Let's talk paint

I know I'm 6 months away from paint (okay, maybe 12), but a man can dream can't he?

I have a 1951 L-110, line ticket says it was Black Canyon Black. Looking at the truck, I always guessed it had been blue.

Can anyone tell me which parts should be painted which color? Obviously the truck is black. Is the entire interior black as well? What about the running boards and rims?

I will have the original chrome bumper and mustache bars, as well as the original chrome hubcaps, so it should look pretty slick when I'm done. Would whitewall tires be a good fit?

Also, the bumper I have is the large, almost diamond plate variety with a pin hitch. I've seen several like this, was this stock or aftermarket? And how should I treat this when I comes time to paint?


Lots of questions, but I know this is the right place! Thanks everyone!

White walls are always a great pick for anything

My 51 L110 was also black. I won't go into why it's not now, but it was all black throughout. Going through the painting process, I couldn't find any primer under the original paint. That's probably why they rust in the places they do.
I've seen ones with black wheels, but mine were red. I can't say they came from the factory red or not. They looked like they had been painted at some point, but I can't see any evidence they were ever black.
The dash was a hammer tone silver/grey color.
The rear bumper on yours is probably a home brewed add-on. I believe the dealers offered a factory option for a rear bumper, but many buyers built or adapted other brand bumpers to suit their needs. The factory rear bumper resembled the front C channel shaped bumper.

When I was a kid, our shop truck/parts chaser at the garage was a '52 L-112 that came from the factory in Black Canyon Black. Not sure what the original color of the wheels was, because Pappy had decided that the truck looked better on white wheels...with the factory caps, and a set of Hudson trim rings ["beauty rings"]. By then, he'd already two-toned the truck with a white roof, with the break in the two-tone at the crease just above the hood latch handles.

The dash was in a hammered silver finish from the factory. And as far as I've seen, ALL L-R-S-series running boards came from the factory in black, no matter what color the rest of the truck was.

you can always check out this page to see if you can gain insight: http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/library ... ihc/paint/

If you go to this one, there is more info and areas to check for "factory" information: http://preview.wisconsinhistory.org/Con ... Nav=N:1167

Lots of information on the Wisconsin site, for some of the manuals, look to our "library" section

Every non-repainted L, & R, I've seen have been single color in and out, besides dash and running boards, with rims same as body.

I Think they didn't offer two tone until S series, but again this being International, I'm sure if you told the guy you wanted two tone they woulda done it.

Thanks for all the info. I'd like to paint it back original, but still not sure how I feel about black. It gets hot, shows dust, and requires pretty perfect body work. But with chrome and wide white walls, it would sure look nice.

Black, in my "opinion only" is the hardest to paint and keep clean. Looks the best where it applies. Had a few black trucks.
kevin in mn

White walls are always a great pick for anything

Hey, That's a great looking truck. What color is that considered to be? Thanks