1962 Gmc dump truck

[GMCNUT]

So, just so you all know why it matters to me, I am about to have my 65 Suburban re-painted and was expecting to paint the grille support solid body color as per my belief that all 1000 series pickups (or at least all Custom Cab trucks anyway) had solid color grille supports vs Chevrolet which did a three color grille support on its C-10's adding a White band around the Black center section. I always thought GMC just took the time and cost out of painting its grill supports any special way and opted for the solid color grill supports to simplify assembly line painting.
Now I have to re-think this idea a bit and decide what I think about adding the Black if its something pretty common that others have observed and I have somehow missed over my years of observation and learning about 60's GMC's....

[bigblockv6]

Chevrolet trucks without the white band still had the black back ground as well. For some reason there were inconsistencies with the black backgrounds on some trucks. Possibly the assembly plant ran out of flat black paint or it was just a quality control issue like some plant employees figured they could get by without this procedure. Included is a factory pic showing the black background. It is one of the details of these trucks that has nearly disappeared since most of these trucks have been repainted and body shops have paid no attention to this detail, and that's real easy to overlook. I painted a 66 GMC back in 2002 for a customer, I was definitely concerned to get all that right. After getting the truck all done I took pictures and noticed that I didn't paint behind the grille, I did get the hood background though so I had to go back and paint behind the grille. When you compare one of these trucks with the black background vs one without it is a noticeable difference and the one with the black background looks far better

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[bigblockv6]

The paint regs don't even mention the tailgate letters, they're more so for two tone combinations. The guy with the supports never seen any black but then how many have original pant?

[bigblockv6]

Here's a 1965 factory assembly line photo, as you can see it looks black behind those grilles and hood specifically with the truck in the background with the white grille. Now the photo of the 60 or 61 shows the black after the grille was removed, a perfect example of how after 50 years the thin coat of flat black fades and literally just washes away

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[GMCNUT]

Well, I am glad you posted this assembly line black and white picture, because I can see past the edge of the front trucks' grille on the drivers side and tell the support is definitely not black behind it - I don't have the best eyes in the world but I'd say that picture definitely looks to show a solid body color grille support like my 64....

You asked how many original paint grill supports my friend has, and I honestly don't know yet - he's digging through them now. I know he has disassembled a bunch of 60's GMC's and very very few Chevrolets so 99% of his stash is off GMC's so we'll see what he digs up and see if anything he has shows us anything new

[Donny]

They must've made them both ways because the second truck in line
I snapshoted it and blew it up and it's definitely black behind the grill
Can't really tell if it was a custom cab it is a panel truck though

[Donny]

I don't know I blew the first Truck picture up sure looks black to me
Let me know what you think

[bigblockv6]

Donny, if you look to the left of the "G" letter the part of the panel just to the right of the headlight appears darker than the grille. This particular pic is harder to distinguish but the truck behind it definitely depicts a black background, same with the prior pic of the red 4wd.

[aphaynes]

It doesn't matter to me who is right or wrong in this case, but making judgments off low resolution black and white photos is not definitive. Any color back behind a white foreground object, completely shaded, will appear black in this type of photo. You still have the lack of lighting into the background area of the grill with the truck in front, so same lighting principal applies. It may be black, though it does not look as black as the bumper; or it could be body color just shaded so it looks darker. Sorry, but that is just the nature of the photography and lighting. The red truck is a better argument, but something tells me there is no real resolution to this argument as different plants probably did different things. Mine appears to be and always have been the same as the body color. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. That's my two cents and is worth even less.

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[aphaynes]

All you can tell on this one is that there is white over-spray from someone who got lazy freshening up the grill.



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