Have disassembled and begun degreasing and media blasting my F1. It will be time to start painting the parts and pieces soon. During this adventure I found a bit of gray paint hidden on the underside of my hood hinge. Does anyone have a paint code for the ford color used on the hinges? We're any other parts painted with this color?

Also, is there any info on the paint detail for the F1 chassis and under the hood?

Thanks!

 

I've never seen hinges that weren't black. Could it just be primer?

 

These were work trucks for the farmers and tradesmen returning from the war built as quickly and cheaply as possible. Ford was not concerned about color aesthetics. AFAIK anything that wasn't painted body color was painted black, the cheapest color paint with the best and easiest coverage.

 

Under the hood as in engine or sheet metal?

 

I know a guy who said he had an unmodified, not worked on f250 (maybe 350?) that had the f100 (smaller wheel opening) fenders on it. This makes me wonder how many of our trucks even got all the "correct" parts from the factory.

 

The fender size or wheel opening was determined by the tire size.

 

The hood hinges on my '49 F4 and a '51 F2 parts truck I have are both grey. They were both assembled in Kansas City. I thought it was odd too but, they are original.
Mark

 

I have read here multiple times it was based on truck size but this makes sense too. This wasn't the only guy who has told me similar stories of assembly line workers adapting or improvising, especially in this time period, to get the job done.

 

I am not convinced that Ford did not have specifications for the parts finishes. I will try and decode the gray and share it if successful.

 

I posted a question about my grey hood hinges on another forum and a fellow replied that his truck also had a grey radiator frame that he believed to be original. My radiator frame is black but the hinges were definitely grey.
Mark

 

Interesting. There must be folks out there who have compiled info from original specimen F1s. Hope to hear from some of them. Some day maybe all the info will be compiled into a restoration guide for the F1.

 

Most 1948-52 hood hinges were left in the dipped grey primer/topcoat, but some were black, and some were body color. Most hood spring assemblies were body color, but some were left grey, and some were black.
Most radiator supports were left grey, but some were black.
While we're at it, most 1948-50 seat frames were left grey, but some were the same brown color as the sunvisor brackets.
Most 1948-50 gas tanks and tool trays were body color, but many were the same brown color, but not necessarily in the same truck! I have found many brown tanks with body color tool trays, and at least one the other way around.
Chuck

 

OEMs made chassis black from ground up tires mixed with acetone

 

I don't know how I missed this thread. When I rebuilt Blue, my 1949 F4, I did not paint the hood hinges or spring assemblies, just cleaned and lubricated them. AFAIK the gray coating is original as the truck showed no signs of ever being messed with. What you see here is the original gray

 

Got to this thread via a link from another. Was it ever decided what the official colors were for the dip/primer gray and the "seat frame" Brown?
I haven't searched other threads so forgive me if it is elsewhere.

DjS