect to your considerable knowledge and experience of 60-66 GMC's being greater than mine, I am going to have to disagree with you bigblockv6. I spoke to Barry Charon about this (another well-respected GMC historian and former member of this group) and I believe we can produce proof that some two-tone non-custom GMC's did come with White tailgate lettering instead of Silver. (this would explain why your Father's solid color truck had Argent lettering instead of White too) After some pondering on the subject, I thought it could be that difference is limited to say 1960-61 only when the upper body on all two-tone trucks was White (our smoking gun) or it could just as easily be a 1966 only variation, when other changes were made such as the addition of backup lights and seatbelts, which is also the year glare-reduction measures were first taken. Some degree of study will be required to discover the truth here. So, in my opinion, if a pull off tailgate is discovered in a barn loft with 100% of its factory paint on it, and it has White lettering on it from the factory, and other original non-repainted examples have been observed or can be discovered, then there is certainly enough reason to at least consider this could be true. There are a million variations to old trucks and many times we are too quick to consider something to be a fact - lets explore this further and I will share photos as I dig them up. Barry is digging in his many tailgates and pics and I will share what he finds as well. More on this subject soon....