ENGINE PAINT... SOLVED!!!

[pfarber]

I've been told that Bruce Sunderlin is THE CCKW GOD. His multipart CCKW article in the MVPA rag is not to be questioned. EVAR! I have had Gilmore and Gopan tell me that on this and other forums.

Well, part III of the 'Sunderlin Articles', Army Motors issue #49 page 16:

I am personally asking Gilmore and Gopan and 'splain this. Gopan is currently on a 'nothing Tm9 Ord paint can do is wrong' kick. And Gilmore has admonished me for questioning the wisdom of Sunderlin, as have others.

Well, your god (Sunderlin) has spoken. Its just a coincidence that I happen to agree with him.

Anyone care to rebut?

[pfarber]

THIS:

http://www.oldchevytrucks.com/cart/prod ... i=10521|||

Is the same stuff that I used.

[pfarber]

So I started to look for the date of that the Cal .30 M1 Ammunition can was put into service.

Best date I could find (WAIT FOR IT)

M1 box: May 6, 1942

CCKW production was already underway... so did the Ordenance Staff see a new CCKW roll by and then say to Canoco, Phillips, Reeves et a 'lHolly shit that engine color is the bomb, yo!' And then decide that was the proper color to use?

Most ammo cans were wooden up to this point.

[retro-roco]

I guess I'm a little slow... So CCKWX were the first to be painted olive drab?? Or all 256 and 270 engines were painted gloss olive?? i AM so CONFUSED!!

[pfarber]

Remember the ACKWs went straight overseas. These were the first production trucks based off the civilian counterparts (with the funky grill and round front fenders).

If you don't have the Sunderlin Article its buried on the CCKW.org site... but Parts I,II and III cover the early trucks and my citation covers the paint.

The 270 was a warmed over 256, the 256 was a civvy production motor.

Whats really, truly odd is that most of the stuff I am finding are posts based from 2006, and an articles first published in the 80's - 90's.

Yes Dorothy, the paint color issue, seems to have been solved, regardless of what Gopan is now blathering about ammo can green. As usual he cannot produce any proof or references... one must trust that he is never wrong (I have a whole forum based on that myth).

The paint available from online restoration shops billed as: Engine Paint-Olive 1939-1948 GMC 6 Cylinder IS THE CORRECT COLOR.

So, lets recap:

Sunderlin says that the "Glossy olive green" was THE production paint color used from the mid 30's till the 50's.
Every GM/GMC restoration shop I can find sells the green I painted as the FACTORY CORRECT GMC olive 1939-1948. And even in the 50's paint catalogs... its the same paint.
I posted a 1942 OFFICIAL GMC production photo showing the level of gloss on the engines. That level of reflection is NOT coming of an ammo can.

It seems back in 2006 when we first started most of the CCKW specific web sites this was a hot topic and the information THEN is exactly what I am re-discovering NOW. Which is a good thing.

As for 'rebuttal evidence' we have:
Undocumented engines with green paint. Everyone with a cckw engine saying its 'original' when they have no proof, and it has obvious NATO parts hanging off it.
Gopan saying ammo can green is the proper color. This complete reversal since 2006 when even he posted 'wet olive'. And as always, absolutely no proof.

I'll discuss anything anyone has to provide regarding any other engine color. But I am about as confident as I can be (we're talking 80%+) that the proper color is what I posted.

[retro-roco]

I guess what I'm confused by is the very first sentence of the scan you posted:

"The CCKWX's were the first ones to be painted with the now standard LUSTERLESS OLIVE DRAB finish (Du Pont #1071-050)." Emphasis added by me...

How did this relate to the use of the glossy olive paint that is mentioned by you and also later in the same paragraph?? Or are they simply referring to the truck and NOT the engine??

[pfarber]

That is the body color. The demo truck was painted glossy green (as it was a civvy truck).

The dupont color was the 'early OD' paint used on vehicles. Not the engine color.

This is an ACKWX.

This is the photo used in the Sunderlin Article. Its the original image so its not dithered by the printing process. NOTE THE GLOSS ON THE FENDERS! You can tell it was a partly cloudy day!

[pfarber]

The ass end of the ACKWX. Note that its very similiar to the CCKW. The air lines were obviously deleted, the tool box cover is different.

But again, note the very civvy gloss on the bumpers.

[pfarber]

Pardon my french:

THE HOLY FUCKING GRAIL! LOOK AT THE BELLHOUSING!!! CHRIST ON A CRACKER THATS THE BEST PROOF EVAR!!!!

Negro mechanic.jpg (32.21 KiB) Viewed 19686 times

Now hear is my green paint:

B&W.jpg (23.06 KiB) Viewed 19686 times

[pfarber]

Just to clarify about the photo of the soldier working on the cab of the CCKW.

'Negro Mechanic.jpg" was the name of the photo given to if by the NATIONAL ARCHIVES.

" This African American, then called Negro soldier, who served as truck driver and mechanic, at Fort Knox, Kentucky, played an important part in keeping the army's transport fleets in service. Photo was taken in June of 1942.
Photo Courtesy of Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division Washington, DC
Photographer: Alfred T. Palmer
Control #oem2002004711/PP"

The link to that and many more photos:

http://www.archives.gov/research/africa ... -pictures/

Also if you google the first photo to come up is that one.

Just wanting to clarify the naming of the photo.

[pfarber]

A link to this video was posted on http://www.hmvf.co.uk

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/army- ... +engineers

The clip is only 3 minutes (out of a 90 minute collection) but look at this:

Two things of note:

The obvious gloss on the valve cover
The valve tappet and octane decals are visible at the rear of the valve cover (partially hidden by the steering column).

The clip, even if only 2 minutes long, is a treasure trove of CCKW history.

Many thanks to 'Vulture' on HMVF (not sure if he's on this forums, but if so double thanks!) for finding this!

[pfarber]

Here's an older pic (2007) from:

http://www.cckw.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2515

Other than the wrong oil lid decal (S2 oil filters were civvy only) and the air cleaner (thats a common decal attributed to Chevy air cleaners) it looks like what I have found out. Also most CCKW photos show later (late 42 and on) oil filler tubes as painted the olive color, not black. DUWKs are supposed to have the same engine as CCKWs... and a quick glance in TM9-1802A will bear that out.

If anyone can ID the owner tell them there is a free set of oil filter decals waiting for him.

[Vulture]

A link to this video was posted on http://www.hmvf.co.uk

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/army- ... +engineers

The clip is only 3 minutes (out of a 90 minute collection) but look at this:

engine.JPG

Two things of note:

The obvious gloss on the valve cover
The valve tappet and octane decals are visible at the rear of the valve cover (partially hidden by the steering column).

The clip, even if only 2 minutes long, is a treasure trove of CCKW history.

Many thanks to 'Vulture' on HMVF (not sure if he's on this forums, but if so double thanks!) for finding this!

Hi Paul

Happy to help out in assisting with another small piece of the jigsaw regarding the engine colour. I just need the nearest equivalent in a RAL code now, and I'll repaint my engine

Kind regards to all

Vulture

[pfarber]

I'm going to see if the local auto paint store has a color book (they go way back to the 50's) or maybe get a match off the paint I have.

$60 for a quart of paint is nuts. But it IS higher end paint... I'll see what they say.

I'll ask for a RAL code... but I think I'll take whatever they can give me.

[pfarber]

Just another source of the infamous olive engine paint:

http://www.classicparts.com/1947-48-Eng ... fo/88-055/