black A/C vents.....factory?

[88Jimmy4x4]

My 1976 GMC has all black A/C vents, are these factory?

most I see have chrome top/bottom

Not the greatest pic but all I have at the moment.

[RandyP]

Someone probably peeled the chrome off or rattle canned them sometime in the trucks lifespan.

[THE "10" SILVERADO]

Originally Posted by RandyP

Someone probably peeled the chrome off or rattle canned them sometime in the trucks lifespan.

Yeah I wish I would have done that when I replaced the trim and pad in my interior. Everything is new and looks good except the chrome which is peeling. Well I know what I'll be doing the next time I have to pull it all apart.

[Keith Seymore]

Not factory - all were chrome.

By the way - I painted mine argent silver rather than purchasing new replacement parts. I thought they turned out ok.

K

[88Jimmy4x4]

Thanks guys, they dont look painted and I dont see how you could peel chrome off...strange. I wonder if back in the day they sold replacements that were all black.

[Stepper86]

It woun´t peel off, but it wears thin over time and the black plastic starts to show. I whiped the remaining chrome off mine with thinner and just like Keith resprayed them silver.I finished with a little clear coat to protect them. Turned out quite nice.

[88Jimmy4x4]

Oh I believe you guys, thats why I started this thread as I have owned several squares with different trim levels and none ever had vents w/o chrome on them.

BTW Kieth...your vents look great, when I redo my interior I might copy that idea

[74 stepside]

I noticed your gauge cluster too. With the wood face it should have chrome around the gauges. Looks like someone did a good blackout at some time in the past.

[88Jimmy4x4]

damn gauges too, man they dont look painted either up close....this is strange

[1985-GMC]

Black cluster.


http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....rt~A2~cadehega

[Keith Seymore]

If you look back at my pic, you can see the gage bezels have a thin strip of chrome on the very edge and grey/argent paint down into the tunnel.

That's how it came, at least for '87 (I didn't change anything there).

K

[88Jimmy4x4]

I hope you dont mind Keith, but Im thinking of copying your interior lol

[Keith Seymore]

Not at all. I'd even suggest we could park together if we're at the same car show.

[88Jimmy4x4]

lol...not a mirror copy, my truck is blue lol

[78 Chevyrado]

I had black ones in my 77. They used to be chrome but after years of sun when i had the dash apart and cleaned them good, the chrome just wiped off on the rag so I did the whole thing so they would match.

[88Jimmy4x4]

Originally Posted by 78 Chevyrado

I had black ones in my 77. They used to be chrome but after years of sun when i had the dash apart and cleaned them good, the chrome just wiped off on the rag so I did the whole thing so they would match.

Thats probably what happened to mine then. I have a set of chrome ones, guess I will swap them when I put my NOS dash gauge cover. Im getting rid of the woodgrain anyway.

[Slonaker]

Could it be aftermarket A/C?

Vintage Air sells vents for converting non A/C trucks to A/C. I don't remember exactly what they look like. I remember they were similar to the originals, but not exactly the same. I'm sure others had their own parts back when dealer installed air for these trucks was something you could buy.

Slonaker

[1985-GMC]

I went out and looked at the ones from my gmc and they're all black also, but my truck had dealer installed A/C. The gauge cluster did have chrome around the very edges but they cut out the back of upper pocket and lower corner to install the dealer a/c vents. They are slightly smaller the the factory ones and they clearly did not have any chrome. I'll post pictures later if yall want.

[88Jimmy4x4]

Its a factory AC truck, all underhood is original eq from factory

[1985-GMC]

Here's some pictures.

[1985-GMC]

And the last two from the back.